Cooking Venison

[outdoor1]

Hello all:

I have a question concerning venison steaks. I make all of my beef steaks rare, but have been told for years that venison must be "well cooked". Each time I make venison steaks they are dry and tough but they sure look good at the rare to medium rare stage. Does anyone know if venison must be well done?

thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MNmikew]

I've always cooked mine med. rare, it should be somewhat pink in the middle. It've very easy to over do venison, better to err on the rare side.

[Gus]

I swear this is an old wives tale brought on by grossed out wives who have visions of dirty rotten meat in their heads. Which we all know is not the case! (dirty rotten part)

Just Cook it however you want. I'm a medium to medium rare guy. Depending on my mood. If I want medium-rare I just don't thaw them out before I put them on the grill. mmmmm I think I'll have some with montreal steak seasoning tonight!

[Gissert]

Cook you venison like you do you beef and you will be much happier. I never cook my venison more than medium rare.

I like my ducks on the rare side, too.

[BLACKJACK]

Overcooked venison is comparable to tough, over cooked liver. Definately eat it like a beef steak, rare to med rare, and hot. Have eveything else on the table ready to go when you bring the steak. When I'm broiling venison, I'll grab a couple of pieces off the broiler and leave the other in the oven to stay warm, then keep grabbing them off the broiler, but be careful, in the time it takes to eat a couple of steaks, the rest could turn out overdone!!! Just talking about it makes me want to get some venison steak out of the freezer!

[83walleye]

Cooked hot and fast - eat it like you would beef. Rare? No problem. Properly handled venison can be cooked and eaten just about any way - suppose raw would be trouble though !

Poultry and fish are what need to be cooked through and through.

[Walleye Guy]

My grandma always told me that if venison isn't drenched in gravy it better be cooked medium rare (or less0 or you are not gonna like it.

I follow it to this day and there is nothing better than a medium rare venison steak seasoned with some salt & pepper.

In my opinion there is nothing better than fresh venison tenderloin sauteed in butter and onions to medium rare. Top it off with a cold beer or a good wine and you have no better way to end day one in deer camp.

[Chef]

Simple Wild Mushroom Sauce for Venison:

Ingredients:

Venison Loin Chops or Steaks for 4 Adults.

4-Tsp. butter

1/2lb. each--sliced Crimini, [PoorWordUsage]ake and reg. mushrooms.

2-coarsley chopped Shallots

3-chopped garlic colves or to taste

1/2 c. quality Dry Marsala Wine

1-Pint Heavy Cream

Cooked Wild Rice

Procedure:

In a heavy-non-stick skillet, med-high heat melt butter and sautee shallots for 1-2 minutes, add garlic and cook for 1 minute-stirring constantly. Toss in mushrooms and cook 3-4 minutes or until softened.

Transfer mushrooms to a bowl, reserving all liquid.

On high heat, add wine and reduce by 1/2, add cream and bring to a boil, reduce until it begins to thicken, reduce heat and add mushrooms to heat through. Salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange rice and medium-rare Venison on warm plates and spoon sauce over meat--serve immediatley.

This is easy to make and tastes great with Venison, Lamb or Beef.

[almosthaddabite]

Quote:

---

Poultry and fish are what need to be cooked through and through.

---

What!! You don't like your chicken rare?

[Law Firm]

It would be like any other meat that you would cook. If you were the one that packaged the meat, and you feel comfortable with how it was packaged, go ahead and eat it rare. I hunt in an area where cutting up the deer doesn't happen until I get back home(5 hours from where I hunt), which can sometimes be close to a week later. If I'm at all skeptical with the meat because of warm weather conditions, I'll cook that particular deer medium to well with some type of gravy. The point of the story is, if you know where your deer came from, and how it was processed you will know how to cook it.

[ddsbyday]

Venison is very lean as is duck. You can not cook it like beef otherwise you will end up with shoe leather or a hockey puck. The flavor in my opinion is lost once the pink is gone. Med. rare for me and as with an earlier post a med. rare duck breast with a tomatoe onion a slice of cheese and a little mayo is as good to me as any steak sandwich I have ever had.

[john.wells]

I have read that the "livery" taste of over cooked venison has something to do with the sugars (glucose) in the meat. I can't remember the specifics. Same goes for duck. From what the dentist (I assume-ddsbyday) has to say about the flavor changing when going past the medium stage is not opinion, but fact. If I overcook my venison, I regret to say that I wind up throwing it away. Needless to say, this does not occur that often. I eat my venison rare, and can honestly say I have never had any ill effects. I will also say that it is hands down far superior to beef of any cut in flavor and texture. I also for the first time butchered my own deer last season-this dispells any doubt to the quality of the cut. It is not that difficult to do, and the satisfaction of going full circle with the hunt is beyond words. Plus, I got to keep those backstraps from being ruined (I hate it when butchers turn 'em into "chops"-what a waste). Just my opinions...........

[shinde]

John Wells - what do you do with the backstraps other than chops? Do you leave as a whole loin roast, or something else? Curious.......

[Deitz Dittrich]

Shinde- I cut up my own deer as well.. and will usually butterfly steak out the backstraps.. way to good a cut of meat to not steak out!

[shinde]

I was recently having this discussion with someone else. I think part of the confusion comes from the definition of "steaks" or "chops".

What's the difference? I prefer a thicker steak, and I do butterfly(out of habit), but when I grill a backstrap (steak or chop, depending on what you call it) I usually put the butterfly back together and cook as one thicker piece. That's what got me wondering why butterfly at all? Why not just cut the steaks (or chops) a little thicker, and cook that way? I could see butterflying if you liked thinner steaks. Curious how others look at this....

[Rolly22]

I like to leave both the loin and tenderloin whole and do them on the grill.

[john.wells]

I portion the straps into approx. 6 inch lengths and grill them or smoke them. They are wonderful smoked if you are into that at all .