Know Your Venison: Options For Wild Game Processing

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If you are a hunter, chances are you aren't set up to process your deer or elk yourself. It's a lot of work, and unless you have the required heavy-duty commercial equipment and are a skilled butcher, it's best to leave the job to experienced wild game processors.

When you drop your cervidae off, the family that deer, elk, and moose belong to, the game processor will most likely want to see your tag. This is to ensure it is a legally harvested kill.

In addition to the backstraps, which you should leave whole, and whether or not you want to save the heart, the processor will want to know how you want him to butcher and process it. Here are some suggestions to make the best use of the meat.

Roasts

If you want a bone-in roast and won't be saving the neck, shoulders, and head for trophy mount, ask for a shoulder or neck roast. For boneless roasts, ask for hindquarter roasts. Depending on the size of your family, you may want small roasts or large ones. Your butcher can also provide an assortment of sizes contingent on your end use.

Larger roasts, taken from the rump, are good for the slow cooker, while roasts taken from the hindquarters are good for cutting into steaks and fajita meat. Have your wild game processor cut some extra thick to save for summer grilling. Have the butcher run hindquarter steaks through the tenderizer.

Tenderloin

This cut, taken from along the ribs, near the pelvis, is as its name indicates, very tender. Like a tenderloin from beef cattle, this can either be left whole for roasting, or cut into individual steaks. Stew meat is also very good when taken from the area around the tenderloin.

Ribs

The rib meat is some people's favorite cut after the backstraps and tenderloin. On a smaller animal, it can be very difficult to get at it if you are processing the meat yourself, but a professional butcher has no problem retrieving this flavorful cut. They are perfect for roasting slow and low or smoking.

Osso Buco

This is the cut of meat that comes from the shank or the forelegs. It includes the bone and a small, circular opening. It is best prepared by braising until tender.

Trim

With the trim, you can have the butcher grind some for chili or hamburgers, make sausages or bratwurst, or summer sausage and venison sticks. 

Contact your local butcher shops for more information if you're planning on going hunting this season.

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22 December 2016

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