Who eats what they have killed? - Who eats what you have killed?

[treeman]

Every time I remove a hunk of meat from the freezer for steaks (Messor, there's a right way of making them!) I re-experience some of the excitement, the picture through the scope, the kick of the rifle somewhere far away, the moment of sorrow when you run your fingers along the animal's neck and tell it that you're not angry at it but that you're thankful for what it's given you...
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much "yes" in this regard.

[holdingthezero]

I do everything myself. Gutting never bothers me as I was born in the former Trankei and grew up hunting and fishing.

I usually cut steaks, chops, stew meat and a few roasts. Mince gets made fresh as and when it is desired. Steaks are cooked rare in the skillet with beef or sheep tallow that I make. Although I love biltong, I don't generally make it from my venison.

My son's first solid food was kudu and it is still his favourite at 3 years old. My wife also loves venison. Given that she is from the UK and rarely ever ate meat, I take it as a compliment.

[Andrew Leigh]

So I am pretty anal about this process. Butchering you own carcasses is an essential part of the process for me. Also butchering your own carcasses you also realise the the best shot is not always the best shot for minimum meat damage.

I process my own carcasses fully, but for the fynvleis Messor alludes to. My wife hates the smell of boiling venison in the kitchen.

I have an extremely over sensitive sense of smell which is a problem in normal terms, the smell of hot game blood / entrails is very overwhelming for me. It does not make me nauseous it is just a very strong smell.

I am not overly fond of venison as a taste and much prefer beef as a biltong. I do however consume venison done my own way. I carefully separate the muscle groups and then cut steaks /cutlets from these as I do with the sirloins. As these cutlets are cut against the grain they are extremely tender. I also soak in milk before cooking. I fail to see how anyone can braai venison and have it work out for the best, personal opinion.

So like Messor much of what I produce is normal wors, dry wors and mince and an amount of biltong as these all find practical everyday use. Venison wors with a good spice mix can be excellent, I currently use the Freddy Hirsch offering. For my next batch of dry wors I think I am going to include 25% beef.

This year also for the first time I am going to try the cellulose casings for the sausage.

[krieger]

I grew up on a cattle ranch so you learn how to from a very young age. Across the street we have a couple who are in their mid 80s. We always stop for a talk when we see them and a month back they said they were running low on meat because of the virus lockdown and the shortages at the stores. I had them come over and gave them 20kgs of venison. Later that day there was a knock on the door. It was Mrs. N. she says I don't know how to cook venison.
So, my wife went over and taught her how to southern chicken fry venison steak.
Every time we see them they tell us that has become their favorite meal.

Its great to help our neighbors.! We are going to need it more than ever. The big storm is coming.

[treeman]

[QUOTE=krieger
So, my wife went over and taught her how to southern chicken fry venison steak.

[/QUOTE]
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand ?

Why are we waiting for the how too?
Southern Fried Venison, sounds bloody awesome!

I - we await this taste sensation mate.

[treeman]

A thing I will suggest with kudu.
Take the biggest muscles you can find and cut them across grain at quiet a angle so as to make each steak as large as possible. Cut each steak 0.5 cm thick like minute steaks. I usually take fishing gut and thread steaks on line and let them air dry for a few hours before packing, pack these minute steaks in bags of .500 to 1 kg.
We defrost day before and then mix a oil,butter skottle type pan up. Each person gets a fork and flash fries their little steak the way they like it. We put out loads of sauces and spices and every one just does their own thing.
We sometimes have 4/5 kg of these steaks on a table and the guys just cook as they please when they please.
We have now gone over to oiling the steaks and then braaing them, they must be oiled or they break on the grid.
This minute steak method really does make a feast of venison, any cuts are good and some cuts are awesome.

It can be noted that it is difficult to cut these steaks and impossible to make nice even steaks, but it does not matter, big small thick and thin in one steak is all good. We also make quick cook sosaties like this.

[Messor]

The thing most people least understand about meat is that our stomachs are not really good at digesting fresh meat. That is why humans cook their food, to break it down so that it’s more easily digested, so that your body can take more nutrients from it. We are omnivores we simply don’t have the digestive tract of a dog or cat.

Many people look at their lazy aged steak and have no clue what that means, maybe they should go and look what a piece of beef looks like that has been hanging for 3 weeks. They’ll go like what, I have to eat that? Yes, you see you cannot eat fresh steak since the fibers are too tough, you cannot slaughter your cow today and braai steak tonight. You leave it hanging, it forms a fungal mold around the beef which looks like something which is rotting, inside enzymes starts to break down your steak, aka they start to chew your steak for you.

Many people simply doesn’t know the details of digestion, but for example if you eat a big piece of steak which did not hang as long as it should have, your stomach is full and you quickly fall to sleep, but you don’t sleep well, it’s a long restless night full of weird dreams, you wake up more tired than you did before you went to bed. It’s your body struggling with digestions, some food take more energy to digest than it does giving the body.

Now venison, no difference, that is why we repurpose it into other food sources, biltong, wors, mince etc.
Fresh venison the moment you cook or braai it dry it’s tough, instantly, and if you eat it kind of raw your body doesn’t really get as much nutrients from it as it should, meaning you spend about as much energy digesting it as what it gives you. If you see us cooking or braaing a venison fillet then 90% it’s in tin foil, trying to keep the juices with the meat. Some people bliksem it with marinade and after a while you cannot taste what you are eating again.

It’s not as clear cut (pun intended) as people think.

[AJR]

My wife and I often work our venison, resulting in (steak & kidney) pies, wet & dry wors, patties, stew, biltong, steak, mince, and sosaties. Cooked salami from warthog. All find their way to the table.

A pressure cooker is an easy, quick way to prepare venison.

Sosaties are a wonderful way to stretch choice cuts. All "steak" must be medium rare, or it will be too dry. Even marinated biltong cuts can be braaied, but they are wonderful as strips in ghoulash, stirfry, tacos. Use plenty of fresh vegetables and do not overcook!

In rate of preference:
springbok,
kudu, waterbuck, gemsbok,
impala, ostrich,
blesbok, blue /black gnu,
warthog.

Wors & patties (even beef) require fat, but can be substituted with pork.

[shooty]

On the same topic as eat what you shoot. How many hunters/shooters who take on Feral pigeons, Guinea Fowl, pheasant and Egyptian Gees eat what they shoot?

[BBCT]

On the same topic as eat what you shoot. How many hunters/shooters who take on Feral pigeons, Guinea Fowl, pheasant and Egyptian Gees eat what they shoot?

I eat guineafowl and pheasant/spurfowl that I shoot and so does the rest of the family.

I've tried a few recipes with Egyptian Geese (& Spurwing too), but haven't yet found one that I'm happy with. The rest of my family just refuses outright to even try. My wife has a really good curry recipe that I'd like to try with goose breast but she refuses to cook it and refuses to teach me the recipe.

I'm a bit hesitant about eating feral pigeons (only the breast is worth the effort) but I have eaten them in the past and will probably do so again. Wild rock pigeons etc that are shot out in the farmlands I definitely eat.