Butchering and Freezing Venison

Venison is a healthy and delicious meat choice, but the road to a tasty meal requires care in the processing and preparation. If you’ve had gamy tasting venison before, chances are the offensive taste was obtained through processing or cooking. The meat’s quality is a result of the deer’s age, sex and diet. Older deer have tougher meat, while the meat of bucks in rut is stronger tasting from the stress of breeding season.
For nutritional value, venison is low in fat and calories and rich in protein. Use low-fat cooking techniques, such as broiling, grilling, baking or stewing instead of frying to keep the venison healthy.

Nutrient content of domestic and wild game meats
(cooked, 3-ounce serving, unless otherwise indicated)

Domestic	Calories	Protein	Iron	Total Fat	Saturated Fat	Cholesterol
Beef	184	25	3	8	3	73
Pork	180	25	1	8	3	73
Chicken (roasted, skin off)	161	25	1	8	2	76
Wild Meats
Deer	134	26	4	3	1	95
Turkey	121	26	_	1	_	55

All in all, just keep in mind the deer you are cooking and match it with the right cooking technique—roasting and stewing for tougher cuts and frying, broiling and grilling for more tender cuts.

Processing

For better venison, hang the deer before processing. Leave the skin on to prevent dehydration and keep the meat clean. A handy way to hang the carcass (and also remove scent glands) is illustrated below. Hang the deer to drain blood and cool to 50 degrees F within six hours of harvest. Freezing the venison more quickly will result in tougher meat.
Aging venison any longer is not necessary; but when stored at 34–40 degrees F for up to eight days, the taste and tenderness of venison cuts can be improved.
The following tools are needed for home processing: hand saw, cutting board or solid table, a flexible knife for boning, a stout knife for trimming fat and making larger cuts, a knife sharpener, freezer paper, plastic wrap, masking or freezer tape and a marker. To help sort meats for stewing and grinding, large plastic or metal tubs or bowls are handy.
There are many ways to process a deer and those experienced at processing often have their own special way of doing it. What we present are some general guidelines for the beginner. Remove the skin and take care to keep the hair side away from the carcass. Be sure to remove as much fat as possible (deer fat has a strong flavor). Trim any bruises or gunshot damage and wash the outside. After dripping dry, the carcass is ready to be cut.
There are two basic methods for cutting the carcass. The boneless method produces a milder flavor; all bone is removed and the more tender muscles are used for steaks, roasts and stew; the less tender muscles are ground. One point to remember is that young-of-the-year deer are so tender that the whole animal can be cut into steaks. You can also use the method similar to one used to cut up a beef carcass. This method results in popular cuts such as rib, T-bone, sirloin and round steaks. Combinations of the two methods may be used.
Regardless of method, use the chart on page 25 to produce wholesale cuts similar to those at a grocer. Start by removing the neck for boning and split the carcass by cutting down the center of the backbone. Then either bone or cut with the bone-in cutting method as used in beef cutting. Sawing through bone spreads the bone marrow across cuts of meat, sometimes creating a bad flavor. If you saw through cuts, be sure to scrape away any marrow or bone fragments. Also, carefully remove all animal hair.

Wholesale Cuts

Place the half carcass on a cutting table and remove the flank, breast and shank. Remove the shoulder by cutting between ribs 5 and 6 perpendicular to the backbone. Separate the rib from the loin behind the last rib and cut the loin from the sirloin in the middle of the last lumbar vertebra. The wholesale cuts of deer are neck, shoulder, rib or rack, loin, hind leg, foreshank, breast and flank.

Labeling

Label each package clearly with a permanent marker. Make the letters large enough for easy reading. Labels should include the owner’s name, address and Telecheck confirmation number; the name of the cut; the quantity; and the packaging date.

Freezer Storage Time

Venison can be stored in the home freezer at 6 degrees F or lower for about one year.