Tasting Notes: After a successful hunt, options for preparing venison

Ahh yes, the spoils of hard work in the woods. Countless hours baiting, scouting and sitting, some in a climate-controlled blind and some in a tree, exposed to the elements.

To all those who scored a deer and secured the sacred protein, congratulations! You have your prime cuts of back straps, you made your summer sausage, snack sticks and jerky and you still have a freezer full.

What recipes are you going to make? For many families, unfortunately, there is a reluctance to eat venison. “It tastes gamey; it’s too dry; it’s too tough,” or the thought of it being wild game is off-putting. I would like to propose a few different ways for you to give venison another try.

For starters, put down the cream of mushroom soup and step away from the all-purpose flour. Now I am not saying that this version of eating deer meat is bad, but we are looking at different ways to enjoy this wonderful offering. 

1 — Marinate and grill over high temperature and cook until medium rare or medium at the most. The reason is that venison is high in iron and extremely lean. The more you cook venison, the more it will have a liver, wild-game taste. Any bottled marinade will work. Change it up and experiment with it. Use a timer and grill no more than three minutes per side until it reaches about 130 to 140 degrees internal temp. Remove from the grill and let it rest for five minutes, covered with foil.

2 — Venison kebabs. Marinade the meat, use a wooden skewer, wrap in bacon.  Now we all know everything is better with bacon, but the key here is adding fat.  The bacon will protect this delicate meat from drying out and overcooking. The wooden skewer versus metal will prevent internal cooking. When the bacon is done, so is the venison.

3 — Venison burgers on the grill. This is the one that has the most complaints. The first step again needs to be adding fat. Add 33% to 50% ground pork, ground bacon or beef ground chuck. Season the meat prior to making the patties with things like Worcestershire, soy sauce, steak seasoning, garlic and onion power. Add one egg per pound of ground meat as a binder and things like panko bread crumbs, crackers or oatmeal. Think of the way you make your favorite meatloaf recipe. This will lessen the density of the burger patty, making it more tender.

The bottom line is venison is a lean protein we have access to that is 100% organic and sustainable. Understand that the way we clean and process the deer and then prepare it for the table has more to do with the potential off-putting flavor profiles than the protein itself.

Pair venison with any cabernet sauvignon, your favorite craft beer or Busch Light. Because everything goes with Busch Light.

General red meat marinade

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup red wine

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon old bay seasoning

2 tablespoons of brown sugar