If you want to know how to cook the best fried deer meat there are a few secrets to cooking it that I have learned from my grandma and mama.
And now, I’m passing them down to you.
The Best Cut of Deer Meat
The most tender cuts of dear meat are the back strap and tender loin. The hams make the best fried deer steak.
The tender loins and back strap don’t have to be tenderized. The hams should be tenderized, but I’m lazy and I don’t like to tenderize. The only time I do is when it was a big, older buck.
Grandma’s Secrets to Cook Tender Deer Meat
Secret #1- As your slicing your meat, slice it against the grain.
If you will look closely at your meat there are tiny lines running through it, all running the same direction. Cut perpendicularly against these lines. It will help your deer meat be more tender.
Secret #2- Soak your deer meat in buttermilk for at least 1 hour
Soaking your meat in buttermilk helps with the tenderness, takes a little bit of the gamey taste out of it, and helps flour to stick better when your battering it.
Secret #3- Bacon Grease
To give your meat a little more flavor, cook it in bacon grease (liquid gold) mixed with a little vegetable oil (to keep it from getting too hot),
Everything’s better with bacon, right?
How to Cook Deer Meat
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 pounds of tenderloin, backstrap, or ham sliced to your liking
- 3 cups of buttermilk or enough to cover your meat in the bowl or pan
- 3 cups of flour
- 2 Tablespoons of salt for seasoned flour + extra for seasoning meat
- Dash of pepper for seasoned flour + extra for seasoning meat
- 1 cup of cooled bacon grease or 3 cups of vegetable oil
- After you get your meat sliced to your liking, tenderize it if you need to with a meat tenderizer and soak it in buttermilk for at least an hour in the fridge (if not overnight). If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, don’t worry. Splash a tablespoon of white vinegar per cup of milk and this will substitute for buttermilk.
- Heat bacon grease or vegetable oil in a skillet on medium heat to 325 degrees. I love my cast iron skillet to fry meat in.
- Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.
- Take your deer meat out of the fridge, salt and pepper, and coat each piece in your flour mixture. If you want extra coating- after you flour it, dip it back into your buttermilk, and re-coat it with your flour mixture.
- Place each piece of coated meat in your hot grease. ( To make sure your grease is hot enough sprinkle a little flour into your grease. If it bubbles up your good to go.)
- Flip your deer meat after a few minutes of cooking. The edges will be browning when it’s ready to turn.
- Cook the opposite side until it’s golden brown. I like mine a little on the crunchy side so I cook it a little longer. I don’t like soft deer meat. There should be no redness. The inside should be brownish/grey.
- Take out and place on a paper towel or a newspaper covered plate and let cool.
- Enjoy!
Be sure to pin this to Pinterest down below.
Great write up!!! This is exactly how my family has done it for years. It’s absolutely the best way to cook up some deer meat in my opinion. I’ve got some back straps in the fridge soaking right now that’s gonna be on the table tomorrow night!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe and tradition.
Absolutely amazing!!!! I’ve fried deer steak for years but I would soak the deer steaks in milk and then fry. Of course my entire family and I loved it but changing it to buttermilk is a game changer. They are super tender and the flavor is amazing!!!! Thank you so much for your post! I’d also love to follow you but I didn’t see a button to follow you. Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ll be cooking deer steak like this from now on!!!!!