Venison and Elk and Big Horn Sheep

[Mark Kuipers]

I’ve got a freezer full of elk, venison and big horn sheep. Wonderful meat, tender and not at all gamy.

What cuts should I test with the dry bags?
What tips do you have?

Thanks so much!

[Barry]

We have a freezerful of elk and venison also. Instead of dry aging, why not try charcuterie? We have made very tasty sausages with elk and pork and will start dry bagging sausage to ferment.
With dry bagging beef, the fat adds quite a bit of flavor, but elk and venison have very little fat.

The website advertised the book Charcuterie by Ruhlman. It is an excellent book and will help you with your particular meat.

[Mark Kuipers]

Thanks so much for the recommendation to go charcuterie. I was heading in that direction myself for three reasons. First, my game has already been aged, about 21 days for elk and 14 days for the venison and big horn sheep. It is all very tender. Aging it again would lead to more waste and might be gilding the lily.

Second, I’ve cut it up into 1 pound steaks with a few 2 pound backstraps. I’m afraid that is too small for dry aging and will lead to a lot of waste. Maybe I’ll treat it like a tenderloin, as the site suggests, and dry age just for a few days.

Third, I’m concerned about the low fat content and how that might affect the flavor. Could it bring out the gaminess?

So here’s what I’m going to do.
1. I’m going to experiment with a few steaks and see what happens.
2. If I like it, next season I’ll be sure and use the Umai bags from the start so I don’t double age and I’ll be able to use whole pieces such as a venison haunch.
3. I’m going to get the book by Ruhlman and try some of his suggestions.
4. I’m going to try a few of the recipes on the site. I’m particularly interested interested in the bresaola, capicola and pancetta.
5. I’m going to enlist a few of my hunting buddies who are also into cooking into this project.
6. Finally, I’m going to report back to the forum what I learn.

But first, can you give me any tips with elk? Maybe a recipe or two? What is the ratio of elk to pork for example?

This is all very interesting to me, but I’m a bit nervous as well.

Appreciate it!

[Barry]

Glad you are looking for several avenues. With our elk, we use a jaccard to tenderize, then marinate and grill. Wine based marinade works well to tenderize.

With pancetta, a pork belly works well. The fat adds to the flavor. A chef friend worked with me to make pancetta. After a week of curing, I smoked it then dry bagged for 2 weeks. The chef was happy with that length of time.

For making sausage, I use 3.5 lb pork butt and 1.5 lb elk. The book that you are getting will go into great depth in charcuterie.

Best part–have fun!

[Author]

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