Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Best cuts of elk?

What say you? Thanks...

Like everything else IMO

backstraps and loins with the rounds being 3rd

Gary, mind if I ask a question on your thread?

Anyone have tips on "tenderizing" Elk meat? I've heard Citrus Juices can work at times..

I love the flavor of Elk meat, but it always seems to be "chewy".

Loin would be my favorite.

Ken, shoot a tender spike next time. A slow cooker also works great for tenderizing the meat...

I agree that the tenderloins and back straps are the best cuts.

KC

And aging the meat. I let last year's bull hang in a locker plant for 20 days--longest I had ever done--and it was more tender than I ought to have expected.

We cook our elk in a cast iron oven, or my wife has an electric roaster that we use also.. Both make very tender elk.. However it has been years since we have had a bull in the freezer..

I think 708 has a point also.. We usually have our elk aged any where from 14 to 21 days... I think it makes a positive difference..

I beat the round steaks into submission with a tenderizing hammer.

Sometimes I also smother venison with some brown gravy to which I have added some onion bits and mushrooms bits. This works great on an old sage buck.

KC

Makes a difference depending on the elk also.

A lot of us have found that with the no gut method of processing the elk in the field, the back straps that are deboned right away are tougher than some of the round steaks even.

Ageing sure helps most of them.

We've had a lot of discussions on here about meat care in the field and tenderness. My opinion...I've done a bunch of them gutless and in my experience, they've been the toughest. I think leaving the meat on the bone at least until it stiffens up helps with tenderness. The last 3 I've done I've been able to hold off on boning for 6 hrs or even overnight and they've been very tender. That's not always possible, of course.

I've also read that cooling too fast will make them tougher. Obviously, when you shoot one the situation is dictated by the weather so you don't have many options there.

Good point. We usually hang ours for at least a week. I didn't comment on my favorite cuts of meat in my last post. Probably because the obvious answer is backstrap and loins, but I also like BBQ'd ribs

Rock Chuck,

What happens in both deboning warm meat and cooling too quickly (before rigor mortis has come and gone) is the meat cells actually contract in length, which is what makes the meat tough. Cooling too fast, however, doesn't matter UNLESS the meat goes from warm to freezing solid in a few hours.

I always age mine as long as I can (until I got to pack up to come on home). After it's vacuum packed at home it's frozen. As soon as I know I'll be cooking some elk, say next weekend, I'll let it age again in the fridge for 5 or so days before cooking.

Always been tender and tasty for us.

The bset cuts of Elk? The first ones that open it up obviously.-Muddy

All of those usual suspects for marinades can help.

Key though seems to be that I either cook it very little or very much. It's game meat that I killed and cut myself, I don't need to worry about killing off cross contamination germs like with commercial meat mass processed in huge facilities.

Her's our typical scenario,

Shoot a 3 y.o. bull on Opening day, (Sat) or Sunday,The bull will be quartered or the gutless method, We do both.

Monday or Tuesday, outfitter arrives with horses and hauls the Elk down to his ranch at 9000 elevation, there the meat will hang in his cooler until we get pulled out on Thursday,

Then we keep the meat on ice in a large homemade cooler for the 24 hour drive home,

We get home Sat and the meat usually gets to the butcher Monday, and they may not process for a few days.

It can be 10 days, or more, from punching the tag, to Processing.

I doubt many people have the ability to "age" much longer than that.

Hence my original question above.

I'd had many conversation here with aging elk and with Mrs. Mule Deer via email.
The difficulty I have as a non-resident hunter is that my options are limited.
In our Jan. hunts in NM we usually have overnight temps well below 32* and usually below 0*. Very hard to hand and age before skinning and at least quartering. Hence all aging is done before cooking as GoDogs mentions.

Last years Oct. hunt saw me traveling with 3 96 qt. coolers and big blocks of ice.
the 3 1/2 year old bull has been pretty darn good with proper preparation. Even the kabobs have been stellar.

I envy you guys who have access to a meat locker.

Here are last weeks elk kabobs marinated in teriyaki/garlic for 4-6 hours. Red potatoes pre-cooked, red, yellow and orange peppers and mushrooms. Separating the meat from the veggies allows you to control the cooking temp and time better.

With all the deer, it's tenderloins in first place and everything else a distant second IMO. Also, aging elk meat is very beneficial. Tough to do here in Arizona though.

In AZ, an archery bull may well be taken when ambient temps are 90 degrees.

If you think that's bad, a fall bear may be taken when it's 105 ...

The fact that so many have also asked the same question, tells me all I need to know,

59F is the breaking point on cold shortening according to what I've read. If meat gets down to 59 too fast, it releases large amounts of calcium that causes the fibers to contract. If they contract, the meat is tough.
My opinion is if it's warm, skin immediately to prevent spoilage. If it's cold, leave the hide on for a couple hours to slow the rate of cooling. How long depends on how cold. Of course how you do anything depends on your situation. Ideal handling is seldom possible.

In the packing plants, they use electric currents to prevent it but I've never been inclined to haul an RV battery around in my pack when hunting elk.

I've been thinking about buying a refrigerator just for aging meat. Even a small frig would be big enough for quarters.

I'm thinking of copying and making something like the steaklocker.

People don't know what backstraps really are. Some think it is the chop from the top of the back, others think it is what is really called tenderloin.

Make no mistake about it, the best cut of elk is the tenderloin and cooked to perfection on a smoker grill...

We have a field days every fall and a booth is set up that prepares elk sandwiches and burgers. It is great! I really enjoy the burgers and the elk sandwich is tasty.

The �tenderest� cut of any grazing animal is the tenderloin (Filet mignon)
Second is the backstrap (New York steak & Ribeye)
If you know how to cut a Flat Iron from the shoulder blade, that can be a very good steak as well.

Aging will always make the meat tender. At least a week, two or three is better. Age it at 30-34%, the meat won�t freeze hard until just below 29%.
Top quality beef is sometimes aged as much as 90 days under controlled conditions.

For me, all other cuts are slow cooked with moisture, pot roast, stew ect. Or made into jerky.

In my limited experience...

Tenderloin, then backstraps. I don't think straps have as much flavor though. A grinder makes tender meat!

Brine a roast, make small cuts, put garlic in cuts, then put in smoker. Comes out like prime rib... tender and juicy.

As much as I like game meat, when I really want a steak I want a beef ribeye with Perrini Ranch rub... made at home on cast iron grill

Here is an idea that has merit.

http://www.storeitcold.com/

Last years spike is nice and tender. Older and tougher ones get the dutch oven, stew pot or grinder. Tough meat gets the low and slow treatment.

Hot smoked tri tip is amazing. It is my favorite cut hands down. Tenderloin and backstraps are excellent but a distant second place to me.

Simply stated, all the "best cuts" wouldn't exist if without proper field care and aging care. Not the nursing home kind either.
Not all big game meat is going to be equally tender. Just by the makeup of the muscle and its structure this is not going to happen. But you certainly can -help it along- with your aging process and kitchen techniques.
I found Eileen Clarkes - "Slice of the Wild" to be an invaluable aid in recognizing this and altering the cooking methods accordingly.

Mule Deer posted once that he calls them inner strap and outer strap to make it clear what he means. Good idea. I have adopted that terminology with anyone I suspect doesn't know which I mean.

Shrapnel's method of grilling the tenderloin (inner strap) whole and then slicing it across the grain is my all time favorite for elk and deer. Too bad that the inner strap tenderloin doesn't weigh 50 lbs.!

Another way of distinguishing the two cuts are "hanging tenders" vs. backstrap.
Okanagan is right, I wish they were 75#'s!

Okanagan,

Actually, what you call 'em is an improvement over my terminology, "overstrap" and "underloin." Mine are kind of a joke, but yours makes such perfect sense I doubt anybody would be confused!

Not much Better, On The Grill Than Elk Tenderloin's Wrapped in Bacon. Add Some Pan Fried Potatoes With Onions, And Grilled Corn On The Cob. With Biscuits And You Got a Meal..

The best thing to do with elk meat is trade it for pronghorn meat.

I've been looking at those and wondering if I could make a practical portable cooler with it. I usually drive 5-6 hours to hunt elk, and it can be pretty warm. My truck has a fiberglas cap and I wonder if a guy could build a large insulated box that pretty much filled the back of the truck and install one of these units in it. Would be plenty big, I would think,and you could still store stuff in it when there's no meat to cool.

!

They have instructions on their website on how to build a portable cooler. Airtight and well insulated is the key. Building it on a small trailer would be preferable IMHO because you can do a more permanent job of sealing it.

We have a small orchard plus we raise meat goats. I've been thinking about building something like this for fruit and meat storage.

Like everyone else the loins and backstraps seasoned lightly and grilled. I do roasts in a deep pit bbq at my house in conjunction with an archery 3d shoot and the elk roast is always the first to go often the women and kids are shocked elk is so tender and tasty...... But seasoning and cooking underground makes most meat delicious.

My favorite are the burger's since I think they are way better than beef and I don't think elk steaks can top good beef.

Not really any bad cuts of meat at my house. About 90-95% of meat eaten here is wild game. We hang all out meat at least 7 days and most all of it comes out of the woods whole. We cut all our own meat and in the last several years have invested in a 1 hp grinder with a cuber attachment. When we cut an animal it is usually made into hamburger, cube steak, back strap, or roast.

One of my favorite ways my wife cooks elk steak is to fry it up with butter and a heaping pile of morel mushrooms. When the steak is done, she removes it and makes a gravy. Then we put the gravy over mashed taters or brown rice. Ok, I gotta go eat lunch now.

Here's a good marinade:

1 c olive oil
1/3 c lemon juice
1/3 c soy sauce
1tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black pepper


Marinate steaks overnight.


PS, my favorite cuts for cooking in a crock pot overnight are shanks.

Cooking it slow and not over cooking it will help big time. I like it still kicking a little!!! Age it as long as you can. I take the Backstraps and Tenders out and depending on age of the animal I will cut some rounds. Otherwise it gets all put into burger.

Back Strap

I know how we can resolve this. All you folks that live in elk country or hunt elk regularly each send me about 50 lbs of the various loins, straps, steaks, and roasts of elk.

I will then proceed to apply my prodigious gastronomic proclivities ( you don't get to weigh 275lbs by being a finicky eater ) to the problem and by the end of the year, or bottom of the freezer as the case may be, I will generate a full, detailed eating report and summation.

Sounds like a plan hillbilly, but the wife gave ALL the elk to the various kids around the country.. Sorry...

Well, maybe next year.

Thats a good idea, I was just thinking of doing it this way so that I could still tow my tent trailer up to elk camp. Might be a better idea to do it your way though.

Smoked tenderloin without a doubt.

My favorites don't vary from the crowd. Loins and straps.

I cut, grind, and wrap my elk myself. I get satisfaction in the whole process of the hunt, kill, care, etc. But it also keeps my hunting more cost effective and while still a student with kids that is key. Anyway that wasn't the point...

Anyone have a good book title or link for a detailed "how to" on butchering? Other than the loins and straps I just kinda pull off meat and trim it incessantly and freeze it. I'd like to read through detailed explanation of where exactly each cut is and the proper ways to go about breaking it down. Maybe I'm already doing it "right" but I'd like to learn and improve.

The back straps ,I cut into steaks. The hams, I separate the major muscle groups and cut all I can into steaks. I make a few roasts and grind the rest without any added beef fat.

I have found if the elk is going to be tender, it is tender all thru. I don't find a big difference in taste with the different cuts.
I have in the past grilled all the meat except the roast using salt , pepper and spritzing with olive oil.

Lately ,I have cast iron griddle on the grill and I find I enjoy the steaks more cooking them on that that just grilling them over flames.

does doing this just keep it more "juicy"? I've noticed that Outback steakhouse seems to cook theirs on a flat grill (no grill marks) like this, and I've always enjoyed their steaks.

Get Eileen's book "A Slice of the Wild". Great book! www.riflesandrecipes.com

Bob

I like to slice the loins about 3/8" thick, dust them with seasoned flour and pan fry them. I have had too many tough ones myself. I like a rib eye (back strap) on a beef myself as the flavor is better than the more expensive filet that you have to wrap bacon around to get juice in it! On an elk, I like a good shoulder roast about as well as anything.

I think it keeps them juicer.

It does, same with regular burgers. If you want 'em juicy, don't cook them on a grate and let the juices drain off. Cook them on a griddle or skillet like you say, that's how all the good burger joints do it.

I like your way of thinking. But you'll have to try and get it away from my kids first. They have taken it upon themselves to eat me out of house and home, and they're not even big yet.