How to Preserve Venison -an Easy Guide to Freezing, Drying and Cooking Venison

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Venison: Preserving Deer

Venison is an important food source for many families in America and Canada, and with tough economic times, and often such an overpopulation of deer in many areas that disease and starvation threatens the herds, hunting deer and preserving the venison is becoming a necessity for many. When handled properly it can make an excellent meat. It can be refrigerated or frozen as meat cuts or sausage. It can also be preserved by canning, curing, or drying.

While these facts may be upsetting to vegans and vegetarians, this information may be useful to others. I will not reply to emails attempting to engage me in a discussion of the morality of hunting or eating meat. This page is about food preservation, not dogma.

Now, with THAT out of the way, here's how to preserve venison, based on information from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (see references at the bottom of the page)

Field-to-Refrigerator

Use care when field dressing the deer. Contaminating the carcass is one of the most common errors hunters make. Refrigerate the carcass as soon as possible for best quality; usually within 3-4 hours after killing if the air temperature is above 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Aging Venison

Aging will help dissipate the game taste and permit natural occurring enzymes to tenderize the tissues. Proper aging also firms the meat, giving it better cutting quality. Aging should be conducted between 32 - 35° F for 7 - 10 days. Never age at room temperature. Venison may be cut within 24 hours after the kill and still be acceptable for aging. Improper storage facilities increases risk for spoilage.

Freezing Venison

Trim fat and clean cuts so they are ready for end use. Fat will go rancid quicker and often has a very "gamey" undesirable flavor. Use freezer wrap or packaging made for the freezer. For best quality, wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap first, keeping air out as much as possible. Then wrap packages in moisture- and vapor-proof freezer paper. Seal, label and date each package. Home vacuum sealers will also work for packing venison for freezing. Follow manufacturer directions for vacuum sealing. Freeze quickly at 0°F or below. Freeze no more than 4 pounds per cubic foot of freezer space within a 24-hour period. If space in the home freezer does not permit spreading the packages out, take the wrapped meat to a processing plant or meat locker for quick freezing.

Store ground venison (aka, "Bambi burgers") in a freezer at 0°F or colder for no more than 3-5 months. Venison roasts and steaks can be stored up to 6-12 months at this temperature. Meat quality and flavor will deteriorate in the freezer over time. Proper dressing, handling, packaging, quick freezing, and colder freezer temperatures will help maintain meat quality for the longest period of time. Thaw meat in the refrigerator or microwave (on the defrost cycle), never at room temperature. (Adapted from: So Easy to Preserve, Andress and Harrison 1999).

Basics of canning venison meat

1. Use a pressure canner ONLY: Meat, poultry, and game are low acid foods and must be canned or processed in a pressure canner
2. Process at:
   11 pounds pressure with a dial gauge pressure canner.
   15 pounds pressure with a weighted gauge pressure canner for required times.
3. Handle meats quickly and cleanly and keep the process moving
4. Choose only good venison meat for canning, and handle it quickly and with total cleanliness, because bacteria grow rapidly in meat held at room temperature.
5. If you have a large amount, store the part you're not working on in the refrigerator (33 F to 40 F)
6. These recipes are closely based on the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA, revised 2015 and other authoritative sources such as MSU Extension, Ball Blue Book. .

Key points about canning venison

1. Start with properly cleaned and chilled meat
2. Can fresh meat within 2 days or freeze it.
3. To can frozen venison, thaw in the refrigerator until most ice crystals have disappeared, then handle as if they were fresh.
4. Trim gristle and fat off meat before canning. Fat left on meat melts and climbs on the sides of the jar during processing and may interfere with the sealing of the lid.
5. Salt is optional in canned meat and poultry..

Making Sausage from Venison

If making a sausage, seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper, you may want to avoid sage which can cause a bitter off-flavor.

Venison summer sausage recipe

Note: This sausage is quite spicy. If you like less spice, cut down proportions of spices.

Ingredients:

• 15 pounds venison
• 10 pounds pork trimmings (5 pounds lean trimmings, 5 pounds fat trimmings)
• 7 ounces (2/3 cup) salt
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) commercial cure
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) mustard seed
• 3 ounces (1/2 cup) pepper
• 3 ounces (1/2 cup) sugar
• 1/2 ounce (3 tablespoons) marjoram

Directions:

1. Mix salt and cure with coarsely ground venison and pork trimmings.
2. Pack in shallow pan and place in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
3. Then add rest of ingredients and mix well.
4. Smoke sausage until internal temperature reaches 160 F as measured by a food thermometer.

Venison Garlic Sausage

Ingredients

• 12 pounds pork trim 60/40
• 10 pounds venison trim
• 2 pounds beef trim
• 1 pint water
• 1½ tablespoons cure
• 2/3 cup salt
• 4 tablespoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons marjoram
• 5½ teaspoons mustard seed
• 2 cloves garlic or ½ teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Coarse-grind meat trimmings.
2. Add salt, water, cure and spices; mix thoroughly.
3. Regrind through 1/4-inch diameter plate and stuff into pork casings.
4. Smoke the venison sausages to the desired color and heat to an internal temperature of 141 F.
5. The sausages must be cooked before serving.

Venison Polish Sausage

Ingredients

• 25 pounds 50/50 pork trimmings
• (50 percent lean and 50 percent
  fat)
• 20 pounds wild game (lean meat)
• 1 quart water
• 14 ounces (1⅓ cups) salt
• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) cure
• 1/2 ounce (6 teaspoons) marjoram
• 1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) mustard
  seed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 ounces (¼ cup) pepper

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Grind through a coarse plate, followed by a fine grind.
3.  Stuff in hog casing and stuff prepared sausage into 3-inch diameter fibrous casings
4. Smoke at 140°F for 1 hour, at 160°F for 1 hour, and at l80°F until internal temperature reaches 160°F (insert a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the sausage).
5. Remove from smokehouse and spray with hot water for 15–30 seconds.
6. Follow with cold spray or place in ice water to cool down rapidly.
7. Store in cooler at 40°F or colder.
   

Generic homemade venison smoked sausage process

1. Stuff prepared sausage into 3-inch diameter fibrous casings.
2. Smoke at 140 F for 1 hour, then at 160 F for one hour and then 180 F until internal temperature reaches 152 F (insert a food thermometer in the thickest part of the sausage to check internal temperature).
3. Remove from smoker/smokehouse and spray with hot water for 15 to 30 seconds.
4. Follow with a cold spray or place in ice water to cool down rapidly until the internal temperature is lowered to 100 F.
5. Air dry sausages for 1-2 hours.
6. Refrigerate at 40 F for up to 3 weeks.

Other sausage recipes

1. Guide to Home Sausage Making from the University of Connecticut
2. Fresh Game Sausage by University of Minnesota
3. North Dakota State University has a nice PDF guide of tips about making and preserving sausage and jerky

Canning Ground or Chopped Venison

Directions:

1. Choose fresh, chilled venison meat.
2. Since venison is so lean, add one part high-quality pork fat to three or four parts venison before grinding.
3. Shape chopped meat into patties or balls or cut cased sausage into 3- to 4-inch links.
4. Cook until lightly browned. Ground meat may be sauteed without shaping.
5. Remove excess fat.
6. Fill jars with pieces.
7. Add boiling meat broth, tomato juice, or water, leaving 1-inch headspace.
8. Add 2 teaspoons of salt per quart to the jars, if desired.
9. Adjust lids and process following the recommendations in the tables below according to the type of canning method used.

Process following the recommendations in Table 1 and Table 2 according to the canning method used.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Ground or Chopped Meat in a dial-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Pressure (PSI) at Elevations of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 2,000 ft	2,001 - 4,000 ft	4,001 - 6,000 ft	6,001 - 8,000 ft
Hot	Pints	75 min	11 lb	12 lb	13 lb	14 lb
	Quarts	90	11	12	13	14

Table 2. Recommended process time for Ground or Chopped Meat in a weighted-gauge pressure canner.
			Canner Pressure (PSI) at Elevations of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	Process Time	0 - 1,000 ft	Above 1,000 ft
Hot	Pints	75 min	10 lb	15 lb
	Quarts	90	10	15

Curing/Smoking Venison

Homemade venison jerky was responsible for an outbreak of foodborne illness several years ago. Therefore use only "new" and updated processing recommendations as suggested below. And see the note from MSU extension. That sais, drying is the world's oldest and most common method of food preservation. The word “jerky” came from the Spanish word “charque.”

Basically, removing moisture from food prevents enzymes (bacterial, fungal, or naturally occurring) from contacting or reacting with it. But simply drying meat may not result in a safe jerky. product. In 1995, a Salmonella outbreak caused by jerky affected 93 people in New Mexico, even though the jerky had been dried at 140°F for 3 hours and held at 115°F for 19 hours. Jerky must ALSO be heated to 160°F to kill the pathogens. The USDA's current recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160°F and poultry to 165°F before the dehydrating process. This step ensures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat. But most dehydrator instructions do not include this step, and a dehydrator may not reach temperatures high enough to heat meat to 160°F.

Hot Pickle Cure Jerky

Yield: Five pounds of fresh meat should weigh approximately two pounds after drying or smoking.

Directions

1. Slice 5 lb. of meat (¼ inch thick strips) with the grain. Use lean meat free of fat and connective tissue.
2. Spread out meat and sprinkle on 3 tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 2 tablespoon sugar. Put the meat in a pan or dish and let stand for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Pound the meat on both sides to work in the spice. Optional: Dip strips of meat in a liquid smoke solution (five parts water to one part liquid smoke) for one to two seconds for added flavor.
4. Make a brine by dissolving ¾ cup salt, ½ cup sugar, and 2 tablespoon ground black pepper in a gallon of water. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar.
5. Bring the brine to a low to medium boil. Immerse the fresh meat strips (a few at a time) into the boiling brine until they turn gray (one to two minutes). Remove meat from the brine, using clean tongs or other utensils that have not contacted the raw meat.
6. Spread out meat on a clean dehydrator rack or on a clean rack in the top half of a kitchen oven. If you use a kitchen oven, open the oven door to the first of second stop. Heat at 120 to 150 F (lowest oven temperature) for 9 to 24 hours or until the desired dryness is reached.
7. Remove jerky from oven before it becomes too hard or brittle. Properly dried jerky should crack when bent in half but should not break into two pieces.
8. Store jerky in clean jars or plastic bags, or wrap it in freezer paper and freeze. If kept dry, properly prepared jerky will last almost indefinitely at any temperature, but is quality deteriorates after a few months.

Venison Jerky FAQs

1. How do I know my venison jerky is dried properly?
   The jerky will be as brittle as a green stick; it won't snap clean as a dry stick does. Be sure to test it after cooling because it will be pliable when it is still warm.
2. Can I safely make a meat jerky without salt?
   Making low-salt jerky is not recommended. The salt binds the moisture in the meat and thus any bacteria on the meat are more quickly killed because they do not have water available to them.

 

MSU Extension says:

the meat has to be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit to kill bacteria which may be present. For jerky, this means it is not enough to dehydrate the meat in a dehydrator and consider it safe. According to the Quick Guide on processing Jerky and Compliance Guideline, humidity must also be added during the cooking cycle. This can be achieved by adding wide, shallow pans of water to the oven throughout the cooking cycle. Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the center of the largest, thickest cut of meat. If the meat is thin cut, you can simply wrap a piece of meat around the probe.

Careful use of ingredients is also necessary. Most at-home processes include using a spice pre-mix that comes with the curing agent (sodium nitrite) diluted with salt in a separate container. The cure portion is typically pink in color. Make sure to follow directions about the order of addition very carefully and never add more than described.

Corned Venison

Just like Corned Beef, you can make corned venison, antelope, moose, bear or beef. The taste also appeals more to people who do not usually like wild meats, since the process makes them less gamey and tenderizes the tough wild meats.

To make six gallons of corning brine solution:

• 3 pounds (6¾ cups) salt
• 10 ounces (13/8 cups) sugar
• 2 ounces sodium nitrate
• ½ ounce sodium nitrite
• 3 level teaspoon black pepper
• 3 level teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 bay leaves
• 12 level teaspoon mixed pickling spice
• For onion flavor, add one medium-size onion, minced.
• For garlic flavor, add 4 garlic cloves, minced.

Directions

1. Put the ingredients into a pickle crock or glass jar and add enough water to make a total of 6 gallons, including the ingredients. Cover the container.
2. The ideal temperature for corning meat is about 38 F, which is a cold refrigerator.
   Higher temperatures need not affect the end result of the corning process at all, if, for every 15 F of temperature above 38 F, you add one-third more salt. At 83 F, add three pounds more salt, making a total of six pounds of salt.
3. Place meat into the liquid. Put a heavy plate on meat; weight plate, if necessary, to keep meat below pickle brine.
4. Leave the meat in corning liquid for 15 days.
5. On the fifth and 10th days, stir the liquid well, remove the meat and put it back so the bottom piece is on top.
6. After the 15th day, remove the meat. Use what you want immediately and store the balance in a cool place refrigerated at 38 degrees.
7.  It is recommended that after meat is removed from the corning liquid it should be cooked and consumed within one week or frozen for up to one month. The meat at this stage has a grayish pink color. When cooked, corned meat changes to the characteristic pink color associated with a cured product.

Venison Cooking Tips

The key to cooking venison and to making it tender, moist and delicious is understanding that it has very little fat or fat cover. Add butter or cheese, or baste with other fats for improved flavor. Without much fat cover, the meat tends to dry out. Cook venison slowly using moist heat and baste often with a marinade sauce or oil. Don't overcook. A roast may also be wrapped in aluminum foil after browning or covered in a roasting pan. Strips of bacon may be placed on a roast for self basting. For these foods to be safe, internal temperatures must be high enough to kill any harmful microorganisms. Cook ground meats, chops, steaks and roasts to 160°F. Venison can be substituted for meat in many recipes and makes an excellent variation to your menu. (Source: Estes Reynolds, University of Georgia).

Venison cooking recipes from Michigan State Univ PDF - A 46-page resource bulletin

References and Cooperative Extension Game processing resources

1. Handling wild game meats, Clemson University
2. Penn State has a complete guide to processing wild game and fish PDF
3. The Hunt is On: Know the Basics of Venison Preservation UGa
4. Wild side of the menu No. 3 preservation of game meats. (Marchello M, Beck P. 2001. Wild Side of the Menu No. 3. Preservation of Game Meats. Fargo, ND: North Dakota State University.
5. Preserving Game Meats. Clemson, SC: Clemson University Preserving game meats (Hoyle EH. 1999.
6. National Center for Home Food Preservation,
   September 2002- Brian A. Nummer is Project Coordinator with the National Center for Home Food Preservation, Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Family and Consumer Sciences and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, The University of Georgia, Athens. This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 00-51110-9762.
   National Center for Home Food Preservation
   208 Hoke Smith Annex
   The University of Georgia
   Athens, GA 30602-4356
   
   Tel: (706) 542-3773
   Fax: (706) 542-1979