Post by Dave1 on Dec 19, 2003 8:06:33 GMT -5
I am fortunate that I have access to a walk in cooler. I hang all deer in that cooler (field dressed & washed out well, head and hide left on) for three weeks/21 days before cutting up and freezing. Venison aged in this manner then deep fried quickly "Southern Style" in very hot grease is so tender you can cut it with a fork.
You can age your venison at home in the frig if your frig is cold enough. 32-38 constant degrees is plenty cold enough.
Here's is how I have done it. Clear off a shelf or two, then cover shelf with freezer paper or foil. Field dress, gut, clean, skin, your deer, rinsing it well with fresh clean water, remove all dirt, hair, foreign matter, etc. Be careful to not bust open the guts/stomach/pee bag etc. during this process because the fluids and acids will taint the meat causing a strong glanny kind of odor and flavor.
I bone out the back strap, tenderloins, and hams. Once all meat is cleaned, boned, cut up, etc. I remove all the water off the meat that I can by patting it all dry with clean paper towels, then lay out on the back of the refrigerator shelf.
In a week or so the meat will turn dark colored on the outside but don't fret as this is part of the aging process. After a week or so I will turn the meat over on the shelf. How long you age it is up to you but if your frig is good and cold and the door is not flagged open and closed a 100 times a day, a couple weeks should be OK.
Once the meat is aged, I then cut/wrap it into meal size portions.
I deep fry almost all of my venison, and have it with rice and gravy "Southern Style". My procedure is to thaw a meal size piece of meat, take a very sharp knife and slice/ trim all of the dark colored outside off the piece of meat, then cut it into bite size pieces approx 1" square.
Once all meat is cleaned and cut up I put it in a bowl of milk and let sit until I am ready to cook. Pour flour into a doubled paper sandwich bag, dump pieces of meat in there ( a few at a time, shake bag well to coat meat well, once all meat is coated with flour and shaken off, I put it on a plate. While all of this has been going on, I have had the grease heating up and it should be smokin' (literally) by this time. If it ain't smoking it is not hot enough! Because of the smoke, I use a propane cook stove on the back porch so as to not smoke up the house.
I don't try to cook all of the meat at one time but break it up into 2 cookings. This allows the grease to stay hot. If the grease is hot enough, the actual cooking time is about 45 seconds or so to get the meat a pretty golden brown. Use a wire scooper and remove the meat from grease quickly and lay out on paper towel then add salt/pepper.
With venison, usually the longer you cook it the tougher it is. Deep frying quick and hot has proven to be the best way for a flavorful and tender meal.
Good luck.
Dave1
