Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Ways To Cook Deer Meat







Use deer meat, or venison, instead of hamburger for leaner, healthier meals. Deer have less fat than cows, so the meat dries quicker. Soak the meat in wine, vinegar or milk for a couple of days before cooking to keep it moist. Edubook.com recommends cooking venison at high heats to keep the meat tender. To get rid of the wild-game taste, soak the meat in vinegar. Venison is healthier because it is low in calories and cholesterol.


Ground Venison


Ground-up deer meat, or deer burger, tastes almost like hamburger. Use deer burger just as you would hamburger. Deer burger should be frozen right away and used quickly after thawing. It spoils fast. Deer burger doesn't have the fatty and greasy taste hamburger has. Cook deer burger to medium-well for the best flavor. Add seasonings as you would when cooking hamburger. You can make taco meat, hamburgers, meatballs, meatloaf and any other ground-meat recipes. If making meatloaf or meatballs, use potato flakes, bread crumbs, cracker crumbs or oatmeal to hold the meat together.


Steaks








Cook steaks to medium to prevent drying out. Broil, saute or grill the steaks. Marinate for about a day before cooking, not only to add flavor but also to keep the meat tender. To saute the meat, cut up the steak into cubes. Spread extra-virgin olive oil on a pan. Add onions, and saute. This method also works with deer tips, which are similar to steaks. Steak pieces work well when stir-frying.


Roast


Before roasting or putting venison in a slow cooker, soak it in vinegar for a day. Add any spices or marinades. Add carrots, potatoes and other vegetables. The internal temperature should reach 130 degrees, so have a meat thermometer handy.


Obtaining Venison


Hunt deer yourself or buy it. If you hunt the deer, drain its blood as soon as possible. According to pabucks.com, when a deer is frightened it excretes lactic acid and pyruvic acid and more blood. This combination gives the meat the gamey taste. Removing the tallow, which sits between the muscles, also improves taste, pabucks.com states. Either gut and prepare the meat yourself, or take it to a butcher. If you are hunting deer, find out how many deer you can kill in a season. Farm-raised deer are smaller and lack the gamey taste, but they aren't as lean as wild deer.

Tags: deer burger, before cooking, Deer burger, deer meat, gamey taste