Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Dilled Deer

As a kid we ate a lot of canned deer meat of a whole lot of varieties, like moose, caribou, and all sorts of tails... a staple which is still just about my favorite eating in the whole world is dilled deer...
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<br>I fed some to Shiester and pak this summer on Kodiak and they seemed to like it just fine. It is extremely fast and easy to make once the meat has been jarred. The pressure cooker leaves it so that the only issue is heating things up a bit.
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<br>Jarring the tough nasty cuts such as the hocks means the worst suddenly becomes as good as the best. My wife has trained me to remove ALL of the tendons from the hocks before canning which is tedious, particularly when dealing with deer, but worth it in the end, I suppose, though I like the gelatinous glop in the jar when the sauce is being made. It adds a great amount of body to my palate...
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<br>I start by getting the pasta or rice it will be served over started, then I drain the water from the jar off into a skillet, add sour cream at about 1 cup per pint of jarred meat and stir continuously to keep the sour cream from boiling.
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<br>Add some dill weed and a little tomatoe paste (if the meat did not have any added when canned). When the sauce is all good and uniform pour the meat carefully into the sauce and stir gently until the meat is hot. Over-stirring breaks up the meat. Serve over the rice or pasta and life is good... just like when I was a kid.
<br>art

Forgot to add the standing joke, which was that it was a good thing we weren't allowed to shoot does in those days ;-)
<br>art

Good enough Art, how do you can it? What does it take besides cuting it up to fit in the jars?
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<br>BCR

Stick turned me onto canning a couple years ago and I'm glad he did. Although it's a long, messy task the final product is worth it.
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<br>I can my meat by quicky browning in a frying pan with salt and pepper, then putting in a jar and adding water to just below the rim. Boil the jars (with lids) in a pressure cooker and your finished.

Boggy
<br>I would have to dig a little bit to find a full-blown "recipe" which my wife wrote that was published in a magazine last year, but the basics are to pack the jars tight with the toughest cuts of meat, like hocks and neck, leaving an inch at the top. Add a little salt, a tsp of tomato paste, drop heated lids on them, put the rings on tight, then back them off slightly and pressure cook for about 90 minutes... will dig out a more specific set of rules and regulations for you if you like...
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<br>Your county extension agent probably would be a big help there...
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<br>The stuff keeps forever and is the only use for which hocks are suited IMO.
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<br>Spike
<br>I haven't heard of the pre-frying arrangement, but it seems like it has a lot of promise to improve flavors... but seems like an extra step... about the time we are canning we are doing A LOT of pounds of meat usually.
<br>art

Sitka, hocks and necks make great minced meat. I as of yet have not gotten into canning but my soon to be built outdoor kitchen will be the site of many an adventure in the culinary black arts. When I was a young deer slayer living in Sitka my mother would use the necks and hocks to make mince meat, she would can up mant pints and quarts. Real mince meat pie is the best. She also canned the low bush cranberries we picked out on the muskeg. We always had canned salmon and venison...brings back many great memories.
<br>I got mom to can up a bunch of albacore I caught a few weeks ago smoked it then canned that is great eats. She also cans mushrooms when I pick them for her. I just need learn to do it myself. And I need to learn to make Dill pickles.
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<br>Bullwnkl.

Art, thanks for the offer but don't bother if it is just for me. Others may enjoy the how to though. I have dabbled in canning a bit and know the basic how to on vegetable products. I also know that if it isn't done right it will kill you graveyard dead, especially tomatoes.
<br>BCR

BCR,
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<br>Pressure cook the jars/cans at 240F [10 psi] for 90-100 minutes as Sitka does.......some folks brown the chunks in a gravy first and then put in the jars....either way turns a poor cut into some tasty venison....I've used cans for moose and venison browned/gravy to use on camping trips....it really goes well on rice or a can of those small potatoes.