Post by yihunt on Dec 6, 2009 13:29:04 GMT -4
Hunter has options when processing deer
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, December 6, 2009
OK, so you harvested a deer this hunting season.
Now what?
Some people love the idea of eating venison all winter. And it is a healthy food. According to Lynne Brown, a food science professor at Penn State speaking on Penn State radio, venison has much less fat than a similar-sized serving of beef or pork, for instance.
But how do you turn that healthy food into good tasting food? There are a variety of ways to do that.
Can it
Canning involves preparing meat so that it can be stored, unfrozen or refrigerated, for long periods of time. It's a great way to tenderize venison in particular.
You can cold pack or hot pack meat; in the latter case, you'll need a pressure cooker. Either way, you usually store meat in quart jars. Later, it can be used in venison chili, gourmet recipes, salads and many other dishes.
If you're looking to get started, check out the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guide to home canning at UGA.edu.
Turn it into jerky
There are two types of jerky — that made from ground meat, which is softer, and that made from whole muscle meat, which you have to tear to chew.
Marty Prokop, who teaches classes in processing deer all over the country, recommends on his Web site making whole muscle meat jerky from the rounds found in the back leg quarters. Using meat with sinew or gristle is too stringy.
Decide early if you plan to make jerky, though, he advises. Steaks are cut against the grain of the meat, and meat for deer jerky is cut with the grain.
If you plan to make jerky from ground venison, be sure to remove all fat, sinew and gristle. That will improve the texture and taste.
Make sausage
Venison is very lean. There will be no fat marbled in the meat, as with beef. And you want to trim off any fat on the edges of your meat.
While that makes it healthy, it does present an issue when it comes to making sausage.
You'll want to mix some pork fat or pork butt to your venison — in a 60-40 ratio of deer to pork — before turning it into sausage, according to the experts at Texas A&M University's horticulture division.
How-to guides available
If you want more advice on how to handle wild game and turn it into something tasty to eat, free publications from Penn State University's College of Agricultural Sciences can help.
"Field Dressing Deer Pocket Guide" and "Proper Care and Handling of Venison: From Field to Table" can be downloaded at Pubs.cas.psu.edu.
Other publications dealing with game birds and fish can be found there as well.
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, December 6, 2009
OK, so you harvested a deer this hunting season.
Now what?
Some people love the idea of eating venison all winter. And it is a healthy food. According to Lynne Brown, a food science professor at Penn State speaking on Penn State radio, venison has much less fat than a similar-sized serving of beef or pork, for instance.
But how do you turn that healthy food into good tasting food? There are a variety of ways to do that.
Can it
Canning involves preparing meat so that it can be stored, unfrozen or refrigerated, for long periods of time. It's a great way to tenderize venison in particular.
You can cold pack or hot pack meat; in the latter case, you'll need a pressure cooker. Either way, you usually store meat in quart jars. Later, it can be used in venison chili, gourmet recipes, salads and many other dishes.
If you're looking to get started, check out the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guide to home canning at UGA.edu.
Turn it into jerky
There are two types of jerky — that made from ground meat, which is softer, and that made from whole muscle meat, which you have to tear to chew.
Marty Prokop, who teaches classes in processing deer all over the country, recommends on his Web site making whole muscle meat jerky from the rounds found in the back leg quarters. Using meat with sinew or gristle is too stringy.
Decide early if you plan to make jerky, though, he advises. Steaks are cut against the grain of the meat, and meat for deer jerky is cut with the grain.
If you plan to make jerky from ground venison, be sure to remove all fat, sinew and gristle. That will improve the texture and taste.
Make sausage
Venison is very lean. There will be no fat marbled in the meat, as with beef. And you want to trim off any fat on the edges of your meat.
While that makes it healthy, it does present an issue when it comes to making sausage.
You'll want to mix some pork fat or pork butt to your venison — in a 60-40 ratio of deer to pork — before turning it into sausage, according to the experts at Texas A&M University's horticulture division.
How-to guides available
If you want more advice on how to handle wild game and turn it into something tasty to eat, free publications from Penn State University's College of Agricultural Sciences can help.
"Field Dressing Deer Pocket Guide" and "Proper Care and Handling of Venison: From Field to Table" can be downloaded at Pubs.cas.psu.edu.
Other publications dealing with game birds and fish can be found there as well.