by Minrott » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:02 pm
Yeah. That sounds good. Celery for the win.
As for the gamey taste, there are a lot of factors. Knowing that deer do not have the same enzymes in their meat as cows, and that hanging them to "age" does nothing, I've noticed a distinct difference between deer that have been left to hang a couple days and those that have not.
Temperature at the time of the kill also makes a difference. If you arrow a deer in early bow season and it's 75 degrees out, I hope you're good with a knife and have a freezer near by. Any time wasted here will result in a very poor tasting meat.
The first deer I ever shot (with a rifle) was the only to require a second killing shot, and as far as I can remember it tasted largely the same as the other 100+ deer that have put venison on my table over my life.
My last bit of advise is that if you know how to can food and have a pressure cooker, go ahead and can some venison. Fill a pint jar up 2" from the mouth, pack it down to remove air bubbles. Add some onion, and a teaspoon of salt. Pepper sparingly. Garlic sparingly (or none at all). Can for at least 45 minutes at 15lbs ( I think 15 lbs. Your canner will have 2 weights, one for vegies, 1 for meats).
Best venison you've ever had. Make stew with it, make stroganhoff with it, use the juices to make gravy and pour over rice or noodles. All you have to do is heat it up, and if your cans sealed it's good for a year or there abouts.
Molon Labe