Strong game taste in Elk

[GSPHUNTER]

My friend shot a cow Elk but it took him 2 hours to find it, it was till alive so he dispatch her. He now has meat which has strong game taste. Not sure if the fact that she was till alive and stressed cause the issue but I was told that can be a problem. He has been told to soak it in either milk or buttermilk and that will draw out that flavor. Has anyone tried doing that? I know for fact it works on fish. We once caught some Walleye that had a muddy flavor and some old timer told us to soak it in milk, it made all the difference in the world.

 

[Wrench]

I've used milk, coke, salt....really milk draws the blood best. I would try heavily seasoning with Johnny salt and let it sit in the fridge to dry age for a couple of days and see how it goes. I do this with all of my steaks and have zero complaints.

I'm eating on our middle 30th elk right now.

 

[Coveyleader]

Interesting for sure. I'm sure there are tricks to calming the taste down but for me, olive oil, some seasoning, lemon, etc, elk comes out like butter. I'm not eating any game no matter how hard I work if I have to choke it down for whatever reason. Smothering it in some Haitian Voodoo mix, no thanks. Shit, no matter how much you put on it is still shit. If possible, I'd try several cuts from different places on the elk and if it's still to the point it's strong, it would be gone.

 

[Vandy321]

Maybe ground a bloodshot quarter up by accident?

 

[cnelk]

Sausage that beeatch up!

 

[GKWMontana]

Milk does work. I just tried it.. I soaked a roast overnight, and it took the gamey flavor out.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Sausage that beeatch up!

View attachment 348899

Mind sharing your recipe?? I plan on making some for the fist time. thanks in advance.

 

[nimrod_gn]

It's probably due to the way the animal was stressed. quick clean kill, proper handling, and then 7-10 days of ice aging produces superb meat with little wild/gamy flavor. check this out: https://backcountryhunting.libsyn.c...re-prep-and-grilling-ultimately-tasty-venison

 

[cnelk]

^^^ LEM Products has everything you need

 

[PAhunter58]

I'm sure how the animal dies and stress make a difference. Elk that live in extremely saggy area's might add to some unwanted extra tastes. The Elk I shot last month in NM has been the total opposite. Only olive oil, salt & pepper so far. It has been amazing. Absolutely no gamey test whatsoever. Beef should taste this good.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I'm sure how the animal dies and stress make a difference. Elk that live in extremely saggy area's might add to some unwanted extra tastes. The Elk I shot last month in NM has been the total opposite. Only olive oil, salt & pepper so far. It has been amazing. Absolutely no gamey test whatsoever. Beef should taste this good.

Ours came form NM two weeks ago.

 

[Wingnutty]

2nd the sausage recommendation if aging and/or milk doesn’t improve it.
I make all my duck and goose into sausage and it’s legit phenomenally good. Hank Shaw, https://honest-food.net/ has a multitude of recipes and I’ve never made any of his recipes sausage or otherwise that hasn’t been fantastic! Made elk blackstraps with a morel sauce tonight that goooood.
last year I mixed my duck/goose about 60/40 with pork shoulder - you would never, ever know it was duck.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

2nd the sausage recommendation if aging and/or milk doesn’t improve it.
I make all my duck and goose into sausage and it’s legit phenomenally good. Hank Shaw, https://honest-food.net/ has a multitude of recipes and I’ve never made any of his recipes sausage or otherwise that hasn’t been fantastic! Made elk blackstraps with a morel sauce tonight that goooood.
last year I mixed my duck/goose about 60/40 with pork shoulder - you would never, ever know it was duck.

With duck I marinade over night in a family secret sauce then I run too the store and get a nice thick ribeye steak, grill it to perfection and shitcan the duck. it's the only way I can stand it.

 

[Wingnutty]

Do yourself a favor and check out Hank Shaw. You’ll thank me later but I’ve made a number of his duck recipes and my family has enjoyed all of them. If I served them duck normally they’d throw a fit but damn, I’m telling you it’s like a whole new world of culinary experience in my household. I promise you that you would not guess any of the 4 sausage varieties I made last year were made with duck.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Do yourself a favor and check out Hank Shaw. You’ll thank me later but I’ve made a number of his duck recipes and my family has enjoyed all of them. If I served them duck normally they’d throw a fit but damn, I’m telling you it’s like a whole new world of culinary experience in my household. I promise you that you would not guess any of the 4 sausage varieties I made last year were made with duck.

I judge if a certain game animal is worth eating by simply using a little S&P and grilling it. I want to know what the game taste like. This is not to say I don't make other dishes which require more seasoning or marinades to give me a different dish of my choice but, I always like to know what it taste like with minimal seasoning.. Strong Game taste has to be dealt with before preparing a dish.

 

[Wingnutty]

I judge if a certain game animal is worth eating by simply using a little S&P and grilling it. I want to know what the game taste like. This is not to say I don't make other dishes which require more seasoning or marinades to give me a different dish of my choice but, I always like to know what it taste like with minimal seasoning.. Strong Game taste has to be dealt with before preparing a dish.

Yes…or make sausage as has been recommended

 

[MTtrout]

I have never understood strong game flavors that people describe. Probably due to hearing stories from so many people’s preconceived thoughts of what they think it will taste like ( and this is from hunters). My family has eaten animals of all sorts, from pure sage habitat critters, to ruttiest bucks, to the horrible tracking job of wounded animals, and have never experienced ‘gamey’ meat to understand the definition some describe. Over cooking some methods will result in a different flavor, for sure, but that’s it.

With all that said, my friend once shoot a buck that died within sight and was packed right out. It had a very distant smell when cooking it and off smell when entering the kitchen. So I know there’s a chances it could happen and maybe this is the case with the elk.

I never tried soaking big game in buttermilk or picture myself doing so for every cook. My suggestion would be like others have said above is to turn it into sausage and meat sticks. Before doing so, try some slow cooked recipes or rubs/marinades at rare to medium rare. I’d like to hear how the buttermilk turns out

 

[Seth]

I’ve grown up eating elk, and never had a bad one… until last year. I heart shot a cow on the archery opener with a quick recovery, short pack, and had her on ice within a couple hours of the shot. She was the strongest tasting, least enjoyable game animal I’ve ever consumed. We primarily ate burger cooked into more flavorful dishes. All I can think of is that with the drought we were in, she was eating less desirable vegetation. To that point, I’d always thought folks that had issues didn’t properly care for it. I won’t make that generalization again.

 

[Hackleback]

I shot what I think was a lead cow a couple years ago, she did not eat very well. She was stinky/musty from the time I walked up on her. She was quartered right away and hung up over night (it froze) before pack-out. I think you just get some that don't eat as well, for what ever the reason. Some stronger seasonings can help, The McCormick marinade seasoning packs are good- Mojito lime, Baja Citrus, and Chipotle are all good for fajitas/tacos.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I shot what I think was a lead cow a couple years ago, she did not eat very well. She was stinky/musty from the time I walked up on her. She was quartered right away and hung up over night (it froze) before pack-out. I think you just get some that don't eat as well, for what ever the reason. Some stronger seasonings can help, The McCormick marinade seasoning packs are good- Mojito lime, Baja Citrus, and Chipotle are all good for fajitas/tacos.

I have been told, never freeze wild game before aging. Aging at 38-42 degrees does not allow all the meat to thaw completely and hence the blood will not drain. BS, I don't know but I followed advice since I heard it.