Deer cutting and recipies question for the experts

meathead · November 20, 2006, 08:51:08 PM

Hi

I'm hoping to bag a couple Deer this week and would like to know how I should get them cut up at the Butcher? ie, Should I ask for all roasts, or keep a few whole sections in tact, etc?

Also, any ideas on recipes for these types of cuts? i.e., do I treat Deer like Beef, as far as final temperatures, rubs, etc?

Any help would be greatly appreciated !! ;)

MH

Smudge · November 21, 2006, 02:56:49 PM

I really doubt any meat shop would give you a price break if you requested larger chunks be left intact. They would probably be very happy to see you coming, since you've made their life much easier.

If that is not your intention, then have the deer processed normally; that is, into meal sized portions cut and wrapped. If you want to try a project this winter, such as a smoked sausage recipe, you can still do so by thawing out the correct amount of venison from the various roasts.

Venison shares many similarities with beef when it comes to seasonings and cooking temps. Both are enhanced with garlic in addition to salt and pepper, and the taste and texture of both are best when cooked no more than medium rare to medium.

I don't handle fat well on a beef steak, on a venison steak it's downright off-putting. Be aware of that.

Good luck on your hunt, and remember any recipe calling for beef can be adapted to venison.

iceman · November 21, 2006, 03:33:27 PM

Gotta agree with Smudge on the off taste the fat can give. I use pork fat if nessassary when making burger and such with game meat. A lot of time when I make game burgers I use ground up bacon with it to give it a nice smoky touch. Just my taste buds talking here. Hope you bag some good game :) ;)

meathead · December 09, 2006, 01:17:59 PM

Well got a little 3x3 Muley Buck and he is soaking in Brine, awaiting Jerky Smoking in the morning. I'm going to use Hickory (all I have)

Heres my Brine recipie. (This is the 1st time trying Jerky)

(5 lb) deer
25 ml granulated salt
125ml brown sugar
250 ml water
(2 tbsp) Cayanne pepper
3 Cloves minced Garlic
2 tbsp Worchester
2 tbsp Tobassco

I plan to smoke for 5-6 hours at 150 Degs, I'l let you know how it turns out.

Any other advise would be appreciated

Thanks

Smudge · December 09, 2006, 03:03:25 PM

Welcome meathead,

Those are good ingredients. You can't go wrong with that...good in good out.

So you're planning 6 whole hours of applying smoke? Would you consider 3 for starters?

meathead · December 09, 2006, 03:12:24 PM

Not too sure about the smoking time. I was just following the advise on the BS website, in the Recipe section. :-\ Do you think 6 hrs too much? If so, what would you recomend?

thnx

Smudge · December 10, 2006, 06:57:38 AM

Smoke flavoring is obviously a personal preference. Some of these smoking times I've read on the various recipes are considerably higher than what I prefer.

I've often wondered if people who smoke cigarettes need a higher concentration of wood smoke in their food to taste it. It would be an interesting question to pose sometime.

For the first go-around with your recipe, I would counsel no more than three hours of smoke, finishing up the remaining three hours with the smoke generator off.

Jerky is so thin I can't imagine the smoke taste would be inadequate after three hours. Plus if you're over 140 degrees internal temp on the meat, burning pucks is non-productive. They smoke won't adhere.

I just do not enjoy overpowering smoke taste in my meal. Go conservative at first.

Mplsgordon · December 10, 2006, 08:00:00 AM

I had some deer steaks given to me by someone who doesn't like venison (except in sausage). They were about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and about the size of an old silver dollar.

I wasn't sure what to do with them, so I gave them a nice massage with some pork rub. Then they went on the top shelf of the smoker at about 210 degrees. Hickory smoke for about 90 minutes to two hours (I wasn't paying that close of attention).

Holy cow! They came out medium rare, and the flavor was incredible. If you pulled one out the the fridge cold they were delicious. Best of all, the wife gave one to the donor, who raved about it and asked, "What was that? I want more!" The wife told her it was the venison steaks that she didn't like.

Now we're getting all of the venison steaks plus some roasts. ;D But we have to give half of it back after it's been through the Bradley :-\.

SmokyJones · December 10, 2006, 10:20:29 AM

That doesn't sound like such a bad deal...

coyote · December 10, 2006, 12:55:01 PM

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!

Love that HIGH SPEED beef !

Coyote

iceman · December 11, 2006, 09:10:48 AM

That sounds real good! :P Brings a whole new meaning to "Fast Food". :D

whitetailfan · December 12, 2006, 07:53:18 AM

Probably too late time wise to help meathead, but I would smoke for 2 to 3 hours, and cook for however long it takes to cook. I think 6 hours with smoke rolling is way too much and could impart a poor taste or just waste pucks. I have cut down my 3 hours to 2 on jerky (hickory) and it tastes just as good, I feel I was wasting the extra hour.

nodak · December 25, 2006, 05:34:42 PM

Meathead you may want to check out "askthemeatman.com" all kinds of recipes with smoke temps and time for you to start out at and adjust to your liking. You may want to go to his site map or do a search for what your looking for. I love that he gives temps and smoking times as that is what I have the most problems with. Just did some summersausage and snack sticks using his temp and times as a guide. I haven't seen his video on meat cutting but you may want think about purchasing one so you can save some dollars your giving to the butcher.