Cooking deer meat

[omarsrevenge]

Over the past couple of decades I've given all my deer away to Mennonites. This year I've decided to get back into eating deer meat. Anybody here have some good recommendations for tenderizing the meat, recipes, etc?

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Deer meat is already tender & lean so be delicate with whatever acidity you introduce. And if you're avoiding acids altogether, then there really isn't much point to marinades at all. Focus more on sauces. They introduce the flavor without wasting time & money on marinades. I've been loving some chipotle adobo sauce lately. Miss my summertime heats this time of year & I still have lots of canned peppers from the garden.

I think the only cuts I ever truly marinate are flanks when I'm making tacos/fajitas or teriyaki style. Not a fan of marinating better cuts. It just doesn't penetrate enough to make a big enough difference & you have to be careful with acidity. And if you're just in it for the flavor-introduction, then just using sauces gives the same result.

98% of the time I only dry-brine with salt. Penetrates better & leaches out moisture for better charring. 3-4 hours is plenty depending on the thickness of your cuts. Can go upwards of 24hrs on thicker stuff if you really want to.

And with grinds/burger... Its mostly about the kind of fats & cures you mix with. This is where I spend the most time when processing my game meats. I've spent decades figuring out that this is where you should spend the most time. Highly recommend bacon ends.