If you’ve ever purchased meat that tastes “gamey” or eaten venison and not like the flavor, what do you do? Through research and practice, I have found some solutions on how to make the meat tastes as amazing as it should.
Vinegar?
Here’s what you will find when you Google it. Most advice suggest soaking meat in vingear. However, I found that due to vinegar’s acidity it just dries out the meat and makes it tought – not what I want from my expensive meat.
Instead I tried soaking the meat in saltwater. This actually seems to do the trick, making it taste so much better. Don’t forget to rinse it in plain water before cooking though or you aremaking the meat taste too salty!
Another option is soaking it in milk, but that seems like an expensive solution.
Marinades
Honestly putting meat in marinades might be the simplist choice. It does the same things as a saltwater brine, helping pull some of that flavor out, while replacing it with a better one. There’s many varieties on the market, but even just soaking it in something like Italian dressing can be enough to make the flavor delicious.
Don’t Overcook!
It may seem counterintuitive, but actually leaving meat tender and rare can make it tastes less gamey. Gaminess is actually amplified the more meat is cooked. For roasts, cook it low and slow. For steak, leave it medium done.
Pick the Right Processor
Let’s just say we learned from our mistake and will never use a processor we know is bad, ever again. We learned that processors can actually make meat taste more gamey and have definitely learned that lesson the hard way.
Conclusion
Overall, having gamey tasting meat isn’t the end of the world. Cooking practices can improve the taste. I actually love the thought that the gameiness comes because an animal had a diet that was more natural. The Standard American Diet has taught us the love the flavor of grain-fed meat, and I am enjoying the learning process in how grass-fed/grass-finished meat tastes different (and in many cases better!).
