Got venison?

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Hunter Bemman bagged this 5-po...

GROVELAND TOWNSHIP, Michigan - Last week, Hunter Bemman lived up to his name, bagging his first deer ever – a 5-point buck with a crossbow in the woods behind his house.

“That kid was so excited,” his mom, Karri Bemman said. “He and his dad weren’t out there even 20 minutes and the deer came in about 15-feet away.”

One precisely aimed shot later, Hunter had reason to celebrate.  “I’m not sure who was more excited about the deer – them or me,” Karri said of Hunter and his dad, Tim Bemman.

Now that Hunter got the venison, Karri will be looking for a few ideas on how to prepare the meat this winter. Well, fear not, Karri – there are a million things you can do.

The two main gripes about venison are that it tends to be a little tough, and can also have a wild or gamey flavor.

Here’s the deal – meat tenderness decreases as age increases, so in other words, if you bag a crafty old buck, chances are you’re going to need some sharp teeth to go with it. According to the experts, the best venison you can bring to the dinner table comes from a young doe.

The gaminess, on the other hand, is directly related to how much the animal runs after being shot. When a deer panics, its body becomes flooded with adrenaline. As the heart races, the muscles of the deer become engorged with blood. The extra blood may pump up the muscle for the deer’s last hurrah, but it also produces lactic pyruvic acids in return – something that when combined with the extra blood and adrenaline add up to gamey flavor.  Field dressing it later rather than sooner also contributes to gaminess.

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Marinating venison before cook...

To overcome these issues, there are actually a few easy things you can do. For the toughness, try marinating the meat. Mild vegetable acids like vinegar or tomato sauce are both good choices. Even French dressing has proven to be a good tenderizer. Cover the meat in the marinade and leave it in the fridge for no more than 24 hours. If you marinate longer than a day, the venison will become mushy. Other marinades that work on venison include milk, fruit juice such as pineapple, lemon or a combo fruit juice concoction, or tomato soup. It sounds strange, but it works.

Eliminating gaminess, on the other hand, depends on how you cook it. Since venison is pretty lean, using cream, butter or other cooking oils to maintain the juiciness of the meat help reduce the game flavor. You might also consider putting bacon strips over a venison roast as a self-basting method.

One thing my husband does with his annual deer camp chili is to add a cup of coffee to the recipe. There are actually several venison chili recipes that call for coffee as an ingredient – either in the form of a cup or simply a couple tablespoons of instant coffee thrown in with the other spices. I don’t know the reasoning behind the java, but I have to say, it really does work.

Crock pot recipes work great for venison roasts. Try adding a can of cream of mushroom soup, a package of onion soup mix along with a half cup of milk and a half cup of red wine. Pour it over a 2- to 3-pound roast and cook it on low for seven or eight hours while you’re at work. Use the gravy from the roast for your mashed potatoes and you’re good to go.

Congratulations, Hunter! Something tells me this is the first deer of many you will bag in your lifetime – but as they say, the first one always tastes the best!  Enjoy!