[catcat foodstar]

I love to cook with wild game such as deer,fish,turkey,elk,ext. there is a question I have that is why game meats are always so

chewy and rubbery sometimes I want all my game to be tender and easy to chew but how?? please help if you are like me and like to cook game meats!!/img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif

 

[hunters chef]

Hey Cat Cat, I cook a lot of wild meats for my clientele on hunting ranches.

By law in the north west most wild meats are older male animals. Like turkeys most are over two years old (gotta have the longest beard biggest antlers), even a domestic bird that is old will be tougher than a say a two or three month old bird.

That being said what I use a lot when I can is an electric pressure cooker or a stove top PC. They will melt an elk roast or turkey to a moist soft yummy consistency (like pulled pork) The thing I like about the electric pressure cooker is that you set it and forget it.

Hope that helps.

 

[kingfarvito]

Hunters chef has a good point about pressure cooked meat, but I've found that its not the only way. I've found that a lot of hunters for what ever reason don't age meats. I do a lot of hunting, and I've found my game to be consistently better than my buddies because I age everything I take with the exception of fish. My garage has a pair of evap coolers hooked up to it between those and some ice I can get it down to about 47 degrees in the winter. Game hangs until its lost 5% of its weight, then it gate vacuum packed in the biggest pieces possible and aged for 2-10 more days depending on the animal. This leaves me with tender flavorful meat that I enjoy cooking. 

 

[allanmcpherson]

Some "field dressing" leaves a bit to be desired as well...

 

[hunters chef]

I agree with both Kingfavorito and Allen. At both ranches that I work at we built butcher shops with walk in coolers. We hang elk quarters for up to two weeks. By the way if you want to build a walk in look at the coolbot, it will allow you to use a window AC for you cooling system. We also do full butcher cuts on elk that are harvested on the ranches, bone in ribeyes, rack of ribs, etc. When we are in the Idaho selway we debone everything but still age it back at the ranch. Really the only time I use the pressure cooker is when I cook older birds or doing elk short ribs and a roast once in a while. I also use it when I make grouse pot pie to cook down the legs and backs for broth.

 

[clairelv]

good question !! but i don't know why .....

 

[chefross]

Cooking wild game is all about temperatures.

You either cook it rare to medium rare ( elk, deer, wild boar,bison,) or you braise it in liquid, low and slow for hours. 

ANYTHING in between these modes will make the meat tough and chewy.