Venison Wellington | Jamie Oliver venison recipes (2024)

FAQs

Does venison get more tender the longer it cooks? ›

Large cuts of venison taste best when pot-roasted for several hours. If you have access to a crock pot, use any recipe for beef pot roast and you'll be pleasantly surprised. However, instead of cooking for two to four hours, venison may require substantially longer cooking time for the meat to become tender.

Areas for working muscles include the shoulder and leg muscles. Working cuts of venison must be cooked for a relatively long time at a low temperature (220° to 325° F) to allow the connective tissue to breakdown. Once this happens you will get a fork-tender, flavor packed piece of meat.

Loosen with 2 good lugs of olive oil. Pat the venison dry with some kitchen paper, and rub the oil mixture all over it. Sear the meat in a hot pan on all sides – roughly 6 minutes for medium rare, 7-8 minutes for medium, and you'd have to be a nutter if you wanted to cook it for any longer than that!

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. If you would like to try soaking your meat, instructions for a buttermilk soak can be found at The Backyard Pioneer.

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.

Venison silver skin, fat, ligaments, and other undesirable parts of a deer that aren't muscle don't taste very good. Deer fat is generally bitter, unlike beef fat. This is probably the number one reason why folks think venison, particularly ground venison, tastes gamey.

The distinct game flavor of either birds or animals will be milder after soaking the meat overnight in the refrigerator in either a salt or vinegar solution.

What do you soak deer meat in to tenderize? ›

People have been soaking venison and other proteins in milk or buttermilk for years. The claim is that the acidic or low ph level helps to break down the tissue to tenderize the meat while also ridding the meat of a powerfully “gamey” or wild/iron-like flavor.

Marinades tenderize (soften muscle fibers) and enhance the flavor of venison. Marinades can add fat and calories to this lean cut of meat. Always be marinate meats in the refrigerator. Always include a high-acid liquid like lemon or tomato juice, vinegar or wine to soften the muscle fibers.

Using a dry rub, marinade, or brine will tenderize your meat, allowing you to cook the tough cuts in much the same way you would cook a tender cut. All of these methods infuse flavor and break down the meat, causing a tender juicy result in the finished product.

To help tenderize and "add fat," the secret is olive oil and a fork. Every venison recipe I have created uses this heart healthy oil. Olive oil helps to prevent the meat from burning while providing a medium for seasoning (Tony's, black pepper and seasoned salt).

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.

Place in a dish with some liquid (water, wine, ale or orange juice) and braise 170ºc/ 325f/Gas Mark 3 for 2 - 2½ hours, basting frequently. The fat will come out of the meat during cooking leaving it moist. Skim off the fat and you'll have some superb gravy! Venison retains the heat, so always use a very hot pan.

Simply put, aging results in a more tender, albeit smaller product. To inhibit bacteria growth and encourage enzymes to work, keep the meat above freezing and below 40 degrees. The ideal temperature range for aging meat is between 34 and 37 degrees.

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.