Deer Processing Saltwater Soak?

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Sapo

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Dec 2, 2003
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I remember processing critters with my family since I was 6 or so. I'm in my 60s. Cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, deer, rabbits, squirrels, all birds, frogs and turtles. NEVER did we allow red meat to set in water. Squirrels, rabbits and birds were frozen in water in paper milk cartons.

Where did this procedure come from? Why is it done? How did this practice start? What is the perceived advantage?
Diet causing the meat to take on flavors? Such as pine or sage?

I can't imagine water soaking my ribeyes for days. It is not done commercially. Help me understand.
 

nekvermont

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vermont
I wouldn't think it would be good to soak any kind of meat in water.
My grandparents would freeze trout in water in paper milk cartons. I think they did this to exclude any air around the fish, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.
 
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contender

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Freezing fish in water is a good way to preserve them for longer AND make them taste fresher.

Red meat however,, never freeze it in water.

Soaking red meat in salt water is done by some folks. Some say; "It removes the gamey taste." Others say it helps remove the bloodshot issues.

I personally have pretty much killed & used 3-6 deer a season for well over 30 years now. I also do my own processing. I don't ever use any soaking or whatever in any of my deer meat. When I use a firearm,, I make a neck shot,, so I don't get bloodshot meat. I get a little occasionally when using archery killed deer, or when using a muzzleloader. That's due to the heart/lung area shots.
I have washed meat to clean it,, and dried it off before further processing.

I'd say that the number one reason folks might use a salt water soak is to remove what they perceive as the "gamey" taste. But as a Hunter Safety Instructor,, I tell folks the most important thing you can do to make sure you have good tasting meat is to get it cleaned & cooled as quickly as you can once killed.
I think the gamey taste has come from poorly handled deer by people who do not understand proper butchering & meat care.
 

planetcat

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I have never heard anyone recommend soaking meat (mammals) in salted water. I can't imagine that would improve anything. I guess if there was bacteria, it might kill it? My hunting buddies would crucify me if I soaked a deer or wild hog in water. Process as quickly as possible, cool the carcass, butcher, package and freeze.
 

Funky

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NE Indiana
We have always soaked small game in salted water, but not larger game. Would it be like brining, but without the sugar? Chris
 

Dillon Justice

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Freezing fish in water is a good way to preserve them for longer AND make them taste fresher.

Red meat however,, never freeze it in water.

Soaking red meat in salt water is done by some folks. Some say; "It removes the gamey taste." Others say it helps remove the bloodshot issues.

I personally have pretty much killed & used 3-6 deer a season for well over 30 years now. I also do my own processing. I don't ever use any soaking or whatever in any of my deer meat. When I use a firearm,, I make a neck shot,, so I don't get bloodshot meat. I get a little occasionally when using archery killed deer, or when using a muzzleloader. That's due to the heart/lung area shots.
I have washed meat to clean it,, and dried it off before further processing.

I'd say that the number one reason folks might use a salt water soak is to remove what they perceive as the "gamey" taste. But as a Hunter Safety Instructor,, I tell folks the most important thing you can do to make sure you have good tasting meat is to get it cleaned & cooled as quickly as you can once killed.
I think the gamey taste has come from poorly handled deer by people who do not understand proper butchering & meat care.


Totally disagree with your gamey taste reasoning. I don't hunt, but I have a good friend who does, and he supplies me with deer meet a few times a year. He hunts on his own property and processes his own meat also. He likes the gamey taste as that's what he grew up eating. When he gives me fresh meat, I immediately soak the meat in a vinegar and salt water solution. It completely removes the gamey taste. I've tried to eat at my friends house and I can't eat his deer meat even when it is from the same deer, at the same time, the same cut and cooked closely in the same manner as the deer meat that I soaked. He has tried cooking venison different ways to disguise the gamey taste for me, but my wife and I still cannot eat it. Everyone is different. I absolutely love Gumbo, but my wife hates it. I hate raw cucumbers, but my wife loves them. Just because you like the gamey tastes doesn't mean that other people do. Salt water baths absolutely work and for anyone reading this, soak your deer meat before you freeze it or you "lock" that gamey taste in and no amount of soaking will remove all of it. Good eating.
 
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beentheredone

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Not really a brine, it's to remove blood trapped in the cells in the meat. Blood left in the meat can produce a bad taste.
Now, OK -- my method is to just trim off anything remotely bloodshot-looking. Good, clean meat has never needed any soaking to me. The only times I have ever encountered gamey-tasting venison was when, either through the hunter's misfortune or incompetence, proper field-dressing and cooling weren't done. Shoot one right at dark on a warm night and recover it at 9 AM the next day, and you ain't gonna get prime meat, whatever you soak it in...
 

Liljoe

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Truer words!
It's just an old European treatment for meat. Like throwing a steak on the counter till it turns green before eating. Hanging game birds by the neck until body drops free, then cleaning them.
 

RCA1504

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We also use the boat cooler, skinned and quartered deer and the cooler filled with ice, plug pulled method here. Refill the ice to the top daily. Deer rests for a week, in the ice cold, draining water. Meat turns a light pinkish color with the blood gone. Process and package.
 

contender

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"The only times I have ever encountered gamey-tasting venison was when, either through the hunter's misfortune or incompetence, proper field-dressing and cooling weren't done."

^^^^THIS^^^^^

This is the gamey taste I mentioned.

Gee,, I guess my method of processing for well over 40 years & feeding a lot of people,, (including the fine visitors at the East Coast Gathering,) as well as many folks who swear they didn't like or want venison has been wrong huh?

As a Hunter Safety Instructor,, part of my class is the proper care of meat once a kill is made. Heat, moisture, & bacteria can all affect or ruin meat. Once a kill is made,, you must get it cleaned & cooled down as quickly as you can.
Meat processing places do not soak meat in anything,, (not just venison,, but beef & pork,) for a reason.
If in the deep woods, or in a place where you can't access a meat locker,, then packing in an ice chest is a viable option. BUT,,, the meat should be protected against water getting in the meat tissue to get the best flavor.
YES,, the blood needs to be removed,, and that's where hanging a deer as it's processed comes into play. And when it's quartered,, it can be placed in plastic bags,, and placed ON ice to cool it down.
Blood shot meat can be trimmed off,, and a soak can be used IF you wish to salvage the blood shot meat.
Washing a carcass is ok,, but it must be dried before freezing.
No butcher out there freezes meat when it's wet with water,, or it'll reduce the time it can last in a freezer. Water can & will crystalize in the meat fibers.

One of our more enjoyable TV programs is on the Outdoor channel,, by a chef, in England, who harvests wild game to serve in his (4) restaurants. Mike Robinson, of "Farming the Wild", "Master Chef" & "Fishing the Wild" is the host. His program shows the kill as well as processing, and preparation of various dishes. In the episodes where he harvests various deer or stags, and processes them,, NEVER have I seen ANY meat soaking. And he has to have his meat inspected AND approved for sale prior to selling it in his restaurants. He also makes a lot of neck shots,, and makes sure he bleeds out his meat.

Yes,, a lot of folks soak meat,, but if you talk to butchers & true chefs,, NONE soak their meat,, unless it's to try & salvage blood shot meat.

I know I won't change the minds of the people who swear by soaking their meat. But I'll also bet they can go to a restaurant that sells wild game & order a dish,, and will be surprised at the rich flavors they experience. And you can ask the restaurant,, and I'd wager that NONE of their meat is soaked to "clean it, or remove a gamey taste."

As I mentioned,, heat is an enemy of good meat. I knew a guy,, (he's long deceased,) who;d kill a deer every year on opening day. He'd put that deer on the hood of his jeep, drive it out to the local country store,,and sit there for hours,, bragging & showing off his kill. Well, his family never cared much for deer meat,,, (I know his two sons) saying "It doesn't taste as good as a beef steak." While he did gut the deer,, he'd let it sit in the sunshine,, AFTER a ride on a warm to hot jeep hood. I saw some of his deer, and once,, I could smell it before I got close to it.
 

Rustybob

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Aug 6, 2012
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i tried processing right out of cooler that didnt work very well, so I hang it for a day or two let it dry
 

fuzzyedge

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Corpus Christi TX
proper preparation is the key, avoid contamination from hair, dirt, guts when skinning and quartering, and get it on ice asap. if you think of all the capillaries that exist in meat, it acts like a sponge and can absorb contaminants. For all my life I kept deer and hogs in ice/water until boning it out and separating the muscles for freezing/storage. I was brought up doing it that way..edited to add , meat is dried before wrapping and freezing
 
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Rick Courtright

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Redlands CA USA
As for brining deer, no... I soak rabbit in brine overnight but no other species.
Hi,

I'm not a deer hunter, but have always heard they taste a lot like what they eat. So a corn fed Iowa whitetail's gonna taste a whole lot better than a local blacktail that's eaten nothing but sticks and twigs its entire life. Venison from a variety of sources leads me to believe that. I've no opinions on brining Bambi.

OTOH, we started brining the T-day bird years ago and been happy with results. Brining is the last step before the oven. I've taken to brining doves, ducks and geese, and been happy with the results. Again, birds will be cleaned and dressed, frequently frozen, and brining is the last step before cooking.

Rick C
 
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