Tough Elk Meat

[Paul_Crawford]

My son shot a very nice 6x5 CO bull back in November. He had to quick quarter it, and pack out. Long ways out. He left it in an ice-chest for 5 or 6 days good and cold. Well, the meat tastes great, but it is tougher'n leather!! I've never had that problem before. What's up with that? PC

 

[org]

Had the bull been running for a while? I shot a cow a few years ago that I watched crossing the sage brush for about a mile (don't know how far she'd run before that) and it was like trying to eat shoe soles...worse than the leather would have been. My buddy got the calf that was with her and it was tough too. We decided we weren't doing that again.

 

[D13er]

"sure mister, you can have the elk, but can I get my saddle off first?"

JB

 

[dakotakid]

Paul,

You gotta marinate YOURSELF in Bud then the meat wont seem as tough.

Mike

 

[wmidbrook]

LMAO!!!! I think Dakotakid has THE secret recipe.

 

[kilowatt]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-13-04 AT 11:31AM (MST)[p]Paul,
If you don't want it send it my way. But if you do decide to keep the meat, soak it in a mixture of Soy Sauce and equal parts of Bud Light & Miller Lite and you won't know the difference.

Brian

P.S. All kinding set aside here is what my wife says for you to do with the Elk. Marinate the meat overnight with the following items: Soy Sauce, Sesame Seed Oil and a bit of Meat tenderizer. Let it set over night or for at least two hours IN THE REFRIGERATOR. I have never had any tough meat yet.

 

[RLH]

if you don't want tough elk meat shoot cows or spikes. or maybe raghorns. larger bulls are usually pretty tough. taste fine, but tough. and cut steaks thin and fry them well done. i've never liked thick elk meat (except roasts) and don't like any seasoning other than salt and pepper. never ever garlic. and never any of that marinade crap. the thicker the elk steak, the tougher it will be. it cooks up completely different than beef. elk tastes great, why try to make it taste like something else? i don't think the wives tale about them running before or after you shoot them or any of the other "rural" myths have anything to do with the texture of the meat. it just depends on the animal and what they've been eating. older elk are pretty tough, especially bulls.

 

[NVMDF]

you have to let the meat age 10-20 days, hang it in a
meat locker, I've never had tough meat, big bulls, old
buck, hang them and they will be tender.

NVMDF

 

[Paul_Crawford]

Dakota, good idea, but what would make you think I'l want to "marinate" myself in Budweiser? Pickled is a better term. hehe. RLF is definately right about elk tasting great, but I think there is definately something about aging the meat, too. Never tried marinades. Thanks for the ideas gentlemen. PC

 

[Cazador]

Alcohol is a very good meat tenderizer that is why beer works. What alcohol basically does is breaks down all the fibers or the hard connective tissues that makes the meat tough. Aging the meat also does this by allowing the meat to naturally break down those fibers and allows time for water content in the blood to evaporate so that it is more flavorful. Soak your meat in some JD overnight with soy sauce then cook the next day.

 

[kilowatt]

I know this has nothing to do with Elk or Deer but when you cook a Turkey either in a BBQ or oven, baste the turkey with beer after it has started to brown. It will help to brown up the skin and at the same time will keep the meat tender and moist. Keep it wrapped in foil while doing this too.

Brian

 

[swivelhead]

I have a mature bull in my freezer that is very tasty but exceptionally tough. I've tried marinades, etc. to no avail. I boned it in the field and butchered at my house. Took the scraps to the processor for grinding. Next time I'll be grinding all but the best cuts. That being said, I like having the problem.

 

[Paul_Crawford]

Guess what? Just had fried elk steaks, mashed 'taters, and gravy. Fantastic. After I cut into small steaks I just pounded the hell out of them with one of those tenderizer mallets. You know what I'm talking about. Simple. Worked like a charm!! PC

 

[org]

Call it whatever you want, RLH. Rural legend or whatever, I've had old bull and old buck that was as tender and tasty as any beef. (Note that I didn't say it tasted LIKE beef). I also had a tough cow and calf that had been running a long way. What they've been eating might have something to do with flavor, but I doubt that it makes them a lot tougher. The one difference has been that I never had one I couldn't chew that was shot while grazing peacefully. Old or not.

 

[RLH]

i usually make lots of hamburger. if you can get the processor to do it, have em run all the round steaks through a tenderizer several times. does the same thing as one o' them meat beatin' hammers, only better and a heck of a lot easier. my gramma used to use the edge of a heavy plate to do the same thing. main thing to me is to cut steaks thin. chewin' a tough 1/4" thick steak is 4 times as easy as chewin' a 1" thick tough steak. and age it a couple weeks if you can. if an animals is tough, he's tough. if he ain't, he ain't. another good way to do it is to pit barbecue big pieces of it. eat what you want at the time and then cut up the rest in chunks and wrap and freeze it. i've done entire elk, less the backstrap and filets, this way before. great stuff. it's always been my experience, and i do have a little in the elk department, that the older an elk is, the tougher it is. i've never seen a tough young one.

 

[Bambistew]

RLH, I do agree with you about the older ones being tough most of the time... But I have had a few young bulls that were tougher than shoe leather... One spike in particular that ened up becoming hamburger... One trick to eating tough meat is to cook the living hell out of it, slowly like in a crock pot.

 

[RLH]

i guess my experience is sorta skewed too. i just shoot great big old bulls with huge racks anymore. been about 30 years since my last raghorn and i just sorta remember that it was pretty good food. so i'll stick with what i know and say that the elk i shoot are usually always tough and let the rest of ya supply the info on the cows and little bulls. i'll just have to take your word for it. wink, wink.

 

[jbone]

I have shot decent sized elk and have never had a problem with toughness or chewiness. Then, again, I marinade most of my steaks. I just had some T-Bones the other night on the grill (they were not marinaded) and they were awesome.

Don't know what your elk's problem is......good luck though.



JBone

 

[B_F_E]

2nd to everything RLH has mentioned.
As Casador said let them hang, if its to hot, take it to the locker to hang for at least 1 week.
Front shoulders are made for sandwitch meat, bottle it.
If none of this works, go eat some antelope first, then you'll think you have the best meat in the world.

 

[RLH]

i love pronghorn. most folks don't. it just has a lot of flavor and you have to plan for it. and no garlic. i like garlic, but not on game. make it taste nasty to me.

 

[elknut1]

We've taken a few elk of all types, cows, spikes, raggys, 6s and 7s. It seems they've all been pretty good.
However the age of a bull sure could affect it's tenderness and does. I too agree hard running game affects it as well.
But I believe the number one reason for tough and gamy meat is how long it takes the animal to expire. If it dies fairly quickly, then great ,if not, then adrenaline and such gets through the system and man can that effect the meat. In other words if it takes an animal 15 min. or more because of a marginal shot, (bow or rifle)or over an hour before it dies, this is when I've noticed the tough meat syndrome. So an older animal with a marginal shot just compounds the problem. A younger animal with a marginal shot and a passing of time could probably take a little more time.

In your case, a 5x6 should have been excellent table fare if disposed of quickly. Do you know how long it took for his bull to expire, or if it required some tracking and what not after the hit? elknut1

 

[Paul_Crawford]

His .300 Win. Mag. was right on target. Dropped him like a sack of 'spuds!! PC