COLLEGE STATION — Deer hunting provides many hours of outdoor recreation for Texans each year. Besides providing recreation, deer harvested also yield a huge resource in terms of table fare — venison.
The potential yield runs in the neighborhood of 11 million pounds of boneless deer meat annually in the United States, said Dr. Don Steinbach, Extension wildlife and fisheries specialist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
Quality of venison is not determined solely by the culinary talents of the cook, he said.
“The entire process of handling the carcass from field to table can add or detract from the desirability of the final product. The hunter plays an important role in determining whether a deer steak is tender and tasty or tough and bad-flavored,” says Steinbach, who is headquartered in College Station.
The hunter cannot control all factors which affect deer meat quality — for example, age of the animal harvested and the like. But he or she can control other characteristics such as sex, timeliness of skinning and field-dressing, shot placement, and the age of the deer, “so treatments were designed to look only at those things which the hunter can control,” Steinbach said.
A taste panel test, conducted at Texas A&M University, judged venison on the flavor intensity and desirability, juiciness, tenderness and overall satisfaction with the meat, Steinbach said. “Only ham and backstrap muscles were used for testing and each sample was cooked to uniform internal temperature. At no time did panel members know what sample or samples they were evaluating. The panel rated each sample on the basis of flavor intensity, flavor desirability, juiciness, tenderness and overall satisfaction,” he said.
Based on evaluations by the panel, the following general recommendations can be made for Texas conditions, says Steinbach. * Whenever a choice is available, select a female animal for less flavor intensity (gaminess). This does not mean that male animals provide undesirable meat but rather that most consumers may prefer the less intense flavor of the female.
* Whenever possible, place the shot in the neck or head to insure a clean, rapid kill. This prevents post-shot stress and also reduces tissue damage considerably.
* Field-dress the animal as soon as possible. If contents of the intestine or paunch have been spilled the carcass should be rinsed with water.
* If weather permits, leaving the skin on the carcass will help conserve moisture. However, a little common sense dictates that carcasses should be skinned and covered with a fly proof bag in hot weather if a cooler is not accessible. Also, a male in the rut may have a strong urine odor on the hind legs and probably should be skinned prior to storage.
* If the family prefers a somewhat more intense flavor which is similar to aged beef, the carcass may be hung in a locker for about a week before final processing. Again, common sense dictates storage in a clean locker which eliminates contamination of odors from poorly handled carcasses.
These recommendations are not the only way to handle carcasses, Steinbach emphasizes. For the hunter who has a preferred method which differs somewhat from these recommendations but whose family is very satisfied with the venison brought home, change is unnecessary.
“If a hunter has no experience in handling deer carcasses or has had a bad experience with deer meat, these suggestions may provide a means of increasing the utilization of the deer resource.
A video titled “Field Processing Deer” is available for $20 from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Extension office from Nagle Hall, Room 111, College Station, TX 77843, telephone (409) 845-7471. Also, a publication, entitled “Field Dressing Big Game” (L- 634) is available from local county Extension offices.
Further suggestions on care and cooking of venison can be found in the publication MP-1333, “Big Game Cooking Care” which is also available from the county Extension office,” Steinbach said.
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