What taste better? LI deer or Upstate deer

[A Sportsman]

By the way, I would love to know how that chef you know cooked those ribs. Until I just read your post, I was convinced they sucked as well. Its gotta have something to do with neutralizing the waxiness of the fat....

[steve863]

I love venison. I don't think there is such a thing as "gamey" taste in any venison. It's just that venison tastes different than other meats, like beef is different to lamb, pork, etc.

As far as venison ribs tasting great, this one I would have to taste to believe. I really have to use my imagination on how mostly not very tasty deer fat along with tiny strips of meat stuck to a deer bone can be made to taste good. Must be one hell of a marinade they were soaking in. LOL

[Fletch]

I am with the guys above I would like that rib recipe cause I have not had any good venison ribs!

On the deer I also have never had a long island deer but have had central deer and Adirondack deer. A lot of factors make up how deer meat tastes and its texture. An Adirondack deer early season has been eating quality foods. By the time harsh weather comes and they may be on a poorer diet the season is over. I have not tasted a big difference on equal aged deer.

The best eating is a fawn then a 1.5 year old and so forth.

I will say though I used to hunt a spot near Budweiser Brewery and the hops and barley and rice would be in tanker cars along the tracks that bordered the land I hunted. These tankers would sometimes leak big piles of the stuff. I have opened up the guts of more than one deer on that property that was stuffed with the Bud ingrediants. Now they were some good tasting deer!!

[A Sportsman]

Good point Steve. Maybe gamey is not the appropriate term. but since that "venisony" taste is controlled by other factors, such as how the meat is handled from the kill, to the gut job, to butchering, to the outdoor temperature, and maybe most importantly, how its prepared, I don't like to think of it as THE taste of venison. To me, when I taste too much of that "flavor" in the meat, its not so good.

[pistolp71]

Sorry guys but I really have to laugh... I'll bet anyone on the forum that I can cook up venison and not a single one of you can tell me where the deer came from, how old the deer was, or what sex it was... even if the venison tastes like $h*T. Then afterwards I could tell you whatever I wanted and you wouldn't know either way. I'm not saying that some deer do not taste differently.. just that... how venison tastes is all about the cooking... the better the cook the better the meat.

For example.. I always thought that venison ribs sucked!.. until a friend of mine who is a great chef cooked me some... it was probably some of the best venison I ever had... I have had gamey, tough, tender, sweet... all kinds of venison... always the best venison is the one cooked by someone that knows how to cook, no matter where it comes from... it's entirely about the cook... my mother-in-law could definitely take a tender piece of fawn backstrap and make it taste like a boot..So, much for fawn being the best... LOL

Joe, all things being equal, the cook, the cut, etc. Do you think a 7.5 yr old rutting buck tastes the same as a fawn?

[Early]

I hope we are still talking venison....not some spiced...sauced...marinated hunk of meat that has none of its original taste. Many "good venison cooks" are really just great "cover-up artists".

[First-light]

Put a chop from a LI, Catskill and Western NY deer in front of me, don't season it, cook medium to well done. I'll tell you where it came

from.

[Early]

That's quite doubtful, Burt....Maybe your taste is that sophisticated; most are not. For example: Hard-core beer drinkers find it difficult...often impossible...to identify their favorite brews in blind taste tests. Tell where a piece of venison came from??....I'd bet against you.

[2GRIT]

Interesting group of thought. Some good. Some false. Most do not know that deer meat is only "gamey" because of handling of the carcass immediately after pulling the trigger. I tell people all the time that they would not like that beef that they normally love, if it was handled like most people handle venison. There isn't a slaughterhouse anywhere that would kill a beefer or pig and let it slowly cool with the hide on, only to skin it when they get around to it. ALL meat needs to be cooled immediately and that is achieved by skinning ASAP and getting it into a cool room. There are many factors to consider, too many to cover in fact, but cooling the carcass fast is the first and foremost step in great tasting venison. There isn't a piece of meat out there anywhere as good as deer.

[nyantler]

Joe, all things being equal, the cook, the cut, etc. Do you think a 7.5 yr old rutting buck tastes the same as a fawn?

Actually Pete.. I think the meat of a fawn would more tender in the raw form... but still have to say.. how it tastes is all about how its prepared... If a good cook prepared both... I would bet you couldn't tell one from the other unless you were told which was which.. I have had bad tasting fawn and bad tasting older bucks... and good tasting venison from each as well... so to answer your question...I think sometimes a 7.5 yr old buck might taste better depending on who is doing the cooking.

[nyantler]

Put a chop from a LI, Catskill and Western NY deer in front of me, don't season it, cook medium to well done. I'll tell you where it came

from.

See? There is where the the cook comes in.. most people don't know how to cook meat so it is the "same" medium or well done... some peoples well done is browned all the way through, while others is burnt, some peoples medium is medium rare, others medium well... with all due respect...I'm betting against ya too Burt... And, if my mother -in-law cooked that meat you wouldn't even be able to tell if it was venison or an old sock!

[pistolp71]

Actually Pete.. I think the meat of a fawn would more tender in the raw form... but still have to say.. how it tastes is all about how its prepared... If a good cook prepared both... I would bet you couldn't tell one from the other unless you were told which was which.. I have had bad tasting fawn and bad tasting older bucks... and good tasting venison from each as well... so to answer your question...I think sometimes a 7.5 yr old buck might taste better depending on who is doing the cooking.

The fawn is definetely more tender, but I also think it tastes different. Just like I think veal tastes different than regular beef.

[nyantler]

The fawn is definetely more tender, but I also think it tastes different. Just like I think veal tastes different than regular beef.

I will concede that if a good chef had to make a choice of whether to serve fawn or 7.5 year old buck.. he would probably choose the fawn meat... but I would bet that if he cooked the best cuts of both.. it would be hard to tell the difference... if both were processed correctly.

[Fletch]

Put a chop from a LI, Catskill and Western NY deer in front of me, don't season it, cook medium to well done. I'll tell you where it came

from.

You lost any credibility with me on the cook to medium to well done. They all taste the same when you overcook them, like crap. Now cooked medium rare is how you do it. Don't need to kill it twice!!

And I am just teasin, I know some folks like it like that but the taste is just cooked out of it and toughens it.

[Fletch]

On another note I have tasted bad venison and two things to surely do it is have hair on the meat or fat. Both ruin venison. Proper cared for game and care taken in butchering to keep clean and well trimmed. Done right just about the best meat you can get.

[sits in trees]

deer is deer, i bet anyone anything they cant tell the differance if they didnt know where the deer came from. the only differances in venison is the age of the animal...bush mutton no matter how you slice it.

[the blur]

what do you guys do with that silver membrane lining? do you cook it off, or cut it off?

[nyantler]

what do you guys do with that silver membrane lining? do you cook it off, or cut it off?

Always cut everything away.. nothing but meat... and for those that use a bandsaw to cut your meat.. venison is not like beef and should not be processd the same way... unlike beef fat and pork fat...deer fat is venisons worst enemy when it comes to taste and prolonged storage... that applies to the "silver lining" too.

[Meat Hunter]

I hunt in several places in NY and I am always happy with the meat but it does vary. I also try to age it all 10+ days. The aging makes it tender and also removes moisture so that when you fry it does not boil in its own juice which will make it tough. When I go to VA we do deer drives and then cut the deer up with in a day or so. My wife will say- this deer is from VA after the first bite and not want to eat it!

Hunting with a bunch of groups- there are a lot of folks that do a very messy job gutting the deer and I expect it tastes bad when eaten.

In VA the inside tender loins often smell bad as a result of gut shots and poor cleaning but they wash them off and it works- must be the high sulfur in the water. Generally you should never use water on deer because it spreads bacteria and adds unwanted moisture.

Anyway bottom line, its manor of hunting, gutting and ageing that really control the final product. How it is cooked is important too. No professional chief would serve it anyway but rare.

[WNYBuckHunter]

what do you guys do with that silver membrane lining? do you cook it off, or cut it off?

I trim as much of it off as possible. Leaving a little isnt going to hurt.

[Fletch]

I trim all the silverskin off as well as fat. Once you do that and taste your next venison you will never not do it again.

[Larry]

They both taste good as long as my wife doesn’t cook it

[nyantler]

They both taste good as long as my wife doesn’t cook it

I hear that!!