I have never had wild animal steak. Deer. I guess it does not exist?

2»

Replies

  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    Yes you can have deer steak. It's delicious.
  • superfox12082
    superfox12082 Posts: 512 Member
    I have venison steaks and chops and roasts in my freezer. Not sure how it doesn't exist...
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    I've only had them from hunters. Venison steaks need to be rare!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    yes backstrap! I often get meat from my father's pals when they hunt. I'm making elk chili tonight in fact, from a pound of ground & a pound of elk steaks I need to use up, adding a bit of fatty beef & chorizo.

    There's a place called Broken Arrow Ranch that specializes in game meats as well. We've bought from there before, excellent products... https://www.brokenarrowranch.com/

    I love to braise venison for pot pies, this was most of a venison hind that was given to me...omgyum

    6urcmdhlof3m.jpg

    I have been craving pot pie for two months. That looks so good.
  • MichelleB69
    MichelleB69 Posts: 213 Member
    I grew up eating wild game: mostly deer, elk, moose and grouse as my dad was/is a hunter and we did not buy any of our meat from a store. I grew up in MT and currently reside in WY and can't recall ever seeing wild game meat for sale in any of our grocery stores, but it may be available at your local butcher or meat shop?
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    Mmmmm.....back straps.......
  • timetochange52
    timetochange52 Posts: 66 Member
    It can be processed into the same cuts of meat that you get from any other animal - steaks, roasts, chops, etc- either by sending out to a butcher or home processing. I have always processed mine at home, and circumvent the hamburger or sausage processing by just using the misc. parts as what we call "fry meat" for soups, stews, and chili. I even brown/broil the bones in the oven and then cook them down for a nice soup base.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    The biggest issue is it seems like you can only get them from hunters. Deer meat is hard to find in grocery stores, at least for where I live. Not a lot of deer farms around.

    It's illegal to farm deer in the US. And hopefully will remain that way. If farmed they would quickly go the way of other farmed animals.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    The backstrap is the best venison steak IMO.

    Some of the local deer processors in my area will sell deer meat that is not picked up timely. You'd be surprised how many people kill a deer, take it to the processor, then never show up to pick it up. I guess they don't have the $60 processing fee.
  • JodehFoster
    JodehFoster Posts: 419 Member
    edited February 2016
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    The biggest issue is it seems like you can only get them from hunters. Deer meat is hard to find in grocery stores, at least for where I live. Not a lot of deer farms around.

    It's illegal to farm deer in the US. And hopefully will remain that way. If farmed they would quickly go the way of other farmed animals.



    not farming, but again:

    purveyor of free-range game in the US

    https://www.brokenarrowranch.com/




    their processing is pretty amazing
  • abuck_13
    abuck_13 Posts: 382 Member
    If you don't hunt or don't have hunting friends, look for a local butcher. Sometimes they will carry it.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,224 Member
    I like venison. I've not had it just as a steak, but I've eaten it carved from a whole roasted haunch and it was great.

    It actually tastes very similar to kangaroo, which we eat reasonably often.
  • ValBFP4H
    ValBFP4H Posts: 18 Member
    You can find it in Ohio but you really have to look for it. Try the Farmers Markets or search online.
  • mjwarbeck
    mjwarbeck Posts: 699 Member
    Wwe can get at any higher end butcher or many farmers markets: venison, elk, boar, emu....etc
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    I live off of venison year round. Other than going out to a restaurant on occasion the only red meat I eat is deer meat. The key to deer steak is do NOT overcook it. Anything over medium (preferably med rare) can get tough and dried out easily.
  • mpat81
    mpat81 Posts: 353 Member
    We don't hunt but have many friends who do. They have given us deer, elk and moose steaks and roasts many times. They are delicious! It does tend to be lean but if you cook it right it's so tasty and good for you!
  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
    As others have said, it's around. But way too gamey for me. Definitely not a fan.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Cynsonya wrote: »
    As others have said, it's around. But way too gamey for me. Definitely not a fan.

    Not all venison is gamey. It depends mostly on the cooking method and the deer. Bucks tend to be gamier than does, but diet and age of the deer also are a factor. Soaking it overnight in milk will tenderize it and remove much of the gamey taste.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    Cynsonya wrote: »
    As others have said, it's around. But way too gamey for me. Definitely not a fan.

    Not all venison is gamey. It depends mostly on the cooking method and the deer. Bucks tend to be gamier than does, but diet and age of the deer also are a factor. Soaking it overnight in milk will tenderize it and remove much of the gamey taste.

    Thank you. We ate mostly venison for about 5 years and you're spot on. Bucks in the rut (hunting season) are full of testosterone and taste gamey. Age and diet matter too. An old buck living in the heavy timber eating acorns tastes terrible to me. A young Doe eating grain is yummy. Also how it's taken and processed matters, an animal shot in the gut gets an intestinal marinade. Many shops you don't get your own animal back so you need to understand your clean kill may get mixed in with gunshot animals. Find a shop that returns your clean kill.

    Lastly marinade can tenderize and remove tastes, milk is excellent! I also like garlic, rosemary, olive oil and apple cider vinegar.

    Thank you for posting this. As an old timer told me when I brought in a small doe, "son you can't eat antler, shoot a little doe and enjoy".
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    Venison is a thing but I don't know if it is sold commercially very often. When I lived in Montana, I hunted and kept my freezer stocked with venison, antelope, elk and moose. We kept very few steaks though. The reason for me, was that it tastes very gamey and it is so lean that it tends to be tough. We used it to make sausage and ground meat.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    Steak, roasts, chops, tenderloin, sausage, jerky... you can get venison or most any game meats in the same cuts as you would get beef or pork. When you take your deer to the processor around here you can tell them how you want it cut and whether or not to mix in pork or beef with the ground meat.

    Personally for venison I love the chops and tenderloin the best.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    We have Elk and Deer farms here in Alberta.

    http://www.deerfarms.com/ab.shtml
  • At first I read the title of this thread as "I have never had wild animal sex"
    .....I think I need more coffee.....
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    Grew up on venison steaks. Ate it about 5 nights a week cuz we were poor and Dad was a good hunter. I hope I never again have to eat venison steaks...
    Same here, except usually it was made into roasts or stews. When we did have steaks, they were always well done. And they were those gangly, scrappy deer you get in the desert. Not those fat, grain eating deer from the Midwest. Between that and being overcooked, it wasn't until later in life as an adult when I had beef cooked medium that I could appreciate a good steak.
  • lucascoburn690
    lucascoburn690 Posts: 1 Member
    A venison steak with usually come from the backstrap of the deer which is just the two slabs of meat from both sides of the spine. That's at least how I've had them made my whole life as a hunter usually they will just take that straps and cut them long ways in half and then cut them in half again making them very thin. So be careful cooking not to burn them.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    Venison is tasty. So are elk & caribou. My dad brings me venison & elk. Caribou is harder to come by. I love all game meats. We get a lot of boar here in northern ca.
  • cosmo_momo
    cosmo_momo Posts: 173 Member
    Got a deer steak in the freezer right now. My boyfriend is a hunter. I've gone through over 8lbs of deer burger, a tenderloin, and a roast since November. I love make tacos and chili with the burger because it is so lean it crumbles better than beef. I made the roast in the crock pot and it was supposed to be a sort of vegetable soup, but it came apart so easily that we made pulled bbq out of it. Ugh, so good.

    On another note, if you are from the US you can't find it because it is illegal to sell. That's not to say people don't, but you have to look a lot harder to find it.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    cosmo_momo wrote: »
    Got a deer steak in the freezer right now. My boyfriend is a hunter. I've gone through over 8lbs of deer burger, a tenderloin, and a roast since November. I love make tacos and chili with the burger because it is so lean it crumbles better than beef. I made the roast in the crock pot and it was supposed to be a sort of vegetable soup, but it came apart so easily that we made pulled bbq out of it. Ugh, so good.

    On another note, if you are from the US you can't find it because it is illegal to sell. That's not to say people don't, but you have to look a lot harder to find it.

    It's not illegal to sell in the US, or I wouldn't be able to find it in the grocery store and at the local butcher's.
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
    Lessee... I pay for a hunting license and deer tag, get up at 4 am, dress in stylish bright orange gear, tromp around the rainy wet woods, lugging a rifle, and freezing my behind off, and maybe get a deer, but probably not and have to do it all the next day.
    Or I can go to the store and buy a pound of hamburger for 5.99.
    I like venison, but not enough to go get it. :D
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    cosmo_momo wrote: »
    Got a deer steak in the freezer right now. My boyfriend is a hunter. I've gone through over 8lbs of deer burger, a tenderloin, and a roast since November. I love make tacos and chili with the burger because it is so lean it crumbles better than beef. I made the roast in the crock pot and it was supposed to be a sort of vegetable soup, but it came apart so easily that we made pulled bbq out of it. Ugh, so good.

    On another note, if you are from the US you can't find it because it is illegal to sell. That's not to say people don't, but you have to look a lot harder to find it.

    It's not illegal to sell in the US, or I wouldn't be able to find it in the grocery store and at the local butcher's.

    Correct, but to add, in most, if not all states, it is illegal to sell the meat you've obtained through hunting. Farm raised deer for commercial purposes is what you can buy from the stores. Not actual game that has been hunted.

    Also with regard to the "gamey" taste, 95% of that is from improper care from field to table. You need to let it age a little bit and try to remove as much blood from the meat as possible. I've had deer from many different habitats, from young does to old bucks and barring a very young deer (SUPER tender) there is little variation in meat quality & taste.