In an earlier discussion on this I posted this: the venison chunks in beef broth can be added to stews, chili, and soups. Venison stroganoff!! And we grind up some too and add mix with hamburger for meat loaf. We tried venison spaghetti sauce one year but didn't care for it. But wife makes diced venison hash (like corned beef hash) for breakfast often with it. Dice the chunks, dice up a couple of canned potatoes, toss in some diced frozen onions and diced peppers, S&P and cook covered on low heat in a cast iron skillet for about 20 mins. Serve with a couple of poached eggs and toast. That discussion also includes a recipe for Apple Cider Venison Stew and some instructions for chili and soups. NCHFP gives instructions for canning venison mincemeat as well as soups and stews. Personally we prefer to can all of ours plain. That way it can be used for all sorts of things - substituted for other meats in most any recipe. You might also eant to consider adding some juniper berries to it. Ken discussed that in some other venison threads in the past - ground and used in about the same amount as you would pepper - to defeat the gamey taste. Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: previous vension discussion

Sounds like you are trying to do the butchering, freezing and canning all at the same time? That is really complicated and full of possible errors. With 3 deer I hope you have multiple freezers. You need to butcher, wrap and freeze. Then put the canning off for now and you can what you want to can at leisure. Just pull the pack out of the freezer, cut it up frozen, and return it to the freezer until you have time to can it. We prefer hot pack with broth - beef, vegetable, turkey, even chicken. Raw pack makes its own broth and some prefer that - it is just a personal preference so you have to try both and see which you prefer. You can can it all if you wish but usually we keep the tenderloin, some steak, loin roasts and ribs frozen for fresh cooking. I can the backstrap steaks and the briskets (for bar-b-q) and most of the rest is ground and canned mixed with some pork for chili and meatloaf or frozen in burgers. I assume you are planning to have jerky and/or summer sausage made from the less-than-ideal cuts? Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Broken Arrow Ranch - Processing Venison

I also grew up eating venison. I didn't even know deer season wasn't year round until I got into high school and my classmates were taking the first day of deer season off. (grin) Yeah, I know, my family called it "government beef" and there was one hanging in a garage somewhere nearly all the time. As Michael pointed out, it needs to be well cleaned, I take off all the hair and bits of fat and sinew. The backstrap is the prime piece, we used to "butterfly" those tenderloin steaks and serve with just salt and pepper. Most of the venison was cooked like beef, my beef is nearly as lean as venison anyway so I don't change my techniques much. Venison does have a more assertive flavor so I use more seasonings than I would with beef. Our venison is mostly from the corn fields and apple orchards and that makes a big difference in flavor. As for the sex, if I'm eating it I'd much prefer a big doe than a buck. Unlike paririe-love, I encourage the shooting of does, it's the only way to cull the herd which has grown so big in our area that special kill permits are being given inside city limits because the deer are eating the landscaping in front of city hall, the library and the schools. A friend in Wisconsin says the deer herd there has grown so large that they are required to take a doe before they can take a buck. Anyway, favorite recipes. I like the typical stew/taco/chili recipes, all have enough seasonings to overcome that venison flavor. I haven't learned to like wine, so that's not a usual ingredient in my cooking, but I keep trying. I do like chunks of venison from steaks or roasts, marinated in Nancy's teriyaki marinade and then grilled with onions and peppers. Asian Marinade for Chicken Breasts 1C veg oil 1/4 C sesame oil 3/4 C soy sauce (Kikkomen) 1/3 C minced garlic 4 Tabsp minced ginger 2/3 C minced cilantro 5-6 green onions 1 tsp grd blk pepper I put the onions, ginger and cilantro in the food rocessor and pulse till chopped fine. Combine all and marinate chicken breasts (or whatever meat you are using) up to 24 hrs. but at least 1 hr if you can I have also put marinade in a freezer bag with chicken and frozen (good to do with the left over) Nancy My family liked this recipe, although the tomato sauce was a bit much for me. My Dad likes olives in the stuffing, but I don't care for olives either, LOL. I think you could add anything you like to the stuffing, like capers or pickled jalapenos or mushrooms. Hmmmm, maybe spinach and cheese, a kind of florentine....well, you get the idea. Stuffed Venison Steak Ingredients: Venison (or beef) Steaks Fresh Parsley (chopped) Scallions (chopped) Ham Salami Sliced Provolone Cheese Grated Cheese chopped olives Olive Oil Salt Pepper Prepared Marinara or Meat Tomato Sauce Directions: Pound venison steak to tenderize. Any cut of steak can be used. Layer the meats, cheeses, parsley, olives and scallions on the pounded steak. Once the steak is layered with your choice of stuffing, salt and pepper to taste. Roll each steak trying to keep as much stuffing in the middle. Tie both ends with thread or cooking string. Some steaks may need to be tied a third time. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown venison on all sides. Gently place browned meat into your pot of marinara sauce. Turn on low and allow to simmer for one and a half to two hours. I've not tried it but I think Ann T's salisbury steak recipe would be good with venison too. Salisbury Steak In Mushroom And Green Peppercorn Sauce ====================================================== 2 Pounds of ground Sirloin 1 onion finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic minced 2 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 2 Teaspoon chopped fresh thyme 1 Tablespoon of worcestershire Sauce 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard Salt and Pepper to taste Sauce 1/2 small onion chopped 1 garlic clove minced 1 Tablespoon green peppercorns Fresh Mushrooms sliced 2 Tablespoons Flour Broth 2 to 3 cups (Beef or chicken) Pan drippings plus 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter/margarine or oil. Saute onions in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil until tender but not browned. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. In a bowl combined ground sirloin, parsley, thyme, dijon mustard, worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Add onions and garlic and mix well. (I use my hands). Form into oval shaped patties. (I made 5 nice size ones from the 2 pounds, but you could make smaller if you prefer) If you have a grill pan use it. Heat pan until hot and grill steaks until grilled on both sides. Add a bit of broth to the pan to pick up the drippings to add to sauce. Saute onion in 1 Tablespoon of oil until tender. Add mushroom and cook for 3 or 4 minutes and add flour. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes and add broth and green peppercorns. Place Salisbury Steaks in with sauce and continue to cook on low for at least one hour. This makes the meat really fork tender. NOTES: I used Chicken Broth but added some beef/veal demi glaze that I made a week or two ago. It added flavor and color to the sauce. I had actually gone for a walk while this was cooking so it was probably more like an 1-1/2 hours, although 1 hour would probably be enough. Serves 4 (Ann T) Good luck, and have fun cooking. Annie

Yum, venison - the other red meat! We've been on a venison kick for the last month making room in the freezer for this year's supply. Our favorite ways to prepare it: Tenderloins - wrap with bacon, crust with cracked pepper, sear quickly and serve with a pomegranate/red wine sauce or my new favorite which is an elderberry/port wine sauce. Stew meat - venison stroganoff with brown crimini mushrooms. Venison Meatloaf 2 pounds ground venison 2 pounds bulk pork sausage 2 medium onions, finely chopped 1-1/2 cups cracker crumbs or bread crumbs 1/2 cup evaporated milk 3 eggs 1 cup barbecue sauce 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce 1. Saute the onions, add the meats and cracker crumbs and mix well. Add the next five ingredients and 1/2 cup tomato sauce and mix well. 2. Put in greased baking pan after shaping into a loaf. 3. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Top with remaining tomato sauce and bake for 1 hour longer. We butcher our own, and we save the front leg roasts for sauerbraten (which we are having tonight, BTW). Cube steaks - my mom used to take a cube steak, pile on some stuffing mix (I think a Stove Top type stuffing would work), wrap it up with a strip of bacon around the middle and secure with a toothpick. Then she'd put the stuffed cube steaks into a loaf pan, add some consomme or onion soup, cover with foil and cook in the oven. Apple smoked venison kielbasa - take a piece and use it in red beans and rice. I would think a boar ham would be great marinated with some cider and a splash of apple cider vinegar much like Annie's cider brined pork and roast it with apples, onions and add some sauerkraut. It's been a while since we lived in an area overrun with javelinas, so I'm a bit out of practice. Can you tell I love venison?