Why is deer meat gamey?

Asked by: Ricardo Diaz

The ‘wild’ flavor of venison is directly related to what the animal eats. Corn fed deer will have a milder flavor than those that eat acorns or sage. The ‘gamey’ flavor is more noticeable in the fat. Removing the fat, connective tissue, silver skin, bone and hair during processing lessens the ‘gamey’ taste.

How do you get the gamey taste out of deer meat?

In The Kitchen



Prior to cooking, soak your venison steaks overnight in buttermilk. This will help pull the blood out of the meat and remove some of that gamy taste. You can make buttermilk simply by adding vinegar to regular milk from the carton. Simple as that.

What causes the gamey taste?

Chef Daniel Volponi says gaminess, like so much in life, boils down to diet and exercise. “You have a very distinct, almost metallic flavor in game that can be the result of a higher iron content. Anything that is wild and not farm-raised is going to have a more active lifestyle, with a more active heart rate.

How do you keep deer from tasting gamey?

Some things you can rub on your venison include salt pork, butter, margarine, beef suet, bacon fat, vegetable fat or sweet or sour cream. You can also insert slivers of uncooked salt pork or bacon with a skewer or roll beef or pork fat into the inside of a roast before it’s tied.

What is deer meat supposed to taste like?

When people describe venison taste and texture, they often use words like rich or earthy; this is a festive-tasting meat, often imbued with hints of the acorns, sage and herbs that the deer enjoyed during its life. It’s also considered to be less juicy and succulent than beef, but also smoother and firmer.

What does a gamey taste mean?

So, what is a gamey taste? Gaminess implies a strong, savory meat flavor that may be slightly sour. Gaminess also describes texture as well, with most wild game having a very lean, tough texture due to the high amount of musculature within cuts from wild animals. In this guide, we will talk about what a gamey taste is.

Do you have to soak deer meat before cooking?

Soaking and marinading deer meat applies to the various cuts of meat but not to ground deer meat – hamburger. Ground meat doesn’t need the pre-cooking preparation in the view of most wild game cooks, but go ahead and soak the ground meat if you want to. It won’t hurt anything.

Is deer meat healthy for you?

Venison’s health benefits are many. For starters, it’s one of the leanest, heart-healthiest meats available — low in fat, high in protein and packed with zinc, haem iron, and vitamin B. It’s also economical. “If you get two deer a year, you have enough food for the entire year,” Czerwony says.

What is the best tasting deer?

Axis deer are generally considered by most hunters to be the best-tasting game meat.

What should deer meat smell like?

Smell the venison. Good deer meat will smell gamey; spoiled deer meat will give of a sewage-like aroma.

Does deer taste better than Buck?

They will taste the same. But. Often what happens is that you're looking for a big mature buck. Now that meat is going to taste poor compared to a young doe not because of the sex.

Does deer taste better than beef?

Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted exactly like the venison he had eaten in hunting camps for the past 27 years. The results of this scientific test show conclusively that there is no difference between the taste of beef and venison.

What is the best meat in the world?

Wagyu beef originates from Japan and is considered by many the best beef on the planet. With the name meaning “Japanese Cow” (wa = Japanese, gyu = cow), it can be found in four different types of Japanese cattle.

What is the unhealthiest meat?

Lamb typically has more saturated fat — which can raise your levels of bad cholesterol, putting you at higher risk of cardiovascular disease — than beef or pork. T-bones, rib-eye and New York strip steak tend to be fattier forms of beef when compared to ground rounds, sirloin or flank steak.