How to Get the Wild Taste Out of Deer Meat

Deer meat, or venison, may not be your favorite meat because of its "wild" or "gamy" flavor. There is hope, however, if you want a healthy alternative to beef or pork but just don't like the extra "bite" you get from deer meat. Follow these simple steps to forget that you're eating deer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Deer meat (any cuts)
• Salt
• White vinegar
• Water

1. Begin soaking your deer meat in salt water with just a little bit of white vinegar at least 72 hours before you plan on cooking it. Make sure the meat is covered and refrigerated during the soaking process.

2. Change the water every 8 to 10 hours. The water will look like watered down blood—this is good. The blood is what gives the meat the wild game taste, so that's what you have to get out.

3. Continue to let the meat soak and change out the water until it becomes light pink. When the water is almost clear the soaking process is coming to an end.

4. Add more salt and white vinegar to the water (1/4 cup or more, depending on how much deer meat you are soaking). All of the blood should be out of the meat by 12 to 24 hours before you plan on cooking it.

5. Take the deer meat out of the salt water and vinegar solution after all the blood has come out of the meat.

6. Soak the deer meat in a good marinade for 12 to 24 hours prior to cooking.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are cooking a large piece of meat, like a shoulder or loin, soak it in a strong salt water and vinegar solution and change it every 6 to 8 hours instead of 8 to 10 hours. It will taste better if you cut the larger pieces of meat in half, better enabling you to get the blood out of the center of the meat.
• Do not undercook deer meat. Wild game must be cooked until brown all the way through. Deer meat naturally has a purple tint on the inside, but you want to see brown all the way through.

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[jlwestsr]

on 2/18/2009 I have heard several ways of getting the game taste out of wild meat and this sticks very close to the old fashion way that my family has used in the past. We have also used a milk soak or a dark beer soak (Genesis, best used when you want to grill the meat). Best result so far is the instructions above for getting the game taste out of the meat, the only problem is that you have to compensate your recipe(s) for salt as the soaking will introduce salt into the meat.Milk or Buttermilk soak will make the meat more tender in the end, but it does not do a good enough job in pulling the blood out of the meat.Happy Cooking!

[texasgal]

on 1/27/2008 This is soooo wrong and perpetuates the myth about venison. If you aren't sure of how the venison was processed (which might result in a gamey taste), soak the meat in milk overnight. Not only will it not taste gamey but it is a tenderizer as well.