elk meat

[bnsafe]

im eating elk meat for the first time tomorrow night. a buddy of mine gave me some. lookin forward to it.

[pointysticks]

any particular part of the elk?

i treat it like Beef. IMHO, you have to pay attention to what part of the animal the meat came from and cook accordingly.

[easeup]

I just cant go any parts or subparts.....

[Swede]

bnsafe: Let us know how you like it.

[bnsafe]

will do, gettin ready to cook it now.

[cnelk]

Any new meat to your body and it could give you a couple unwanted symptoms...
But they will pass.... literally

If prepped correctly, I know you will like it.

[bnsafe]

well first of all i have to say i dont like wild game. deer is nasty to me. so,with that background i liked the elk. it wasnt great but i liked it. im not sure if it was the marinade i didnt like or the meat, just had a funny flavor. but def better than other wild game ive had.

[pointysticks]

you dont like venison? bummer.

hunting and eating deer is one of my favorite. Steve Rinella once wrote a "blog" saying that the american meat industry has really tailored societies tastebuds. they have trained us to love meat that is tame tasting. he argues that back in the day, all meat tasted gamey. and people ate it just fine. YMMV.

i admit, i have had some horrible venison. my first deer was difficult, but i probably didnt treat the meat all that well in my rookie season.

[bnsafe]

yea, it really sucks loving hunting as much as i do but not liking the meat. the antelope i killed was good to eat and i can eat the elk, but give me beef anyday. i love to waterfowl an hate the taste of all of that. grew up on turkey and quail. now thats good.

[Lefty]

Im not a big fan of muledeer meat so I often marinated it..I still believe cornfeed whitetail is better than elk
Ive eaten way more wild game,.. heck more elk than beef and We've always pastured a few cows.
Thinking back I dont think Ive boughten a beef steak in over 30 years

Heat med/hi a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil. sear one side, add a tablespoon of butter, turn down the heat to med, flip once
Salt or season to your taste,.. most game cook med/rare or use a thermometer 145 degrees

Fast easy and tasty

[Freebird134]

yea, it really sucks loving hunting as much as i do but not liking the meat. the antelope i killed was good to eat and i can eat the elk, but give me beef anyday. i love to waterfowl an hate the taste of all of that. grew up on turkey and quail. now thats good.

I knew a guy that loved hunting but didn't like eating it. he shot several deer each year, and gave them all away. he was also gay. Very gay. Just sayin' bnsafe.....

[bnsafe]

ouch, that hurt, my man card if full, just so theres no confusion, lol

[Swede]

I find it interesting that a person likes beef, but is less enthusiastic about elk. My wife often serves elk to guests, and until we tell them it is elk, they think it is just a lean tender cut of beef. Most of the folks I know who eat "gamey" meat have had issues with caring for the animal somewhere along the line. I have found exceptions for animals that were foraging on sage, animals in poor condition, and bears that were eating dead fish or at a garbage dump. All of us like some animals better than others, but for me, elk is real hard to beat.

[cnelk]

Not prepared correctly, elk can taste like crap...

Marinade and low heat is your friend when cooking steaks or roasts

We make the following from elk burger meat

kraut burgers
cheeseburers
spaghetti
chili
elk Wellington
casseroles
tacos

I cant remember the last beef I bought

[bnsafe]

im not sayin its bad, but i prefer beef. but i also said it may well have been the marinade i put on it. i dont care for marinade but was told to use it. the next elk i have wont have marinade on it. im sure its an aquired taste like most everything else. funny enough i loved the antelope nobody else seems to like but i like the sage taste. just me.

[Freebird134]

funny enough i loved the antelope nobody else seems to like but i like the sage taste. just me.

Pronghorn is some of the best meat I've ever had! I think it's all about how well you take care of it after the kill.

[planebow]

Antelope was the reason I built the hoist for the back of my pickup. I skin them as soon as possible to get the heat out of the meat. Since I have been doing it this way it is my favorite meat. No wild flavor at all just wish there was more meat on one.

[WindedBowhunter]

Here is a great site for wild game recipes: http://fromforesttofork.com/

Not to toot my own horn, I share recipes that I have pesonally tried here as well: http://blog.windedbowhunter.com/category/recipe/

[WapitiTalk1]

Here is a great site for wild game recipes: http://fromforesttofork.com/

Not to toot my own horn, I share recipes that I have pesonally tried here as well: http://blog.windedbowhunter.com/category/recipe/

Toot away.. Those look some some great recipes worth trying.. Thanks.

[Sean_TeamNWHunting]

I personally feel that the first step to creating great table fare from any wild game is removing the hide and cooling the meat as soon as possible. This may have to occur in the field a long ways from your vehicle. If one prepares for this possibility by carrying rope, fly mesh, and proper cutting tools, quarters can be hung and the cooling process begins while transporting the meat. Be innovative in finding ways to keep the meat cool once the heat has been removed. I have found that following these steps prevents the meat from becoming gamey. Even the best recipes cannot rescue meat that has become tainted.

[planebow]

I agree 1000% with Sean. On elk I do the guttless method which gets the hide off and the meat cooling. Made a hoist for the back of my pickup for hunting antelope, hang and skin them as soon as I get them to the pickup. The antelope that I have done this way has no wild flavor at all.

[GetemDuck]

Always process the meat yourself, the only time I have had bad game is when it was give to me by a friend, he always did something to kill the taste of his meat.

Antelope is great the lil' lady loves it more then anything so we always head to wyoming when we can and hunt doe/fawn tags I've got one goat on the wall so just hunting meat is pretty cheap and a great time.

had elk fajita's last night and they were awesome, we can deer and it makes awesome bbq sandwiches or enchiladas, but nothing beats a nice steak on the grill or a roast slow cooking in the crock pot.

forget beef, who needs it......lol ok it's not bad once in a while, but fulling the freezer with beef is just no fun for me.

[WindedBowhunter]

Sean_TeamNWHunting and planebow, very good tip on getting the hide off the meat! If its hot you will want to get that meat cooled as they suggested and or off the bone to mitigate "bone sour"

[Indian Summer]

"Most of the folks I know who eat "gamey" meat have had issues with caring for the animal somewhere along the line"

"the first step to creating great table fare from any wild game is removing the hide and cooling the meat as soon as possible"

Yep & yep. But the most important thing is to make 100% sure that you get rid of ALL of the fat. Fat from wild animals is the opposite of beef fat. Beef fat compliments the flavor. Expensive beef has more marbleing. Animal fat is where the gamey taste comes from. Just smell it! Eat some of that and nobody will ever convince you that....

"My wife often serves elk to guests, and until we tell them it is elk, they think it is just a lean tender cut of beef"

Me too Swede. Do it all the time. Deer will never be as good because the muscles are smaller with more sinew and the meat is usually less lean. My elk meat is pure red. When I butcher deer it takes forever... but it has zero fat 0R sinew and looks nothing like the deer meat that my friends bring home from a deer processor. Those guys could never make a dime if they did it right.

[bnsafe]

gonna eat my elk burger today in either chilli or tacos. will see how that goes