"metallic/irony flavours in venison

namsen

Member
Hi All.
I am curious as to how different the various roe I have shot have tasted. I go stalking mainly in Cornwall and west Devon, and have the carcases prepared for me by a local butcher
Of the last 2, the first was, we guessed a 2/3 yr old buck, shot at the end of May 2010 near North Lewe in Devon. As we had the loins for dinner, (Venison"Wellington), which I had managed not to overcook for a change!,I thought the meat tasted very "iron-y". A similar experience was v had with the boned and rolled roast haunch. A slow cooked casserole from the shoulder, cooked in cider and white wine was, by contrast delicious.
The 2nd was a young doe, culled in the Glynn Valley in early Feb 2011. The pan fried loins ( relatively pale in colour in their raw state)were as soft as butter,absolutely delicious, with none of that metallic taste.

Curiously, my youngest daughter, after the 1st buck, said she didnt like venison, but enjoyed it when we had the casserole, even more when we ate the young doe.

Any comments.

P.S. Made a good coarse "pate maison" with some of the roe liver, trimmings and pork belly.
 
2 friends of mine are butchers. I would suggest that the metallic taste you describe could be down to the deer not being bled properly after being shot.

Regardless of where I shoot the animal on the body, I will always try and ensure that as much blood as possible is expelled from it.
 
+1 on that, get the thing bled and gralloched quickly, then cooled soon after.
have seem this with the use of roe sacks, the beast is actually getting warmer in the sack if not left to cool before transporting.
 
Even with carcasses that have been well bled as part of an immediate post-cull suspended gralloch, I find that Roe in particular can develop a distinctly liverish ferrous taste when hung for longer periods - I tend to only hang Roe carcasses now for a couple of days at 3-4 degrees before butchering.

Edit: I also meant to add that some people seem more sensitive to this metallic taste than others - my wife can't taste it, whereas I find the taste really noticeable and unpleasant.

A.
 
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Even with carcasses that have been well bled as part of an immediate post-cull suspended gralloch, I find that Roe in particular can develop a distinctly liverish ferrous taste when hung for longer periods - I tend to only hang Roe carcasses now for a couple of days at 3-4 degrees before butchering.

Edit: I also meant to add that some people seem more sensitive to this metallic taste than others - my wife can't taste it, whereas I find the taste really noticeable and unpleasant.

A.

I'll be honest with you, I find that roe taste quite liver like all the time but that is perhaps just down to my taste buds. I would eat sika every time given the choice.
 
Thanks for your interesting comments one and all.
I lost my password for some time, so my infrequent visits to S.D. were even less frequent!!
The buck in question was neck shot, but gralloched straight away, and in the chiller within 2 hours. It was quite a warm May morning.
The young doe was heart and lung, and gralloched 40 minutes later, on a cold winter morning.
Thankyou all.
 
I forgot to add that both Roe were shot at the weekend, and hung until the following Thursday, when thsy were butchered.
 
I think 40 minutes is a very long time to leave until gralloch in any case - not judging you, just commenting. I like to butcher my deer the next day, no more than 48hrs at most. any deer over 3 years old gets sold.
 
40 minutes is really too long to leave before gralloching 30 minutes absolute maximum and preferably much sooner
metallic taste is usually down to not being bled properly, though Roe as others have said can sometimes have a strange after taste when eaten hot though I would not exactly describe it as metallic.

Will eat the fillets hot, but haunches I normally roast slice and eat cold, just like roast beef when eaten cold and no after taste.
 
I can't say the bleeding of an animal corrollates with my experience of 'mettaliccy taste' in Roe. Most of mine are cheast shot and as such tend to bleed out pretty quick and I am usually doing the gralloch very promptly after the beast expires. I have also noticed the taste is mainly in the bucks and not the does. For me this leaves the the factors of length of time before the carcass is properly cooled (always a.s.a.p however on hot summers days it can be longer than one would like) and the possibility of testosterone effecting the meat. Unfortunately I have not kept a record on whether a beast has run or dropped to shot and I suppose addrenaline could be another factor.

Any comments and speculations welcome.
 
+1 with jamross65
you never let it bleed out long enough, and not let it cool down, if possible try not to transport them till there totally cold (not always possible i know) and 40 minutes is way way to long get it done soon as
 
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Thanks again for all comments!
The doe fawn ,gralloched late, was delicious, but the neck shot buck was the problem, though gralloched immediately.
After seeing your comments, and talking to others, it would seem to come down to the neck shot not allowing the deer to bleed properly.
Cheers.
 
Interesting thread indeed. The 'liver-ish' taste mentioned has already put all my family off venison, which is a bit unfortunate. All the more for me though!!
 
If any blood from the wound, or post-shot carcase dressing, is allowed to get into the meat you eventually eat it will taint the meat. I learnt my lesson trying to get the last bit of loin from neck shot animals. If in doubt trim every bit of knicker elastic for toughness and every bit of discoloured/bloody meat for taste. I have to admit that when I see some of the 'traffic accidents'( in terms of badly handled carcases) hanging up in Irish game dealers it's a wonder that anyone is converted to liking venison.
 
I can't say the bleeding of an animal corrollates with my experience of 'mettaliccy taste' in Roe.

I'd agree.

This bleeding business (sic) still seems to have two meanings on here.... by 'bleeding' in the sense we deer stalkers use it (sticking the beast into the chest cavity after it's been shot) my own understanding is that this is emptying pooling blood out of the chest cavity. It is these large pools of blood that can lead to spoiling and tainting of meat as blood is good at leaching through surrounding tissue and is also a perfect environment for bacterial contamination to multiply.

This isn't the same as bleeding that a slaughterhouse might perform whilst the heart is still beating because in this instance the heart is still working to draw blood out of the body.

Once the heart has stopped, which in the majority of cases for us it already has, cutting the blood vessels, 'bleeding' etc is going to have little effect upon the blood content of the meat itself (i.e. the muscle tissue) in my opinion because whatever is left is going to have simply stopped where it was in tiny blood vessels and capillaries within the muscles.

Hence I don't think bleeding practice relates directly to taste if spoilage isn't an issue. It is other factors such as age, diet, length hung, rut, time cooled etc.
 
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