I thought I'd get back to some of the recipes and notes I found in my grandma's file. She had written notes on how to care for meat after it was harvested. I don't necessarily follow this and will add what I do at the bottom.
Deer Carcass Care and Handling
You should bleed the deer once it has been felled. The more blood drained the better the meat keeps since remaining blood lowers the quality of meat. Dress the deer carefully, removing offal and wiping body cavity well. Use a dry cloth or leaves for this; wet meat spoils quickly.
Cool the deer quickly. Hang the deer in a shaded spot with good air circulation. Prop flanks open with a stick, 8 - 10 inches long with sharp ends. Allow carcass to drain and air thoroughly. Off-flavor may be traced to inadequate bleeding, delay or carelessness in dressing or failure to cool deer at once. Keep the deer as cool as possible on the way home; on top or in back of a vehicle - not on the hood!
To improve flavor, age carcass for several days in a refrigerated or cold area. Leave the skin on during aging to prevent meat from dehydrating and turning dark. Trim the fat. Gamey flavor seems to concentrate in fat so remove it to reduce the strong flavor. Venison fat also turns rancid more quickly than that of domestic animals. For best results use frozen meat within 4 months.
We do not do this. We field dress the deer before hauling it home. Once we unload the deer at home, we use a sharp knife to make a cut between the two bones located between the "ankles" and "knees" of the hind legs and insert the ends of the gambrel into this cut/slit. We then hang the deer using a gambrel, pulley and rope to haul it up in the air. Once the rope is tied off, we place a trash can beneath the deer to allow the blood to drain. The head is cut off with a hand saw at this point. Since there are cases of diseased deer in our area, we do not use the bones, marrow, or organs of the animal. Eating these parts of a diseased deer may cause symptoms in humans similar to "mad cow disease" in cattle. All of the bones and the blood goes in the trash. We then skin the deer starting with the hind legs and moving down towards the neck. We insert the knife between the skin and meat and use slashing motions to cut the connective tissue away from the meat without cutting into the meat. Then we pull the skin and fur downwards until all the skin is off. The skin and fur may be saved for later use. You can wrap it up and place it in a bag in the freezer until you're ready to tan it or start the tanning process right away.
We then remove the back straps, found near the outside spine of the deer, and tenderloins, found on the inside spine of the deer. The tenderloin is the tenderest and best meat on the deer. The back straps are the next best. They make great steaks! The front legs are then removed with a hand saw and we process that meat. The spine and ribs are removed and deboned - most of the meat from it goes into the container for grind. Then we remove one hind leg at a time and process that meat. That is where you get your largest roasts.
I check for hair on any meat and remove any I find of course. Any fat and most of the connective tissue is removed. Blood clots are also removed. I take the large chunks of meat and cut it into steaks for grilling or frying, roasts for smoking or roasting, and chunks for canning or stews. If I plan to fry the steaks I also tenderize them before packaging. Any smaller pieces of meat go into a separate gallon freezer bag for grinding later. All the meat is double-bagged in freezer bags. Then I add a couple of tablespoons of whiskey per quart bag and add water to cover the meat. I squeeze all of the air out of the bags and seal them. We have found that removing fat, connective tissue and adding the whiskey to the bag helps with any strong flavor. The whiskey and water also seems to make the meat more tender as it freezes. A permanent marker is used to write the type of animal, cut of meat, portions it will serve and date it was frozen on the bag. We take the meat for grinding and add 10% of beef fat and grind it together. It can be used like ground beef and we also use it for deer sausage and deer jerky.
Cooking Wild Game
Brains: Clean and wash in cold water. Fry or boil slowly for half an hour.
Heart: Remove valves and tough, fibrous tissues. Braise or cut into small chunks and use in soups or stews.
Kidneys: Fried - Halve them, slit twice the long way on the inside, but do not cut clear through. Leave the fat on the kidneys. Fry until all the blueness has disappeared.
Liver: Parboil the liver and skim off the scum that rises. Slice rather thin. Fry bacon and in the grease, fry the liver. Salt; add more bacon. Or cut the liver in slices; soak for an hour in cold salt water; rinse in warm water, wipe dry. Dip each slice in flour, seasoned with salt and pepper; fry.
Tongue: Soak for an hour; rinse in clean water; put into a pot of cold water, bring to a boil; Add spices, whichever you desire. Simmer for 2 hours or until tender.
Sausages: Utilize the tougher parts of the game by mincing raw meat with half as much salt pork; season with pepper and sage. Make it into patties and fry.
Deer Jerky Using Regular Oven
(not my Grandma's recipe; just one picked up later and we use a dehydrator now!)
3 lb. ground deer
2 tsp. unseasoned meat tenderizer
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. honey, warmed up
2 tsp. liquid smoke
2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
Add dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add liquid ingredients. (Turn oven on it's lowest setting.) Mix thoroughly and add meat, mixing until all the meat is seasoned. Place a portion of the meat mixture between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten the meat to 1/8" - 1/4" thickness. Remove paper, cut meat into strips if you desire and place on a wire screen. Repeat procedure with remaining mixture. Bake 8 hours or until jerky is done. Use more pepper or pepper flakes to make a hotter jerky.
Outdoor Woman
Deer Carcass Care and Handling
You should bleed the deer once it has been felled. The more blood drained the better the meat keeps since remaining blood lowers the quality of meat. Dress the deer carefully, removing offal and wiping body cavity well. Use a dry cloth or leaves for this; wet meat spoils quickly.
Cool the deer quickly. Hang the deer in a shaded spot with good air circulation. Prop flanks open with a stick, 8 - 10 inches long with sharp ends. Allow carcass to drain and air thoroughly. Off-flavor may be traced to inadequate bleeding, delay or carelessness in dressing or failure to cool deer at once. Keep the deer as cool as possible on the way home; on top or in back of a vehicle - not on the hood!
To improve flavor, age carcass for several days in a refrigerated or cold area. Leave the skin on during aging to prevent meat from dehydrating and turning dark. Trim the fat. Gamey flavor seems to concentrate in fat so remove it to reduce the strong flavor. Venison fat also turns rancid more quickly than that of domestic animals. For best results use frozen meat within 4 months.
We do not do this. We field dress the deer before hauling it home. Once we unload the deer at home, we use a sharp knife to make a cut between the two bones located between the "ankles" and "knees" of the hind legs and insert the ends of the gambrel into this cut/slit. We then hang the deer using a gambrel, pulley and rope to haul it up in the air. Once the rope is tied off, we place a trash can beneath the deer to allow the blood to drain. The head is cut off with a hand saw at this point. Since there are cases of diseased deer in our area, we do not use the bones, marrow, or organs of the animal. Eating these parts of a diseased deer may cause symptoms in humans similar to "mad cow disease" in cattle. All of the bones and the blood goes in the trash. We then skin the deer starting with the hind legs and moving down towards the neck. We insert the knife between the skin and meat and use slashing motions to cut the connective tissue away from the meat without cutting into the meat. Then we pull the skin and fur downwards until all the skin is off. The skin and fur may be saved for later use. You can wrap it up and place it in a bag in the freezer until you're ready to tan it or start the tanning process right away.
We then remove the back straps, found near the outside spine of the deer, and tenderloins, found on the inside spine of the deer. The tenderloin is the tenderest and best meat on the deer. The back straps are the next best. They make great steaks! The front legs are then removed with a hand saw and we process that meat. The spine and ribs are removed and deboned - most of the meat from it goes into the container for grind. Then we remove one hind leg at a time and process that meat. That is where you get your largest roasts.
I check for hair on any meat and remove any I find of course. Any fat and most of the connective tissue is removed. Blood clots are also removed. I take the large chunks of meat and cut it into steaks for grilling or frying, roasts for smoking or roasting, and chunks for canning or stews. If I plan to fry the steaks I also tenderize them before packaging. Any smaller pieces of meat go into a separate gallon freezer bag for grinding later. All the meat is double-bagged in freezer bags. Then I add a couple of tablespoons of whiskey per quart bag and add water to cover the meat. I squeeze all of the air out of the bags and seal them. We have found that removing fat, connective tissue and adding the whiskey to the bag helps with any strong flavor. The whiskey and water also seems to make the meat more tender as it freezes. A permanent marker is used to write the type of animal, cut of meat, portions it will serve and date it was frozen on the bag. We take the meat for grinding and add 10% of beef fat and grind it together. It can be used like ground beef and we also use it for deer sausage and deer jerky.
Cooking Wild Game
Brains: Clean and wash in cold water. Fry or boil slowly for half an hour.
Heart: Remove valves and tough, fibrous tissues. Braise or cut into small chunks and use in soups or stews.
Kidneys: Fried - Halve them, slit twice the long way on the inside, but do not cut clear through. Leave the fat on the kidneys. Fry until all the blueness has disappeared.
Liver: Parboil the liver and skim off the scum that rises. Slice rather thin. Fry bacon and in the grease, fry the liver. Salt; add more bacon. Or cut the liver in slices; soak for an hour in cold salt water; rinse in warm water, wipe dry. Dip each slice in flour, seasoned with salt and pepper; fry.
Tongue: Soak for an hour; rinse in clean water; put into a pot of cold water, bring to a boil; Add spices, whichever you desire. Simmer for 2 hours or until tender.
Sausages: Utilize the tougher parts of the game by mincing raw meat with half as much salt pork; season with pepper and sage. Make it into patties and fry.
Deer Jerky Using Regular Oven
(not my Grandma's recipe; just one picked up later and we use a dehydrator now!)
3 lb. ground deer
2 tsp. unseasoned meat tenderizer
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. honey, warmed up
2 tsp. liquid smoke
2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
Add dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add liquid ingredients. (Turn oven on it's lowest setting.) Mix thoroughly and add meat, mixing until all the meat is seasoned. Place a portion of the meat mixture between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten the meat to 1/8" - 1/4" thickness. Remove paper, cut meat into strips if you desire and place on a wire screen. Repeat procedure with remaining mixture. Bake 8 hours or until jerky is done. Use more pepper or pepper flakes to make a hotter jerky.
Outdoor Woman