# What to do about gamey tasting meat?



## Ariel301 (Jan 20, 2011)

We had a young buck get super aggressive and dangerous over the summer and so we decided to send him to the freezer. Normally we butcher young bucks for eating and do it ourselves and the meat has always been fine. Well, this time around since this buck was really scary, my husband took him to a friend to have the friend kill him for us. They were only supposed to do the killing, and then I'd come and skin/gut/package the meat...but when I arrived to pick up my goat, they'd done the whole thing. I thought it was very nice of them...but then when I got home, I noticed the cuts of meat were covered in hair and bits of hay and a little dirt--it looked like they had dropped the carcass on the ground and not really cleaned it! (I don't know how it managed to come out so awful, these friends raise sheep and goats and also hunt deer, so it's not like they don't know how to process meat...I don't know what happened.)

I cleaned the meat as well as I could, painstakingly picked every last little hair off it, and soaked it well in salt water. I cooked some of it and it tasted so bad it was not even edible. It was like licking a buck in rut. Yuck! I've eaten meat from bucks before and never had this problem, I imagine it was from all that stinky buck hair getting on the meat. I would really hate to have to throw away so much meat, it's such a waste...is there any way to get that nasty gamey taste out? Or am I better off just feeding it all to the cats, because it is ruined? I don't mind a little gamey-ness in meat, I like the taste of wild meat, but this stuff is disgusting it is so strong. It even smells like buck.


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## tortoise (Jan 20, 2011)

Ewww!  What a disappointment!  Fat and connective tissue was all removed, right?  That's usually where a lot of the "gamey" flavor comes from.  Not cool.


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## warthog (Jan 20, 2011)

What a disappointment for you.

I don't know if this will help, but what we do here in Belize, is to soak the meat in sour orange or papaya for two or 3 days prior to cooking.

Don't know if these fruits are available to you, but if not you could try something else.  Always worth a shot.

Good luck.


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## helmstead (Jan 20, 2011)

I would have been so disappointed!  Sorry I can't help with any advice here, I can barely eat venison, and have to marinate the patooey out of that just to choke down a couple bites.

I've heard of salt brine, for several DAYS...and for deer I've heard of cold aging it in the fridge for a few days...but??


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## AlaskanShepherdess (Jan 20, 2011)

We once butchered a ram that had just been put in with the females.... Needless to say he was VERY gamey. We found that the longer you cook them, especially if you let the juices drip out the less gamey taste there will be. Also Thai curry hid the flavour pretty good, as did anything with a very strong flavour.


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## chandasue (Jan 20, 2011)

When we had a gamey deer we marinated it in Coke overnight in the fridge. I'm generally not a fan of anything with high frutose corn syrup but if it means saving a lot of meat it might be worth a try.


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## StudMuffinNigis (Jan 20, 2011)

We soak our wild hogs down here in the south in whole milk for atleast 24 hrs and it's takes the gamie taste out of the males meat. It works best if you do this before packaging but I would think it would work later on. Just put a few pieces in a bowl of whole milk in the fridge for a day or two, cook it and see if it's any better. Good luck.


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## elevan (Jan 20, 2011)

StudMuffinNigis said:
			
		

> We soak our wild hogs down here in the south in whole milk for atleast 24 hrs and it's takes the gamie taste out of the males meat. It works best if you do this before packaging but I would think it would work later on. Just put a few pieces in a bowl of whole milk in the fridge for a day or two, cook it and see if it's any better. Good luck.


  I second the milk soak.  It really does work for gamey flavored meats.


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## Ariel301 (Jan 21, 2011)

Milk's not really an option since we're Jewish. When I did an internet search on how to get gamey flavor out of meat, it seems that was the most common suggestion.

I'll try out some of the other options though. Coke might just do it, I grew up using it to marinate pot roasts, it makes meat super tender, which this goat could also use some of. Orange juice sounds pretty yummy too, I have a recipe for a really good orange Chinese sauce that I bet would be excellent on goat. I'll give it a try. 

There wasn't much fat on him since he was a dairy buck, but yes, fat and connective tissue was all removed as was the blood, I know not bleeding meat out properly can give it a bad flavor. After being washed, I let it soak in brine for two hours and then another hour in ice water, so I don't think I could possibly have gotten any more blood out of it than I did. I pretty much cut all the pieces off the bone and made it into either stew/curry/fajita type meat chunks or ground meat. Since we only consume meat we raise at home, throwing away most of a goat would really be a big loss, hopefully something will work. :/ Otherwise I'm going to have two very well-fed and spoiled cats!


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## jason_mazzy (Jan 21, 2011)

I know improper butchering, such as piercing the bladder and such can taint the meats flavor. Though I do not know if it makes it gamier or if it is another flavor it adds.


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## glenolam (Jan 21, 2011)

Would gingerale work instead of coke?  I use gingerale when slow cooking a roast for pulled pork - makes it super tender.


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## chandasue (Jan 21, 2011)

Probably. I think it has to do with the acidity of the pop more than anything.


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## elevan (Jan 21, 2011)

Soaking in a brine for 24 hours would probably work...though I would probably change the brine out 3 times (every 8 hrs)....


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## Ariel301 (Jan 21, 2011)

chandasue said:
			
		

> Probably. I think it has to do with the acidity of the pop more than anything.


Yes, it's the acid. That's why Coke is the usual one used, because it's so acidic...you can clean a clogged drain with that stuff (that's got to be good for your stomach, right? lol). Dr. Pepper works well too, and has a very nice flavor...I've also heard of root beer being used for roast, never tried it though, or anything other than Coke or Dr. Pepper. I like to use Cherry coke, so you get a little of that fruity flavor.


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## mossyStone (Jan 21, 2011)

I have used strong coffee to take away yucky taste in some meat we had.. i soaked it for about 36 hours ..nice and tender very nice flavor.


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