Crock-Pot Venison Roast Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Does venison get more tender the longer it cooks? ›

Large cuts of venison taste best when pot-roasted for several hours. If you have access to a crock pot, use any recipe for beef pot roast and you'll be pleasantly surprised. However, instead of cooking for two to four hours, venison may require substantially longer cooking time for the meat to become tender.

Traditionally, this means the meat is partially covered in liquid and cooked for hours until it becomes juicy and tender. In this case, the steam from the slow cooker creates moisture for the meat to braise in.

"Browning, or caramelizing, meat before putting it into a slow cooker isn't 100 percent necessary, but it is well worth the effort for the most flavorful and full-bodied end result," he says. "The caramelized surface of the meat will lend rich flavor and color to the finished dish."

Venison cooks faster than beef, and when cooking it rare, it needs to only reach a temperature of 130 degrees. If venison reaches 150 degrees, it begins to toughen.

Soaking: The most common soaking liquids are buttermilk, saltwater, white milk, vinegar, lemon juice and lime juice. While some hunters swear by certain soaking methods to take the “gamey” flavor away or bleed the meat after processing, others don't find it all that helpful.

Why does my venison always come out tough? If you find that your roasts always come out sort of rubbery, dry or hard, it's likely because you're not cooking long enough and at a low enough temperature.

"Browning, or caramelizing, meat before putting it into a slow cooker isn't one hundred percent necessary, but it is well worth the effort for the most flavorful and full-bodied end result," Melvin noted.

The idea behind coating meat with a sprinkling of flour before browning in a hot pan is pretty simple: Flour is full of starch that will caramelize quickly and give a deeper color and flavor. You most often see this technique called for in stews, where flour is used to thicken the cooking liquid.

The meat will cook just fine without searing. (And any surface bacteria will die during cooking anyway.) But I really believe that the depth and complexity of flavor we gain in this searing step is well-worth the extra effort.

What makes venison taste gamey? ›

Venison silver skin, fat, ligaments, and other undesirable parts of a deer that aren't muscle don't taste very good. Deer fat is generally bitter, unlike beef fat. This is probably the number one reason why folks think venison, particularly ground venison, tastes gamey.

Washing deer meat

Rinsing deer meat or venison before cooking is not recommended by food safety agencies. Like other meats, washing venison can spread contamination in a kitchen.

Simply put, aging results in a more tender, albeit smaller product. To inhibit bacteria growth and encourage enzymes to work, keep the meat above freezing and below 40 degrees. The ideal temperature range for aging meat is between 34 and 37 degrees.

On an older deer, there will be more connective tissue and it will be twice as tough. Don't cut the steaks too thickly, and then tenderize them using a needle tenderizer for the best results. If you don't have one, use a meat mallet.

Hanging your meat, skin on, for about two weeks is the best option. Aging the meat allows the animal's natural enzymes to break down the connective tissues and mellows the flavor. Cihelka said this is the reason his venison is so tender.