Preparing Venison

Colduglandon · November 18, 2002, 02:53 PM

Never made deer sausage. Would like to try this year. Any recipes. Also any good suggestions for spices, cooking times on roasts.
Bagged a 145lb doe. Would like to do her justice in the kitchen.

Keith Rogan · November 18, 2002, 03:15 PM

Sausages are sausages and just pick the type you like best.

As for cooking venison, the one sin is to overcook it. Leave it pink in the middle and it will be tasty and tender, overcook it and it's leather.

My favorite venison recipe is to take about a 5 pound roast, coat the outside with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle it liberally with with fresh thyme and garlic powder. Pop it in a HOT oven (425 or 450) until a deep stab with a fork lets out mildly pink fluid instead of red blood. How long that takes depends on how the roast is cut and how large it is, maybe 45 minutes to an hour. Be careful not to overcook - easier to pop it back in for a bit longer than to chew through overcooked venison.

Good stuff! Fresh thyme also lends itself well to pan frying smaller steaks and chops or whatever.

Keith

Larry Ashcraft · November 18, 2002, 04:06 PM

We make an exellent breakfast sausage with our pronghorn meat. We mix in about 1/3 to 1/2 pork butts and grind it in a large professional type grinder (family purchase just for hunting). My wife does the measuring but I can get the recipe tonight if you are interested.

Colduglandon · November 18, 2002, 05:01 PM

Sure I'd like the recipe for the sausage. Especially the spices. Thanks for the tip on using Thyme. I always use a liberal amount of garlic on the roast.

CD1 · November 18, 2002, 05:28 PM

Go to Amazon.com and look up Bruce Aidells. He has a great sausage book (several venison recipes in it) that covers many of the finer points of sausage making.

labgrade · November 18, 2002, 09:35 PM

Many of the game meats are way lean & easy enough to "cook till dry." :barf:

I use a (Brinkman, I think) smoker to do almost all game meats.

Use wood chips/marinade, if you want, but the "secret" is to stick a pan of water in the rack just below while cooking. Unless a total fool (I have

) & you really botch the job, no matter, it's nice 'n moist.

Hosted a couple 'Springs' TFLers last Sat for some antelope - they'll testify.

scotjute · November 19, 2002, 09:40 AM

Paul,
I use a sausage spice mix from the grocery store. If there is none in the spice isle, go to the meat counter and ask for some.
They'll usually glad to sell it to you. We like it hotter than what's recommended.

We mix our venison with cheap hamburger, about 1/2 and 1/2.
Make "deer burgers" this way and make smaller sausage patties (deer burger with sausage spice mix added). They're good.

ckurts · November 19, 2002, 11:03 AM

There have been various threads on cooking game here in The Hunt forum over the years. Look for Art Eatman's barbecued venison roast recipe, it's dandy.

Backstraps are good butterflied, sautee'd just past rare and served with a mushroom wine sauce. Sautee mushrooms first, dredge the meat in seasoned flour and sautee, and use the pan scrapings with a cup of beef broth and a cup of dry sherry to make the sauce. You can do the tenderloins in a similar manner.

Keith is mostly right, venison roasts are best served between rare and medium, but slow cooking in barbecue sauce in the oven (7 or 8 hours at 225 for a 5lb roast) or in a Brinkman smoker as mentioned by Labgrade and the meat is wonderful.

Kurt

Larry Ashcraft · November 19, 2002, 12:56 PM

OK, I got our recipe from my wife last night. It's really very simple, but very tasty. We have used this recipe for at least 20 years. It's actually my late father-in-law's pork sausage recipe.

Good Pork Sausage:

16 lbs fresh lean venison or antelope
8 lbs. fresh fat pork (pork butts)
8 tbls salt
6 tbls black pepper
9 tbls sage
6 tsp red pepper flakes

makes 24 lbs sausage

Grind meat together, run through the grinder twice. Mix seasonings in well.

(My favorite part) Fry a patty, taste and then add more seasoning to taste.

You can substitute lean beef or pork for the game.

Colduglandon · November 19, 2002, 11:57 PM

Thanks Trophy Shop.
I had already worked the taste testing into the plan. Picked up some casings and some boneless rib ends tonite(did not have pork butt). Will try some with variety of seasonings including sage. My wife suggested a chinese 5 seasonings I think she called it as well. Ever tried red wine as a marinate in the deer sausage. Going to try some with garlic, dehydrated onion, fennel and red pepper along with salt and pepper.
Got a Brinkman smoker last summer. Only used it once for chicken and a fresh ham. Ham was great. Will break it out when my son comes home from active duty early next year and do some roasts in it for the celebration.

CD1 · November 20, 2002, 09:50 AM

Paul,

It's important to have enough fat in the sausage. If you can't find pork butt, and still need fat; you can get it from a place called Niman Ranch. They have a website, Nimanranch.com.

I had difficulty getting pork fat at the local grocery (NOT the same as salt pork!) for my sausage making, and Niman Ranch shipped high quality pork fat via fedex (sounds kinda funny..pork fat by mail).

Let us know how it turns out.

Preacherman · November 20, 2002, 11:52 AM

Pork fat via FedEx???

Sounds like our new secret weapon against Al Qaeda!!!

Larry Ashcraft · November 20, 2002, 11:53 AM

Haven't tried the red wine marinade, but it's worth a try. When my wife was adding the seasonings this year, she misread the red pepper flakes and put in 6 tablespoons instead of teaspoons. The sausage came out a little spicier, but still fine, a little hot for the grandkids though. We don't use casings, just wrap in about 1/2 lb packages and freeze.

Colduglandon · November 20, 2002, 11:44 PM

found some pork butt today, and picked up some ground pork. Spent most of the afternoon grinding the meat. used a big piece of chuck from my friends buck. I was using the grinder attachment on the wife's Kitchenaid mixer and it took quite a while. didn't work as well as my gransmother's old hand grinder. Going to put it all together tomorrow. Got plenty of ground meat so I might work up a batch of chilli. Picked up a bottle of vino as well.

HerrJaegermeister · November 21, 2002, 09:32 PM

My wife and I got a very fancy crock pot as a wedding gift this summer. A while ago we made a large venison roast in it with carrots, potatoes and some onion. This roast was a good portion of the rear leg of a 10-point Iowa buck.

This is so simple. The large roast goes in the crock pot with a packet of beef crock pot seasoning called Crock Pot Gourmet and a few cups of water. Set the temp at low and cook the roast for at least 10 hours. Do not open to peek because you will let out the moisture.

During the last three hours add carrots, potatoes and onion. Use a turkey baster a few times to cover veggies with meat juice.

When the meat is done, it will be so tender you won't need a knife. Good eating, but a large meal to be shared with guests (or lots of left-overs).

Colduglandon · November 21, 2002, 10:59 PM

Crock pot sounds good.
Made two types of sausage today. Italian with fennel 3 to 1 venison to pork and breakfast 1 to 1 ratio. Had the italian for supper with some linguine and green pepper sauce, and the vino. Used a combination of the recipe that came with the kitchenaid and a recipe I got off Sausagemania

http://www.sausagemania.com

Anyone got the seasonings for bratwurst, used to love that stuff in Germany. Had some from local stores but not the same at all.

labgrade · November 22, 2002, 12:40 AM

Crock pot! (duh & slaps head)

Excellent way to cook shoes on up. Works very well for those cuts that're normally too, uhm, stringy, et al to really do that much with - even jerky sometimes.

ob_juan · November 22, 2002, 04:51 PM

Marinade in Italian dressing and soy sauce. Also baste with this while it is cooking. Tastes real good and keeps it from drying out. Give it a try.

November 18, 2002, 02:53 PM	#1
Colduglandon Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 1999 Location: Mass Posts: 493	Preparing Venison Never made deer sausage. Would like to try this year. Any recipes. Also any good suggestions for spices, cooking times on roasts. Bagged a 145lb doe. Would like to do her justice in the kitchen.

November 18, 2002, 03:15 PM	#2
Keith Rogan Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 1999 Location: Kodiak, Alaska Posts: 1,014	Sausages are sausages and just pick the type you like best. As for cooking venison, the one sin is to overcook it. Leave it pink in the middle and it will be tasty and tender, overcook it and it's leather. My favorite venison recipe is to take about a 5 pound roast, coat the outside with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle it liberally with with fresh thyme and garlic powder. Pop it in a HOT oven (425 or 450) until a deep stab with a fork lets out mildly pink fluid instead of red blood. How long that takes depends on how the roast is cut and how large it is, maybe 45 minutes to an hour. Be careful not to overcook - easier to pop it back in for a bit longer than to chew through overcooked venison. Good stuff! Fresh thyme also lends itself well to pan frying smaller steaks and chops or whatever. Keith __________________ Keith

November 18, 2002, 04:06 PM	#3
Larry Ashcraft Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2001 Location: Pueblo, CO, Home of Heroes Posts: 251	We make an exellent breakfast sausage with our pronghorn meat. We mix in about 1/3 to 1/2 pork butts and grind it in a large professional type grinder (family purchase just for hunting). My wife does the measuring but I can get the recipe tonight if you are interested. __________________ Larry Ashcraft, formerly TrophyShop

November 18, 2002, 05:01 PM	#4
Colduglandon Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 1999 Location: Mass Posts: 493	Sure I'd like the recipe for the sausage. Especially the spices. Thanks for the tip on using Thyme. I always use a liberal amount of garlic on the roast. __________________ From the People's Republic of Massachusetts

November 19, 2002, 12:56 PM	#9
Larry Ashcraft Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2001 Location: Pueblo, CO, Home of Heroes Posts: 251	OK, I got our recipe from my wife last night. It's really very simple, but very tasty. We have used this recipe for at least 20 years. It's actually my late father-in-law's pork sausage recipe. Good Pork Sausage: 16 lbs fresh lean venison or antelope 8 lbs. fresh fat pork (pork butts) 8 tbls salt 6 tbls black pepper 9 tbls sage 6 tsp red pepper flakes makes 24 lbs sausage Grind meat together, run through the grinder twice. Mix seasonings in well. (My favorite part) Fry a patty, taste and then add more seasoning to taste. You can substitute lean beef or pork for the game. __________________ Larry Ashcraft, formerly TrophyShop

November 18, 2002, 05:28 PM	#5
CD1 Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2000 Posts: 320	Go to Amazon.com and look up Bruce Aidells. He has a great sausage book (several venison recipes in it) that covers many of the finer points of sausage making.

November 18, 2002, 09:35 PM	#6
labgrade Member In Memoriam Join Date: November 29, 1999 Location: west of a small town, CO Posts: 4,346	Many of the game meats are way lean & easy enough to "cook till dry." :barf: I use a (Brinkman, I think) smoker to do almost all game meats. Use wood chips/marinade, if you want, but the "secret" is to stick a pan of water in the rack just below while cooking. Unless a total fool (I have ) & you really botch the job, no matter, it's nice 'n moist. Hosted a couple 'Springs' TFLers last Sat for some antelope - they'll testify.

November 19, 2002, 09:40 AM	#7
scotjute Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2001 Location: texas Posts: 260	Paul, I use a sausage spice mix from the grocery store. If there is none in the spice isle, go to the meat counter and ask for some. They'll usually glad to sell it to you. We like it hotter than what's recommended. We mix our venison with cheap hamburger, about 1/2 and 1/2. Make "deer burgers" this way and make smaller sausage patties (deer burger with sausage spice mix added). They're good.

November 19, 2002, 11:03 AM	#8
ckurts Senior Member Join Date: August 3, 1999 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 475	There have been various threads on cooking game here in The Hunt forum over the years. Look for Art Eatman's barbecued venison roast recipe, it's dandy. Backstraps are good butterflied, sautee'd just past rare and served with a mushroom wine sauce. Sautee mushrooms first, dredge the meat in seasoned flour and sautee, and use the pan scrapings with a cup of beef broth and a cup of dry sherry to make the sauce. You can do the tenderloins in a similar manner. Keith is mostly right, venison roasts are best served between rare and medium, but slow cooking in barbecue sauce in the oven (7 or 8 hours at 225 for a 5lb roast) or in a Brinkman smoker as mentioned by Labgrade and the meat is wonderful. Kurt

November 19, 2002, 11:57 PM	#10
Colduglandon Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 1999 Location: Mass Posts: 493	Thanks Trophy Shop. I had already worked the taste testing into the plan. Picked up some casings and some boneless rib ends tonite(did not have pork butt). Will try some with variety of seasonings including sage. My wife suggested a chinese 5 seasonings I think she called it as well. Ever tried red wine as a marinate in the deer sausage. Going to try some with garlic, dehydrated onion, fennel and red pepper along with salt and pepper. Got a Brinkman smoker last summer. Only used it once for chicken and a fresh ham. Ham was great. Will break it out when my son comes home from active duty early next year and do some roasts in it for the celebration.

November 20, 2002, 09:50 AM	#11
CD1 Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2000 Posts: 320	Paul, It's important to have enough fat in the sausage. If you can't find pork butt, and still need fat; you can get it from a place called Niman Ranch. They have a website, Nimanranch.com. I had difficulty getting pork fat at the local grocery (NOT the same as salt pork!) for my sausage making, and Niman Ranch shipped high quality pork fat via fedex (sounds kinda funny..pork fat by mail). Let us know how it turns out.

November 20, 2002, 11:52 AM	#12
Preacherman Senior Member Join Date: July 9, 2002 Posts: 791	Pork fat via FedEx??? Sounds like our new secret weapon against Al Qaeda!!!

November 20, 2002, 11:53 AM	#13
Larry Ashcraft Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2001 Location: Pueblo, CO, Home of Heroes Posts: 251	Haven't tried the red wine marinade, but it's worth a try. When my wife was adding the seasonings this year, she misread the red pepper flakes and put in 6 tablespoons instead of teaspoons. The sausage came out a little spicier, but still fine, a little hot for the grandkids though. We don't use casings, just wrap in about 1/2 lb packages and freeze. __________________ Larry Ashcraft, formerly TrophyShop

November 20, 2002, 11:44 PM	#14
Colduglandon Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 1999 Location: Mass Posts: 493	found some pork butt today, and picked up some ground pork. Spent most of the afternoon grinding the meat. used a big piece of chuck from my friends buck. I was using the grinder attachment on the wife's Kitchenaid mixer and it took quite a while. didn't work as well as my gransmother's old hand grinder. Going to put it all together tomorrow. Got plenty of ground meat so I might work up a batch of chilli. Picked up a bottle of vino as well.

November 21, 2002, 09:32 PM	#15
HerrJaegermeister Senior Member Join Date: March 19, 2001 Location: Sioux City, Iowa Posts: 126	Crock pot My wife and I got a very fancy crock pot as a wedding gift this summer. A while ago we made a large venison roast in it with carrots, potatoes and some onion. This roast was a good portion of the rear leg of a 10-point Iowa buck. This is so simple. The large roast goes in the crock pot with a packet of beef crock pot seasoning called Crock Pot Gourmet and a few cups of water. Set the temp at low and cook the roast for at least 10 hours. Do not open to peek because you will let out the moisture. During the last three hours add carrots, potatoes and onion. Use a turkey baster a few times to cover veggies with meat juice. When the meat is done, it will be so tender you won't need a knife. Good eating, but a large meal to be shared with guests (or lots of left-overs).

November 21, 2002, 10:59 PM	#16
Colduglandon Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 1999 Location: Mass Posts: 493	Crock pot sounds good. Made two types of sausage today. Italian with fennel 3 to 1 venison to pork and breakfast 1 to 1 ratio. Had the italian for supper with some linguine and green pepper sauce, and the vino. Used a combination of the recipe that came with the kitchenaid and a recipe I got off Sausagemania http://www.sausagemania.com Anyone got the seasonings for bratwurst, used to love that stuff in Germany. Had some from local stores but not the same at all. __________________ From the People's Republic of Massachusetts

November 22, 2002, 12:40 AM	#17
labgrade Member In Memoriam Join Date: November 29, 1999 Location: west of a small town, CO Posts: 4,346	Crock pot! (duh & slaps head) Excellent way to cook shoes on up. Works very well for those cuts that're normally too, uhm, stringy, et al to really do that much with - even jerky sometimes.

November 22, 2002, 04:51 PM	#18
ob_juan Junior Member Join Date: October 30, 2002 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 11	Marinade in Italian dressing and soy sauce. Also baste with this while it is cooking. Tastes real good and keeps it from drying out. Give it a try.