How to Cook Venison | Tips for Preparing Deer Meat

Venison is a lean and flavorful meat that can be a delicious addition to any meal. However, many people find it difficult to prepare venison in a way that enhances its natural flavor. With a few simple tips and techniques, you can learn how to cook venison that is tender, juicy, and bursting with flavor.

I remember the first time my husband brought home deer meat. I was young, pregnant, and not very into the idea of eating wild game meat. It seemed overwhelming and I had no idea how to make it.

I found a recipe or two and stuck with them and didn’t venture much out of those couple of recipes for the first few successful hunts. But eventually, I became a little more confident in the kitchen and around cooking deer meat, so I started experimenting. And after a little trial and error… I figured out how to turn venison into amazing dishes that our entire family loves.

Do you cook venison the same way you do beef?

Since all venison is red meat, a lot of people try to cook it the same way they cook beef. The problem is, they’re not all that similar.

Beef, often prized for its marbling, has quite a bit of fat. Venison, on the other hand, is very lean meat, with very little fat. content.

This makes the preparation of deer meat quite different than beef. Without all of that fat, it’s very easy to overcook venison, and when it’s overcooked it’s not particularly appetizing.

When prepared correctly, however, venison is far better-tasting meat with amazing texture and an excellent nutrient profile with higher vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and Omega-3s than beef. It’s also lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, but I wrote a whole article on deer fat and how to render it, so I won’t go into more.

Do you need to soak venison?

A lot of people claim that venison has a “gamey” flavor. While it doesn’t as long as it is handled and prepared properly, it doesn’t taste like beef. That said, some will recommend soaking in buttermilk overnight before cooking to remove any gamey taste.

How to Cook Venison So It’s Tender and Delicious

While there aren’t any hard fast rules to cooking venison, typically you cook tender cuts hot and fast while cooking tougher cuts, such as roasts, low and slow.

Cooking Venison Steak, Backstrap, and Other Tender Cuts

Whether you’re cooking venison steaks or making my favorite venison backstrap recipe, you’ll want to cook it on high heat to an internal temperature of 120°F to 135°F.

Perfectly cooked venison steak should be cooked to rare or rare plus for the best flavor. Overcooking it will result in a very dry, unappetizing dish. This is because there isn’t much, if any, fat or marbling on the meat which means it will heat up and cool down much more quickly than beef.

I do recommend using a little fat when searing, especially in a cast iron skillet. Rub a bit of ghee or avocado oil on the outside of the meat.

Seasoning tender cuts of venison is sort of a personal preference. You can certainly pat the meat dry with some paper towel, season it with a little salt and pepper, or your favorite dry rub, and give it a good sear to the temperature you want. Or, you can use marinades and acids to help tenderize the meat and make it palatable for even the most reluctant venison consumer.

Cooking Roasts and Other Large, Tough Cuts

Deer are often on the move, creating lots of tough muscle. While a lot of folks have deer roasts, shanks, and the like put in the grind pile, these cuts are actually delicious when they’re properly cooked.

The best way to cook larger cuts and roasts is to cook them low and slow, make sure you add some acid and have plenty of braising liquid to work with, and use low temperatures for the best results.

Turn roasts into stew meat and make venison stew or stroganoff, or keep it whole and make venison pot roast. You can also slow cook or smoke shanks for some amazing flavor.

How to Cook Ground Venison

Deer burger is incredibly versatile. My favorite way to use ground meat is making venison burgers, they’re so tasty we rarely eat beef burgers anymore. I also love making delicious venison bolognese or venison meatballs.

You can use ground deer meat in virtually any recipe that calls for ground beef. The only exception is if you grind your own venison and there is no added fat, you’ll want to make sure there is some either added in the recipe or enough in the skillet to keep it from burning.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can find some great ground deer meat recipes here.

Best Tips for Cooking Venison

You’ve got the basics, now here are a few tips to make sure that your venison dishes always turn out tender and juicy.

Almost Always Use Room Temperature Meat

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but for the best results, you’ll want to get the meat to room temperature before cooking.

The exceptions? Thin cuts and smoking meats. If you have a particularly thin steak or you’re smoking, it’s best to start with meat fresh out of the refrigerator to keep it rare in the center.

Make the Most of Seasoning Venison Meat

Venison pairs nicely with a lot of herbs and spices, and a properly seasoned piece of meat goes a long way to making a dish delicious.

But a few simple ingredients like the combination of salt, black pepper, and garlic powder can go a long way to creating a flavorful piece of meat.

Things like Italian seasoning, thyme, oregano, and rosemary also pair well with venison but experimenting a little and deciding what goes best and suits your tastes and the dish is the best way to go.

A good marinade is another great way to add some added flavor while helping to break down tough muscle fibers. I often make this venison steak recipe and we all prefer them to beef any day of the week.

Use an Acid

Acids such as red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice can help not only tenderize the meat, but pull any “gamey” type of flavors out by mellowing them. You’ll notice most of my venison recipes call for some type of acid, and this is why.

It doesn’t take much, just a tablespoon or so depending on the quantity of meat in the recipe and other ingredients and which acid you use will depend on what you’re making (things like stews and sauces I typically opt for red wine vinegar while taco meat is made with lime juice).

You can experiment with different acids to find one that works well for you or change things up to see how the different acids affect the flavor profile of the final dish.

Make Sure to Remove the Silver Skin

We butcher our own meat now, but even when we would get meat back from the processor, the steaks and roasts would often have a decent amount of silverskin still attached.

Silverskin is the silvery, sinewy looking layer on the outside of the meat. It doesn’t cook well and turns into tough, unappetizing bits along the edges of an otherwise tasty piece of meat. So, when you’re preparing things like steaks and roasts, be sure that silverskin is removed to really amp up the flavor.

Venison Recipes to Try Next:

• The Best Hearty Venison Chili Recipe
• Venison Fajitas | How to Make Deer Steak Fajitas
• Easy Ground Venison Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

If you found this post on how to cook venison helpful, I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments below! Also, feel free to follow me on facebook and pinterest for even more inspiration!