Why does ground venison

taste so gamey. The cube steak, backstraps, etc all tasted really good so far, but the ground venison is gross. The only thing that I can’t taste the game flavor in is chilli type dishes.

It doesn't taste gamey if it's prepared correctly.

Alot has to do with how the deer was handled right after the kill.

I’m new to venison, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated for both prep and handling.

Agreed it's all in how's it's handled and processed deer burger is a staple at my house year round hell deer meat period is a staple on our table

Gut it soon as possible quarter it and get it in a cooler on ice alot of ice keep it drained and I have a couple good processors that I use and have for years and you can't tell it from beef

Can't tell it from beef?

I know I can tell. I still eat it but there is a difference.

It doesn't taste like beef. But it can be very good.
#1. Never eat any wild game chased by dogs.
#2. Age it properly, either open air or cooler.
#3. Thaw it out at room temperature for 8 to 10 hours.

Get it gutted and the cavity washed out and cooled as soon as possible. I try to have it done in 30 minutes. I know that isn't doable for some. Also has alot to do with shot placement. A quick kill is always the best. A gut shot deer that takes awhile to die isn't the ones you want to use for burger.

#1 check
#2 check? processor I took it too claims they let it age a week before processing
#3 check

Like I said, it doesn’t make sense to me why the other cuts taste good and the ground tastes so gamey. Could it be that they mixed in some other persons kill that wasn’t handled with as much care as mine? I hope to get a grinder and DIY the whole thing this year myself. Not really impressed with the processor.

Both of the deer I shot this year were down in 50 yards or so and lights out quickly. I gutted them and stuffed ice to cool the cavity as quickly as I could.

What meals do you use it in? How do you season it?

Soups Chili's tacos... anything where it is in a flavor. I do deer burgers but I season them with seasoning salt and get beef fat mixed in when processed.

I like a medium rare filet as well.

I had the same problem when I use to take a deer to any processor, to the point where I would get as little of the deer as possible ground because I knew I wouldnt eat it and would just eventually throw it away. I started processing my on 2 years ago....as mentioned above by other posters I quickly get the guts out and get it cut up and then on ice for 4-5 days. When I grind mine I use bacon as my fat content and man the difference is night and day. Deer burgers have become a staple at my house since I started self processing so if you are willing to process your own you should find the taste is much better. No gamey taste whatsoever!

I think you might need a new processor. Sounds like whoever you are using don't know what they're doing.

Yea, like I said I can cover up the flavor in soups and chili’s, and tacos, but anything else like spaghetti or burgers it’s unbearable.

I don’t want to bad mouth the folks I went to, but I’d be curious if anyone had the same experience with this processor.

I don't get fat added to mine.

Maybe that burger didn't come from your deer.

This exactly! We do 15% bacon ends and pieces in our burgers and they are fantastic. We have converted many non-deer meat fans with them. We add a little dales, a little hickory grill and cook them hot and man they are good. Me, my wife and two daughters can easily finish 200/yr.

I don’t think it has anything to do with preparation after the kill or before cooking. It taste like liver to me and I can’t stand it. If you think about it though you are cooking ground deer well done, no w cook a tenderloin like that and tell me what it taste like?? I do know people that say there is no difference in ground beef or venison but I’m not one of them.

I hardly ever buy ground beef, and I eat ground venison usually once a week fixed in a variety of ways. My venison burgers are way better than any beef burger by far. Never had any that tasted like liver either.

Chili, meatloaf, hamburger steak, hamburger helper, soup, hamburgers,
As for seasoning hamburgers and hamburger steaks and meatloaf we use cracker girl or Cajun or some sort

Pasghetti tacos forgot them.use it anywhere you do burger

If it taste like liver then you're eating a gut shot deer that's been rode around in the back of pickup half the day

HOW TO MAKE VENISON AND BEEF TASTE THE SAME

Start one year before killing date. Feed the steer only on wild berries, slough grass, weeds, sage, and tree bark. About two hours before you are ready to butcher, let some dogs chase the beef around to get the blood and the adrenaline into the meat. Shoot the beef immediately after it has been chased (make sure it's a gut shot, and try to do this via hind quarter). A good shot will tenderize the meat and get as much hair as possible in the impact area. Be sure to kill the beef in the morning of a hot sunny day, temp needs to be at least 90. Then toss it in the bed of your truck and drive it around until dark showing it off. If you have to park for any length of time be sure and park in direct sunlight. Drag the beef to a slough and field dress it in the slough. Make sure to get as much grass, weeds, cattails and debris in as possible. Drag the beef at least one mile across fields with plenty of beggar lice, broomstraw, fire ant mounds and cockspur to get plenty of dirt and vegetation mixed into the wound and the interior of the carcass. Load the beef on back in the truck and drive down first a gravel road at least 5 miles and then down a highway. This will get as much highway grime, bugs, and rocks embedded in the meat as possible. (For extra flavor this should be done in the rain.) Hang the beef in the garage. (Make sure it is low enough so the dog can chew on the hind quarter and then properly mark it as his territory.) At least once a day have your wife idle a vehicle for 5 minutes in the garage. Carbon Monoxide adds greatly to the flavor. When the carcass smells so bad that you can hardly stand being in the garage, the beef is ready to process. Properly following these steps will ensure that your BEEF is mistaken for VENISON by even the most avid sportsman. Everyone will marvel at how much venison you have and how good it tastes... and you won't have to put on that crazy camo stuff and walk for 5 miles then sit in a tree all day ever again

I may not be the best shot in Alabama but I’m good enough to know when they are gut shot and when they aren’t. I also don’t condone riding a deer around in the back of the truck half of the day showing him off either. People have different taste buds obviously. I have a Hobart grinder and grind deer for friends who say it’s awesome but it’s definitely not for me.

It has to do with the blood. I cut up my deer and let it sit in the fridge covered a week or so, draining the blood out of it every couple days. That's where your get the gamey taste from. Processor may be grinding everyone's meat at the same time or back to back without cleaning grinder.

what most people consider gamey is just because they are used to beef we use deer 99% of the time if the recipe calls for ground meat. ive grown to dislike store bought ground beef and wont buy or eat it. its like asking why a pork chop tastes different than a ribeye.

I absolutely hate liver of any kind and wouldn't eat deer meat if it tasted like liver to me, the only time I've ever eaten deer meat that taste like liver was a piece of cube steak, from buck that had been gut shot.

Lol I’m not trying to make it taste like beef. I’m just trying to make it taste less crappy. Funny post though, too long to read.

Well I’m not there yet.

if someone else processes it they will throw in all the leftovers and some fat. I do my own and only lean meat goes in it . It never taste gamey

All processors are not the same. Some really screw up burger. My son had some done, he had to throw it away. The burger I get done taste good, no gamey flavor. If your wanting it to taste like beef, well that aint gonna happen. Find a good processor or do it yourself.

They had an option to add in fat but I declined.

I can't tell my ground venison from beef. I quarter the deer and brine in beef stock/ice for 4-5 days then ground with beef fat I get from a local butcher shop to make it 80/20(ish). Ground venison I used to get from processors tasted like rutting bucks and I couldn't deal with it anymore so I started doing it myself. Never going back.

If you have to go through all that trouble just to make a deer taste like a cow, then you really don't like the taste of venison lol

I don't mind it, but others in the family do. So if I don't do it, I'd be making meals for 1.

For anybody that don't already know it, rabbit, squirrel, and turkey don't taste like beef either. I personally like it that way.

I don’t know if I’ll go through all that you do; however, I’m in the same boat with the meat tasting like a dang rutting buck. It’s unbearable, the wife won’t touch the stuff, and I don’t blame her.

I guess ya'll should hunt cows. I love deer meat. I love beef too, but they are gonna taste different.

I've had bad ground venison before but I think it was the fat they added to it.

Well hell my wife don't eat it period, but i don't care 😁

my wife likes it better than beef (me, too)

I butcher and grind my own. the only thing I send to get done is jap/cheddar sausage.

We do ground venison in Tacos, Chili, Spaghetti, hamburger helper, and basically any other dish that calls for "ground beef". I would challenge anyone to eat one of the meals above and know that it wasn't ground beef.

Now, if you brown it up and take a bite just plain, with no seasonings, yeah you can tell it's not beef. It's good, just different.

We use Meat Locker in Fosters. While I've not used a ton of processors (probably 5 or 6), they are far and away the best one I've used.

Someone come get a LB of my ground venison and tell me if it tastes right. If it taste normal to you then I I’ll concede I don’t like venison.

Where ya located? What does it smell like when you cook it?

Madison/Huntsville. Smells gamey.

And I’ll give you the rest of what I have in the freezer😂

^^^^THIS
A friend of mine swears by a particular processor and has used them for years. I took one deer there and the tenderloin had green stomach contents on it when I opened the first pack about a week after picking it up. My deer was neck shot and washed out with a hose/nozzle at camp before going to that processor. They sold me somebody else’s deer. Never been back.

Most processors mix the grind from several deer, so you are probably eating someone else's deer.

That’ll make it my First and Last time Taking it to a processor.

Don't get me started on this....

If it smells gamey , the meat is probably bad. Deer meat has a different taste but it's not bad. Sounds like you got a ruined batch of meat..

if it didn't smell gamey or rank (rutting buck) when you took it, you got somebody else's deer...even if you took it whole and let them skin it out, you'd know if it was rank (if it was a buck) or not when you dropped it off. does don't get the rank, rut smell, they just get gamey if it wasn't a clean, drt kill and you pushed her a time or two before she expired.

Cook it longer and use more salt. Big taste difference from beef.

So I don’t know if they gave me someone else’s meat or what but the ground I cooked today tasted fine. Of course it tastes like venison, but not that gamey musty taste.

Shoot a doe...