What Does Venison Taste Like?

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What is Venison? What does it taste like? Is it healthy? We will try to answer all these questions and more in this article.

If you have never had Venison before or are hesitant to try it, you are at the right place, as we will inspire you to try Venison at least once in your life.

What Is Venison?

Originally, Venison was considered game meat; now, Venison is mainly referred to as the meat of antlered ungulates such as Deer or Elk.

The term Venison is used to describe all parts of the animal, as long as the part is edible.

What Does Venison Taste Like?

Venison has a tough and chewy texture and most people that eat Venison state that it is sweeter than cattle meat and has a stronger flavor.

Venison also has a drier texture than beef, and some have described it as being a stronger version of beef.

How Is Venison Made?

Here is how you can prepare Venison for consumption:

Field Dressing

From the moment the deer is hunted, you should start field dressing the animal (Removing the inedible internal tissue and intestines) as quickly as possible to protect the meat from tainting.

Ensure that you start processing the meat as soon as possible.

You can also take the meat to a processor, which will probably have a walk-in cooler set at the right temperature (34 to 37 degrees and 88 % humidity).

The cooler will age the meat.

However, if you are not planning to process the meat immediately, deer quarters it and store it in a container with ice quickly.

When processing the Venison, always remember to eliminate the silver skin, gristle, sinew, and anything that’s not muscle.

Aging

Many deer hunters forget that aging is an important and essential step in creating tender and succulent deer meat.

The aging helps the Venison to develop a tender texture.

The processor can do the aging for you; if you want to age the meat yourself, you can do it before or after thawing the Venison.

There are also two aging methods used for Venison: Wet and Dry Aging.

Wet Aging

This method often occurs once the meat is thawed and is typically used by supermarkets or grocery stores.

After the vacuum sealing, air must not touch the Venison.

Once the Venison is thawed, let it age by leaving it to vacuum packed for 2 weeks (14 days).

If you don’t properly age the Venison and need to use it abruptly, there is something else you can do.

Place the unpackaged deer meat on a cooling rack, and point a fan towards the rack for half an hour.

You will be amazed to see how quickly the meat tenderizes and browns.

Dry Aging

Most people prefer the dry-aging method, but in this method, the Venison needs to be stored under a constant air pressure of 34 to 37 degrees.

This breaks down or denatures the Venison.

While most people let the meat age for 14 days, on most occasions, 10 days are sufficient to break down the muscle fibers and connective tissue.

How Do You Cook Venison?

Here is how you can cook Venison:

Venison Steak

Cook the steak or grill it in a skillet.

The best way to cook the steak is on a hot skillet or a very hot grill.

Both methods will sear the Venison and cook it to a proper internal temperature.

Both charcoal and gas grills are perfect for Venison.

Heat the coals for approximately half an hour before cooking the meat.

You can also use a cast-iron skillet for cooking the steak.

You will first need to heat the skillet and add a tbsp. Or two of olive oil in the pan.

Before adding the steak, the pan needs to be hot, so the meat is cooked evenly.

Venison Roast

Lard the Venison roast with bacon and aromatics.

After cleaning the roast by trimming the silver skin, connective tissue, and fat, make several slits in the Venison, about two inches deep and one inch wide.

Make up to 10 to 12 cuts in the surface of the deer meat, and stuff the Venison with bacon, and vegetables, which will moisturize the meat and inject some natural flavors.

You can also add aromatics to the meat, such as sage, thyme, rosemary, and garlic cloves.

To add fat, you can add chopped bacon, but you can also use other butter varieties such as butter.

Venison Stew

Before making the stew, you must brown the meat in a large and deep pan.

Add some olive oil to the pan, and heat it.

Ensure the meat is browned on all sides; however, you don’t need to cook the Venison all the way through.

Usually, you can make a stew with a pound of Venison by using the meat from the rib, neck, or ham section.

With the stew, you want to create a good char on the interior of the Venison and build a color at the bottom of the pan.

You can also dust the Venison with white flour.

One or two tbsp. Of flour should be good enough.

What Do You Eat Venison With?

Here is what you can eat with Venison:

Honey And Herb Oven Roasted Carrots

The natural sweetness of carrot, drizzled in butter, honey, and fresh rosemary, tastes good alongside Venison.

Check out 5 Best Frozen Mac and Cheese.

Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes

These are the creamiest and thickest mashed potatoes, filled with cheese and cream cheese.

These mash potatoes have a touch of tang and are silky smooth so they will pair well with Venison meat, especially Roasted Venison.

Baked Beans

These baked beans are full of meaty flavors from bacon and beef and are drowned in liquid smoke from the grill.

You can add some brown sugar to the beans to enhance their sweetness and pair it with Venison.

Is Venison Good For You?

Does Venison offer health benefits? Yes, it does, and here they are:

High-Quality Source Of Protein

A 100-gram serving of Venison contains approximately 24 grams of protein, a decent quantity of protein.

Venison, like all types of meats, is a complete protein that contains amino acids.

Protein is not just about building muscle; the importance of a good protein intake goes beyond that, as it can also support your immune system, build crucial enzymes, and support hormone production.

Check out 5 Best Frozen Onion Rings and 5 Best Frozen Fried Chicken.

Low Content Of Saturated Fat

Reducing saturated fat intake is something lot of people should consider.

While we don’t need to remove saturated fat from our diets completely, we need to consume other fat varieties.

Venison has a much lower saturated fat content than beef and other meat varieties and will help you reduce your saturated fat intake.

High In Haem Iron

Iron is a nutrient that is essential for the body.

Venison is rich in Haem iron, a variety of iron that is efficiently absorbed by the body.

Plants contain non-Haem iron, which takes a while for the body to absorb.

This is why most vegetarians and vegans often complain of iron deficiency.

Check out 5 Best Orange Chicken and 5 Best Frozen Mozzarella Sticks.

Adding a bit of Venison to your diet will increase your iron intake substantially.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article will help you understand everything about Venison meat, such as what it tastes like? How to cook it? Is it healthy? Etc.

If you can, try making Venison a part of your diet.

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What Does Venison Taste Like?

What Is Venison?

What Does Venison Taste Like?