Venison, a/k/a deer meat, may or may not be the most popular game meat, but it is definitely the most abused.
I can’t tell you how many people I have served venison to who have had to overcome some prior bad experience with it. “Ew, it’s so tough. It tastes like liver.” Yes, if you overcook it and handle the meat poorly when you kill the animal it will be poor fare at the table.
Another secret is to avoid trophy hunters: They tend to kill big, testosterone-soaked bucks shot during the rut, which can be iffy as table fare. Go for a young buck or better yet, a doe.
Nevertheless, any deer, elk, caribou, etc. can be made into great table fare, if you know what to do with it. Below are some of my favorite venison recipes, grouped by style of cooking or cut of meat.
I have found that while the taste of elk or moose or whitetail deer or mule deer may differ slightly, the cooking methods and recipes are all interchangeable.
Basics
- A primer on making deer meat sausages and curing whole cuts of venison
Demystifying Deer Fat
Not all venison fat is bad. Here’s some of the science behind what’s in venison fat and why it behaves the way it does, so you can make your own decision about whether to trim or keep it.
How to Cut a Flat Iron Steak
Instructions on how to cut one of my favorite steaks from an elk, moose or large deer.
Venison Recipes by Cut of Meat
Venison Medallions, Backstraps, Tenderloins
Recipes for the tenderest part of the deer.
Sausages, Burgers and Meatballs
What to do with all that venison “burger” the butcher gave you.
Venison Roasts
These are usually from the back legs, and are good for long, slow cooking to make sure they’re tender.
Soups, Stews and Stock
Pretty self-explanatory, these are my wintertime dishes.
Flanks and Shanks
This is the venison equivalent of beef shanks, flank steak and skirt steak.
Venison Wobbly Bits – Heart, Liver, Kidneys, Tongue
Offal. Innards. Variety Meats. In some cases, these are the best parts of the animal. Here’s how to cook them properly.
Like the Recipe? Buy the Book!
You'll find everything you need to know to master venison in Hank Shaw's cookbook Buck, Buck, Moose.
[…] father has been begging Hank Shaw for a venison recipe for months now, and Hank has delivered. It’s outstanding! Not gamey at all, just a deeply […]