free game

[HillBill]

That 'game' smell is most un-necessary. The days when meat literally hung for weeks on end, (tales about pheasant being fit to eat only when the maggots ate through the neck ) are no longer necessary. We have good refridgerated storage, without chopping blocks of ice out of rivers and lochs.

Fresh venison doesn't taste gamey, neither does pigeon, or pheasant. Grouse needs care cleaning 'cos the insides stink of what they are, but otherwise....it's just meat, not headed onto the rancid meat.

Fine for those who want that game taste, but like blue cheese, it's not to most everyone's taste.

The 'gamey taste' is only due to having more iron in the blood due to their diet. Which is healthier than what farmed animals eat.

 

[TeeDee]

Buy a fair bit of Tongue from the deli counter in morrisons (both pork lunch Tongue and ox Tongue). Myself, the dog and the cats love it. Rach, not so much. She wont even try it.

 

[Toddy]

@HillBill

Noooo, it's bacteria from the rotting meat......well, it was.

I suspect nowadays it's from the glands, testosterone, etc.,

 

[HillBill]

Dunno about if its just that- Game certainly does carry some unique flavours ( hence tasting 'gamey' )

It's just Iron. Game meat... wild food... higher iron content.

 

[TeeDee]

It's just Iron. Game meat... wild food... higher iron content.

Only because I'm interested in if thats the actual reason but where are you getting that information from?

 

[HillBill]

@HillBill

Noooo, it's bacteria from the rotting meat......well, it was.

I suspect nowadays it's from the glands, testosterone, etc.,

They tone down the iron content by allowing that bacteria to consume the iron/blood by hanging for a while. It also allows the muscle fibres to relax, making the meat more tender. Game meat muscle is often leaner and more 'tense' due to having to be ready to avoid predators etc. We hang beef, because they are heavy, and their muscles are tense... No difference really other than the temp they are hung at. The slaughterhouse is not a pleasant process for them. (we have one literally around the corner, directly across the road from a primary school (not the best place for one granted). A friend of mine who i shared an allotment with works there.

 

[HillBill]

Agree but it can be mitigated in most cases!

Something like Hare you have no chance but it really nice if presented within its flavour range!

When i worked in N Yorkshire as a keeper (well, apprentice/gaining experience for a countryside management course at Bishop Burton) We had beater days... they were always on the Hares... Was told, dont bother trying to eat an adult unless you know what do do with them. Take a brace of Leverets. So i did. We were over run with hares. Got well over 70 in a 3 hour shoot.

 

[HillBill]

Only because I'm interested in if thats the actual reason but where are you getting that information from?

Used to work on a shooting estate in N yorks. (Kirkbymoorside) Was getting work exp for a countryside management course, wanted to be a keeper. First job i had when i got out of Legion. Had thought long and hard about it. And while there i was taught that.

 

[johnnytheboy]

Could both HillBill and Toddy be correct? The iron and the decomposition?



The Sporting Wife - Game and Fish Cooking".

Hanging

The real purpose of hanging game is to enable the fibres of the flesh to break down and decompose so that the meat will be more tender. It is very difficult to give exact times as it depends entirely on personal taste. Some prefer slightly tougher meat with a fresh taste, while others enjoy very tender meat with a decidedly 'high' smell and flavour.

 

[johnnytheboy]

When i worked in N Yorkshire as a keeper (well, apprentice/gaining experience for a countryside management course at Bishop Burton) We had beater days... they were always on the Hares... Was told, dont bother trying to eat an adult unless you know what do do with them. Take a brace of Leverets. So i did. We were over run with hares. Got well over 70 in a 3 hour shoot.

This recipe has never let me down no matter the age of Hare!

 

[Stew]

Maybe @Stew is right then and, being a country bumpkin, I have a distorted view of what the populace know.

Edited after TeeDee wielded his red pen

I don't know. I did wonder if it might be a generational thing - I know of mixi but it's not particularly mentioned in conversation is it. That's why I thought a lot of younger folk wouldn't know of it but also wouldn't be keen on rabbit.

 

[Toddy]

Could both HillBill and Toddy be correct? The iron and the decomposition?



The Sporting Wife - Game and Fish Cooking".

Hanging

The real purpose of hanging game is to enable the fibres of the flesh to break down and decompose so that the meat will be more tender. It is very difficult to give exact times as it depends entirely on personal taste. Some prefer slightly tougher meat with a fresh taste, while others enjoy very tender meat with a decidedly 'high' smell and flavour.

I know that the deer taken not quarter of mile from where we live, and butchered while still steaming hot as it's gralloched, does not smell or taste gamey.

My husband would refuse point blank to eat it if it had any of that to it at all.

I know the hunter, the beast is alive one moment and dead the next, and butchered in very short order.
He was a butcher to trade, and I am so pleased he is happy to barter He says it'd be illegal for him to sell, but he's happy to pass along good stuff to friends

 

[HillBill]

This recipe has never let me down no matter the age of Hare!

He's added a lot of sugar to that, bit of dark chocolate (which i do use in cooking). Maybe that's a trick... dunno. Next time i get a hare/rabbit i'll try it. I've saved the vid on youtube. Will check it out.

 

[Broch]

I think there are two interpretations of the word 'gamey'. Yes, wild hare, rabbit, pigeon, duck, all have a 'richer' smell and taste than most domesticated beasts, and I think that is what most people refer to when they say it's gamey. All meat has to have time for the muscle fibres to relax and tenderise - we give beef 28 days or more. But when small 'game' is hung for weeks it starts decomposing and develops a much stronger 'gone off' smell that was traditionally associated with 'game' - I don't know of anyone that still does that.

Hare in particular has a very strong smell and taste even when hour-fresh - some people find that nauseating and can't eat it although it's not been hung. However, unlike HillBill - I found the fillet of adult hare is both tender and very tasty, but I no longer shoot or eat hare.

 

[HillBill]

I know that the deer taken not quarter of mile from where we live, and butchered while still steaming hot as it's gralloched, does not smell or taste gamey.

My husband would refuse point blank to eat it if it had any of that to it at all.

I know the hunter, the beast is alive one moment and dead the next, and butchered in very short order.
He was a butcher to trade, and I am so pleased he is happy to barter He says it'd be illegal for him to sell, but he's happy to pass along good stuff to friends

Do you happen to know their diet? Farmed deer doesn't taste the same as wild deer... (assuming the same species) If you take a Roe, from completely wild habitat... living with the issue of predators, etc.. It wont taste the same as a Roe, which was farmed, or protected.

Hanging is similar to how the Polish treat Carp. Carp are a traditional Xmas dinner for the Poles. But they dont just go out and catch one and cook it. They catch one several days before, and put it in clean water... maybe a bathtub for 2 or more days so that it expunges all that mud and silt its eaten in its natural environment. We do the same with Crayfish.

Same principle for strong game.

 

[HillBill]

I think there are two interpretations of the word 'gamey'. Yes, wild hare, rabbit, pigeon, duck, all have a 'richer' smell and taste than most domesticated beasts, and I think that is what most people refer to when they say it's gamey. All meat has to have time for the muscle fibres to relax and tenderise - we give beef 28 days or more. But when small 'game' is hung for weeks it starts decomposing and develops a much stronger 'gone off' smell that was traditionally associated with 'game' - I don't know of anyone that still does that.

Hare in particular has a very strong smell and taste even when hour-fresh - some people find that nauseating and can't eat it although it's not been hung. However, unlike HillBill - I found the fillet of adult hare is both tender and very tasty, but I no longer shoot or eat hare.

I've never eaten adult hare in all fairness. As i said above, i was told, 'unless you know what you're doing with it, take a brace of Leverets' I've stuck to that advice for the last 22 years. ( it was my first time eating Hare.).

I've eaten everything from Hedgehog (long time ago, when i was homeless, after lessons in the military... don't ask...) Dog (Africa), goat, Deer etc and everything inbetween)... Same for our avian friends... I'd have tried Dodo given the place and time....

 

[Toddy]

Do you happen to know their diet? Farmed deer doesn't taste the same as wild deer... (assuming the same species) If you take a Roe, from completely wild habitat... living with the issue of predators, etc.. It wont taste the same as a Roe, which was farmed, or protected.

Hanging is similar to how the Polish treat Carp. Carp are a traditional Xmas dinner for the Poles. But they dont just go out and catch one and cook it. They catch one several days before, and put it in clean water... maybe a bathtub for 2 or more days so that it expunges all that mud and silt its eaten in its natural environment. We do the same with Crayfish.

Same principle for strong game.

Our woods are ancient (old estate lands) but the fields are now the golf course....so I presume they eat the grass, and browse the trees and shrubs along the river side.

There are too many deer. They're now coming out onto the main road to get to the stretch of woodland alongside the burn behind our house.

 

[HillBill]

Our woods are ancient (old estate lands) but the fields are now the golf course....so I presume they eat the grass, and browse the trees and shrubs along the river side.

There are too many deer. They're now coming out onto the main road to get to the stretch of woodland alongside the burn behind our house.

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side... As the old adage goes. I'm guessing the road kill were all trying to reach the woodland behind your house, and not trying to escape it? If so... what does that imply?

 

[Toddy]

I guess the grass is always greener on the other side... As the old adage goes. I'm guessing the road kill were all trying to reach the woodland behind your house, and not trying to escape it? If so... what does that imply?

The woodland along side our house is part of the network of paths that join up other woods, fields, and parks.
It looks like this.....

 

[Toddy]