Greasy doe this year: Why?

[antsi]

Got my first doe this year, and I am noticing that the ground meat renders a lot more fat when you cook it and has a much greasier taste.

The butcher shop where I get my deer processed will add suet to the ground meat if you request it, but I always ask that they don't. Being so lean is the main reason I want deer meat. Plus, I find that if it is too dry for a particular use, you can add olive oil for better taste and a healthier lipid profile.

So, those of you who have had a lot of does and bucks over the years - do you think my butcher shop accidentally added suet to my deer meat? Or do you think that does in general are just fattier than bucks?

Additional info - my brother in law got a doe on the same property, and he was also noticing how greasy his was, and wondering if his butcher had thrown in suet despite asking them not to. Maybe this was just a good year for the deer and they got fatter than usual?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well if the deer are extra fat, then it was a good year for the deer.

Meat is meat, so if you don't have the grease problem with steaks or roasts, then your butcher screwed up, by adding the suet or giving you somebody elses ground venison.

Any of the butcher's customers complaining about how dry their ground venison is this year? Maybe you got theirs and they got yours?

LD

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

I like to grind my venison up with 30% breakfast sausage. Makes a delicious mix!!! I think your butcher screwed up, I've never had ground venison be fatty or greasy....one of the reasons I add the sausage.

 

[eliphalet]

The deer fat should have been trimmed and beef or pork fat used instead.
Pork fat tends to be "greaser" and the amount used definitely make huge difference. Good chance your butcher used whatever was handy or a mixture and sounds like too much of it.

We grind our own, trimming all deer fat and adding approximately 10% beef suit, otherwise deer burger is far to dry for our liking. He did correctly adding some but how much and what is another matter..

 

[Ranger J]

I have my deerberger ground without anything added and when I fry it for Pizza and such there is usually zero grease in the pan.Sounds like there was a mistake made somewhere.

RJ

 

[Smokey Joe]

Deer fat...

Antsi--Deer fat just tastes greasy, as opposed to domestic animals' fat. Why I dunno but it is a fact.

Therefore, you remove as close to every bit of the fat before cooking, as possible. As pointed out above, beef or pork fat, or olive oil, make a palatable substitute.

When the butcher processed & ground yr deer they must have left a fair amount of the deer fat on the critter. That is one of the reasons I do my own butchering.

Last years' doe for me was the fattest deer I've ever seen; when preparing that meat for the kitchen there is just gobs of fat to remove. Must have been a really good year in that area. In a good year, both sexes are fatter than in a year with minimal feed.

But anyhow, you want all that deer fat OFF the meat, prior to cooking. Seems wasteful, but is much more tasty.

 

[antsi]

The deer fat should have been trimmed and beef or pork fat used instead.

I know a lot of people do this, but I don't. I have been fighting weight and cholesterol issues so I prefer they just trim the animal very lean and don't add any other kind of animal fat at all. This butcher does a lot of deer so they have a form you fill out - and I checked the box indicating "no added fat."

I suspect this was just a case as suggested above where the animals had a somewhat "fatter year" than usual, and/or the butcher didn't do as thorough a job trimming. I have always been very pleased with this butcher in the past, but it is a fairly large operation with a lot of people working there so maybe I just got the rookie or something.

 

[Navy_Guns]

+1 for deer tallow per Smokey Joe...

I have noticed that does can build up a large fat layer, mostly on the back & rump area. If your butcher didn't take the time to trim this well, I feel for you. Deer fat is like mushy candle wax and will taste greasy/waxy -

 

[Pigspitter]

Well if the deer are extra fat, then it was a good year for the deer.

I think that if you have the opportunity to critique the deer's flavor, its year wasn't that good.

 

[BIGR]

Last big doe I killed in December had alot of fat on the hams and on its back. Trimmed the fat off and the knife was all greasy. I trim all the fat.

 

[buck460XVR]

Deer fat just tastes greasy, as opposed to domestic animals' fat. Why I dunno but it is a fact.

gotta agree. Venison tallow has a strong flavor and a higher melting point than pork or beef tallow, so it tends to congeal quicker as the meat cools down. Altho I have eaten a lot of venison over the years, I still hate the taste/feel of venison tallow and remove virtually all of it from my animals before butchering. Many butchers don't trim venison much because of the small amount of meat on a deer carcass. Most does shot around here have a 2'' layer of tallow on their backs and hind quarters and again that much inside. I doubt that your butcher added tallow, he just didn't trim the excess from your animal.

 

[dirty dave]

I have found the best venison is when I process it myself.Not that hard.Big backstrip cut into steaks 4 big roast cut into back legs and rest ground up into ground meat.Dont add pork fat unless going to make hamburgers with it.I make some of both.You get more meat and know what you are eating.Trim off all garbage take your time.

 

[moosehunt]

All animals have 2 basic fat types--extracellular and intracellular. The intracellular fat is actually in the muscle and one cannot see it. This is NOT marbling. The extracellular is further broken into seam fat (or intermusclar) (between muscles), subcutaneous (layers on back, rounds, etc.), internal (around kidneys, heart, etc.), and lastly intramuscular (marbling). They all have different levels of saturation, which is the primary factor effecting melting temperature. Generally speaking, though not 100% constant, as an animal increases its fat, all of the fat types increase. Deer and most wild animals have very little intramuscular fat (marbling) regardless of overall degree of fatness (caribou being an exception). When a meat cutter trims fat, the external subcutaneous fat is pretty easy to trim. The seam fat much more time consuming. Nothing can be done about the intramusclar or intracellular fat, no matter how much time is taken. It appears fairly obvious that your deer this year was fatter than those you have previously had, the result being that the ground meat was fatter because, to a small degree, there was probably more intracellular fat, but more importantly more subcutaneous fat of which not all was removed (trimmed) and more intermuscular (thats the seam fat) that almost surely was not completely trimmed out. It is doubtfull that the increased internal fat was much of a factor, as it is easily removed, and in fact there is a good likelihood you removed most of it when you butchered (dressed) the deer--most folks do without really being aware of such. With a fatter than normal deer, one really needs to emphasize the trimming to the meat cutter. I would surmise that you butchered the deer yourself (gutting, head & hide removal). Did not the deer carcass appear to have more subcutaneous fat than "normal"? That is most likely the cause of your consternation. Some folks like deer fat; others don't. Obviously you don't, hence you need to really emphasize the fat trimming next year to your selected meat cutter, especially if it is a "fatter" deer.