How to cook venison (2024)

FAQs

How to cook venison? ›

Don't overcook it

Salt + heat = crispy & delicious

When roasting larger cuts, first sear all sides of the meat to seal in the juices. To achieve a medium-rare roast, cook at 350°F for 15 minutes per pound.

so don't overcook them you want them to be like rare plus medium rare so hot and fast. and then if you have tougher cuts like large roasts to meat. you're gonna wanna raise those low and slow. so add some liquid and cook until they're really tender.

Tender cuts of meat are best cooked quickly in a piping hot skillet or on the grill. You can simply pat the venison dry and season with salt and pepper before cooking, or you can marinate the cut of meat for a few hours or overnight.

Venison Basics

Tough Cuts From the neck and from the shoulder of deer older than 3 years: Neck roast and chuck roast. Cooking: These cuts are best cooked slowly in moist heat, by browning first, then braising or stewing with the addition of sweetness and acidity to balance the bitterness.

Soaking: The most common soaking liquids are buttermilk, saltwater, white milk, vinegar, lemon juice and lime juice. While some hunters swear by certain soaking methods to take the “gamey” flavor away or bleed the meat after processing, others don't find it all that helpful.

Bromelain is the most common form of meat tenderizer used in America. Tiger Sauce is my favorite dipping sauce for deer meat, as the tanginess compliments the deer flavor to perfection. I've been doing the Tiger Sauce/pineapple juice combination for years, and it's remained my favorite.

Washing deer meat

Rinsing deer meat or venison before cooking is not recommended by food safety agencies. Like other meats, washing venison can spread contamination in a kitchen.

Don't overcook or cook at temperatures above 375 F. The short fibers in wild game meat will get tough. Serve game meat very hot or very cold. Lukewarm game fat has a very greasy taste.

What are three methods of cooking venison? ›

Naturally tender cuts like loins and tenderloin take well to high heat grilling, pan searing, or stuffing and trussing and should be served rare to medium rare. Here's my recipe for how to cook Chili Cocoa Crusted Venison Loin. Tougher muscles from the shoulder, shank or neck should be braised or stewed slow and low.

Cook all venison thoroughly and serve hot or very cold. Venison should be cooked to at least 165° to ensure harmful bacteria are killed. The color of the meat is not a reliable indicator of when the venison is fully cooked. Use an accurate, calibrated thermometer for monitoring the cooking temperature of the venison.

Soak the meat in buttermilk overnight.

Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. The lactic acid in the buttermilk will tenderize the meat and draw out some of its gamey flavor. If the meat was frozen, let it fully thaw in the fridge before you start soaking it.

Venison behaves in many ways like beef, albeit very lean. You can cook the tender, steaky cuts of venison to the same doneness levels as you would beef, namely 130–135°F (54–57°C) for medium rare and 135–145°F (57–63°C) for medium. Hitting those temperatures just right is important for maximum enjoyment.

Season just before you cook. Season with plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper just before cooking. Salt helps bring the moisture to the surface of the meat, but if you season too early the venison will dry out. Start with a hot pan, plate or grill.

Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least four hours, and no more than 12, before proceeding to cook it as you normally would. The calcium in milk contains enzymes that will tenderize the meat, and the main protein in milk will neutralize the gamey flavor.