Did my meat go bad??

[Al Bundy]

I'm cutting it up tonight after a sitting in the fridge three days and soaking overnight. Some parts are a not so good looking brown color while others are a nice red. Is the brown just where the overnight soak in water removed blood?? This is the second deer I cut myself and not real,sure. Hoping it didn't go bad. 

 

[Paula]

If it wasn't all under water there will be a difference in color. If you have had it in fridge I dout it's bad

[MayfieldBowhunter]

main thing is to smell it if it smells like fresh meat then your ok ......and yes most likely it turned that color because of blood draining....i always process all of my own deer and i dont soak it in water

[Rebel Darling]

That's how my venison looks after soaking it in water.  Based on looks only, I'd say it's fine, but like Mayfield wrote, smell it to determine if it's still fresh or gone a little bad.

[Pygmy]

Why in the world would anybody soak venison in water ?...

Small game and perhaps gamebirds to draw the blood out of the shot wounds, but venison ?

Never heard of such a thing...

[Lawdwaz]

I'd chuck it................

 

AND DON'T SOAK IN WATER ANYMORE.

 

[Cabin Fever]

Guess you got the blood out alright... It was in the refrig, so the meat's fine.

Why did you soak??

[Al Bundy]

 Thought soaking was one way to do it. Lot of google info on soaking venison in a salty brine. Smells fine, just looks weird. We won't be soaking again next year though. This deer was was taken by hunting buddy Friday morning 815.  Skinned out and quartered and fridged by 1130.  Wish I wouldn't have soaked it but buddy insisted soak. 

 Thanks for the replies. 

[SuperMag]

I've never heard of soaking it in water until now. We also process our own. I'll let the deer hang for a couple days (weather permitting), then we will process it into steaks, grind, etc, vacuum seal it, then freeze it. Never had any meat go bad. I'm not saying soaking it in water is wrong, everyone has different ways of doing things, I've just never heard of it. We do soak the liver in buttermilk to draw the blood out before cooking however.

[shawnhu]

He used a brine, so the salt should have kept the bacteria at bay.


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[nyslowhand]

Soaking any game in a brine mix will draw the blood out of the wounds. In my experience, sort of a SOP for small game. As a general practice for venison, to soak ALL the meat is not necessary. Pretty sure a brine soak would do nothing for tenderizing the meat, if that was the theory. Lesson learned, huh?

[Chef]

As a chef and someone who has been in the food business a long time this takes the cake for me why would anyone soak meat in water. Brine before cooking is a good thing soaking meat in water for 3 days me be the dumbest thing I've ever heard


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[fasteddie]

I have never heard of soaking venison in water either . I would guess that if it smells bad it most likely is bad . \

Oh heck , I just realized when this thread was started .......oops !

[turkeyfeathers]

If I remember correctly a few guys " brined " them in ponds and creeks after they shot them. A couple of cases of deer will head to water after being shot. 

[Doc]

So, does the butcher haul the meat out of a pail of water when he sells it to you. I have been to a few restaurants where the meat tasted like it had been soaking in water long enough to eliminate the danger of it having any flavor ..... lol. But seriously, there is nothing achieved by soaking meat other than to remove flavor. You want to make corned beef out of it, that's different. There you are replacing the original flavors with a completely different flavor, and replacing the original flavor is a desired result. Don't soak meat.

[TACC]

The only time I soak any venison is when I soak the hearts in salt water for 2 days but I keep changing the water/salt so I can get as much as the blood out of it prior to cooking / pickling them.