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Grex Kitchen Item 92: Beef vs. Venison
Entered by jdg00 on Thu Nov 17 17:33:37 UTC 1994:

From Usenet News:

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Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 10:33:14 CST
From: Tom Stephens <hens@no2sun.cray.com>
Subject: Venison vs. Beef

Thought you might find this funny....  I got this from my sister who works for
the University of Wisconsin Extention.

Tom

SUBJECT:  VENISON - BEEF TASTE TEST

Controversy has long raged about the relative quality of venison
and beef as gourmet foods.  Some people say that venison is
tough, with a strong "wild" taste.  Others insist that venison is
tender, and that its flavor is delicate.

The UW Foods Research Department recently conducted a taste test
to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions.

First a high-choice holstein steer was led into a swamp a mile
and a half from the nearest road, then shot several times.  After
some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged over
rocks and logs, through mud and dust, thrown into a pick-up box
and transported through rain and snow 100 miles before being hung
out in the sun for 10 days. After that it was lugged to the
garage, where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a
while.  Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout this
test, within the limitations of the butchering environment.  For
instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff at the steer
carcass, but were chased out of the garage if they attempted to
lick the carcass, bite hunks out of it, or sit on the workbench.

Next the steer was dragged into the house and down the basement
steps.  Half a dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic people worked
on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives.  The result was
375 pounds of soup bones, four bushels of meat scraps and a
couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge
and an inch and a half on the other.

The steaks were fried in a skillet full of rancid bacon grease,
along with three pounds of onions.  After two hours of frying,
the contents of the skillet were served to three blindfolded
taste panel volunteers.

Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One
of the volunteers even said that it tasted exactly like the
venison he had eaten at hunting camps for the past 27 years. The
results of this trial showed conclusively that there is no
difference between the taste of beef and venison.

Many people believe venison tastes best when well seasoned.  It
is suggested that this report also be taken with a bit of salt.

3 responses total.

#1 of 3 by kentn on Thu Nov 17 17:56:51 1994:

Chase your steers around the field a few dozen times before
butchering.  It makes a pretty fair difference in the taste, also.
While getting my MBA, I had a couple agri-businessmen in one of
my project groups.  Once, we met at one fellow's farm for a meeting,
and he served lunch.  It was amusing that he apologized profusely
for the quality of the beef he served "because it was an old milk
cow and will be stringy".  He was right. In spite the stringiness,
the steaks still tasted like beef, however.   :)

#2 of 3 by survivor on Sat Feb 11 04:01:20 1995:

You are right in that the conditions at the time of the kill are 
important.  I got my first deer this season, a young buck that yielded 
about 30 pounds of meat.  What I have eaten so far has been great!
        But the taste is only part of what is important to me.  Venison 
is much lower in fat, has no antibiotics (which contribute to drug 
resistant bacteria in humans), has no other drugs or chemicals, and 
hunting is an experience that shopping at Krogers just doesn't compare 
with :).
        All in all, I would rather eat rabbit or venison than chicken or 
beef, ANYDAY!

#3 of 3 by jaklumen on Thu Jan 15 10:23:11 2004:

Interesting...

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