Pennsylvania Game News - November 2011 - 50

THE ADDITION of an electric meat grinder to your kitchen appliances will greatly expand how you can use your venison. Beyond hamburger, there are recipes for sausage, bologna, kielbasa, homemade jerky and more.

Bob Steiner

Maybe you’ve had the same “problem” in your hunting family. Instead of someone getting a deer, everybody gets a deer. Or on a family fall turkey hunt, the flock is scattered, responds to calling and you end up with more than you can roast for Thanksgiving, even if you invite other relatives. Rabbit and pheasant hunters, waterfowl hunters, even bear hunters could all have banner years. What do I do? The young and presumably most tender deer I butcher myself or have processed and reserve for my own home use. I like my friends and relatives, but I keep and eat the yearling venison “filet mignon.” Bigger, older deer I take to the commercial processor. Not only for the labor-saving reason of not having to cut and wrap it myself, but also because I can get specialty meats made there. Specialty meats transform standard, beef-like cuts of deer into entirely new types of menu items. Having them adds great variety to my venison. I use a couple of local butchers. One makes great bologna, regular mild, black pepper spicy, and jalapeno cheese-stuffed. If my household ends up with enough deer, I get some of each made. He also makes “deer sticks,” like those long, skinny beef-snack sticks in the grocery store, only better. He
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prepares these in all the bologna flavors, but most of his customers, including me, opt for the hot pepper cheese sticks. He also does a lot of venison jerky. The other butcher is a farther drive, but he makes kielbasa. When I get a larger, older deer, like my buck, I make the trip to his place and get my order in. He also does delicious jerky, but the other specialty meat I go there for is his smoked venison ham. If I have sufficient deer steaks already, I get two whole hindquarters smoked. He debones, brines and then smokes them. The result is not like hog ham, but more like the best pastrami or rare roast beef lunch meat you’ve ever eaten. Except for the deer sticks, I use the other specialty meats for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. If we get unexpected company, and I haven’t been grocery shopping lately, I know I can always microwave-thaw one of the venison specialty meats and serve it as a snack. With some crackers, sharp cheese and a gourmet-style mustard, my visitors think I’ve fussed all day for them. I also like to slice the venison ham thinly, spread the slices with soft cream cheese, roll and cut them into hors d’oeuvre lengths and secure them with toothpicks. On an attractive serving plate this looks “special,” and it’s quick to prepare when we’re suddenly invited out. One of my friends called after Christmas last year, all excited. “My wife and kids got me a jerky gun,” he beamed. He loves venison jerky, but it can be pricy at the butcher’s. He hadn’t had much luck making his own “oven jerky” with cut strips of deer meat. With the jerky gun, ground deer meat is used. He told me the kit came with jerky seasoning mix and he can buy more, in flavorings besides “original.”
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Pennsylvania Game News - November 2011

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