How to make that GAME meat less strong!

BearCat · Oct 2, 2009

So first off I love to eat any game meat, but I do have a few family members that are a bit more resitant and have learned a few tricks from my Grandmother!!! Most of these methods really do not change the taste but do take the HARD GAMY taste away

1. Try soaking the game meat over night or even a couple of nights in salt water (changing it often). I use this mostly on antelope and ducks as the salt pulls the blood from the meet and we all know that contains a lot of the game taste

2. Try soaking the game meat in buttermilk. This is another trick of my grandmothers and the cultures in the buttermilk help break down the meat and remove the HARD game taste. Great with deer and antelope. I usually do the salt water for one day before this.

3. Try soaking in 7-UP. I use a fit of seven up and soak my trout or any fish in it for a couple of hours before breading. It adds a distink sweet taste that adds to the fish flavor but does not take it away (the longer you leave it the sweeter it is becomes)

Hope this helps!
Dean

MTCOWBOY · Oct 2, 2009

Keep Clean, Cool Down, Hang Head Down!! DO NOT RUN, KILL WHILE REMAINING UNKNOWN. And for god's sake remove scent glands.

BuckSnort · Oct 2, 2009

I have never removed scent glands....old wives tale..

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REDDOG · Oct 2, 2009

and be sure to cut the neck immediately so it can bleed out.

never_catch · Oct 9, 2009

lol to funny!!

~Z~

BearCat · Oct 9, 2009

So what I have always understood about the scent glands is that they will not "leach" into the meat and not the reason you remove them, but more because once the skin is off of the animal you want to try and contaminate with any other materials such as dirt, hair, crap, urine, or by touching the sent glands and then the meat.

Just my two cents worth.

BearCat

WAPITI39 · Oct 16, 2009

Clean and cool down immediately and you will not have any heavy game flavored meat.

Frontier · Oct 18, 2009

Exactly Wapiti39!

rumproast · Oct 20, 2009

Never disappointed in the quality of my animals, but the one thing I always do is skin them soon as I can, before hanging with Deer. Elk is quartered out anyway. Lope I take care of on the spot and they are tenderest at that point anyway.
No hide hanging has worked well for me, if they are hanging at all.

Rump

Fire_Hawk · Oct 21, 2009

My best tips are to:
1- remove all fat and as much of the "silver skin" as possible.
2- Age meat in Fridge as needed to make certain all blood has drained from the meat. Blood and fat are what will cause the gaminess. If you get rid of those, you get rid of the "gamey" flavor.
3- Never cook beyond medium. Rare to medium rare is even better.

FH

NMRaptor · Nov 2, 2009

I keep the meat as clean as possible and put it in an ice-water bath for several days. I keep the meat submerged in the ice water as much as possible. I drain the bloody water and replace with fresh water and ice until the water drains clean.
The meat is then ready to be cut up and wrapped or processed as desired.
-Raptor

Cookie2 · Nov 2, 2009

rumproast nailed it. The single most important thing you can do is to skin the animal IMMEDIATELY. This allows the meat to cool rapidly and makes a HUGE difference in the quality of the meat. I always skin as quickly as possible and hang all meat in the shade while removing other portions, then when you are done get it to ice with water drained off till you can get it somewhere cool.
The ice water bath? Water promotes bacterial growth and that's NEVER a good thing.
We have also experimented with soaking in milk and it does help.

BuckSnort · Nov 2, 2009

>I keep the meat as clean
>as possible and put it
>in an ice-water bath for
>several days. I keep
>the meat submerged in the
>ice water as much as
>possible. I drain the
>bloody water and replace with
>fresh water and ice until
>the water drains clean.
>The meat is then ready to
>be cut up and wrapped
>or processed as desired.
>-Raptor

That is a really good way to promote bacteria.....

Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.

arch3614elk · Nov 5, 2009

De-bone it ASAP...

Bates7 · Nov 8, 2009

+1 BuckSnort

I got sick just reading that. That feller must have iron guts.

Phantom Hunter · Nov 12, 2009

Rumproast nailed it. Only thing to add is try to make as clean a kill as possible.

Phantom Hunter

COLOelkman · Nov 15, 2009

From the book "From Mountain to Tabletop" by Matt Pelton, he recommends cooling the meat down via immersing it in a stream if available particularly in warmer hunting seasons. He discusses the bacteria issue and claims that the water would not initiate bacteria. I've learned a lot from the book and I would highly recommend it for those that want to learn more about improving your meat.

hntbambi · Nov 16, 2009

>That is a really good way
>to promote bacteria.....
>

Since its below the danger zone, how do you figure this promotes bacteria? Ice water will be well below 40? F. Bacteria starts to multiply when food is in the Danger Zone: 40?-140?.

wildgameguy · Nov 26, 2009

the quality of your game soley depends on how it was taken care of in the field!!! If you want meat that is less strong than take better care of it. Cooling the carcass as soon as possible makes all the difference. Once an animal is dead it "naturally" begins to decay! This process of decomposition speeds up in a warm enviorment and slows in a cool one. The longer it remains "hot" the more gamey it gets. Actually most of the gamey taste is derived from the "rotting" process! The first order of business is to skin your animal right away!! Rid your animal of all its body temp. as soon as possible!

Tune in for the rest of the story!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wildgameguy

SHERMAN · Nov 28, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Nov-28-09 AT 05:04PM (MST)[p]bone out! get rid of the bone i dont cook with the bone in, i dont cut steaks with the bone in.
get rid of all fat and sinue its nothing like beef fat.
salt brine and then buttermilk with peppercorns if you think its too gamey. liquid smoke, meat tenderizer, i like a very clean steak no bone or fat with sea salt and fresh ground pepper for grilling!

RIMROCK338 · Dec 9, 2009

It's not always the way the animal is taken care of after the kill! I shot a doe pronghorn outside Casper wy in December..
- 10 degrees 8:00am... it was frozen within 10minutes of skinning and so was I..it stunk when I was cleaning it, That thing smelled so bad when cooking it,the dog even went running out of the house..it was just plan bad..RIMROCK