Fried Venison (Deer Meat)

We are in the heart of Deer Season and I hope that the deer are flocking to your feeders.  From the reports I am getting, you may have already shot your limit.  If so, then you probably want this recipe.
There a many people who do not like venison because of the strong flavor.  Hopefully, the person who is hunting knows how to clean the deer properly, prior to processing it. How the deer is cleaned affects the meat.
Assuming that the deer was dressed properly, the way to eliminate part of the gamey taste is to soak the meat in one of these: milk, vinegar, buttermilk/sour milk or lemon.  Each one lends a different flavor by extracting some of the "gaminess".
Milk removes most of the offensive flavors but it does little to soften the meat fibers. Vinegar softens the meat fibers but leaves a tanginess to the meat.  This is not an unpleasant flavor, it is just different.  Buttermilk or Sour Milk does a little of both.  It softens the meat fibers, but not as well at vinegar and removes most of the gamey taste but adds a slight tanginess. Lemon and lemon zest are used in ground venison. Because the meat is not soaked in lemon juice, It just offsets the flavor and does not remove anything.
Most people have a preference to the method used in cooking venison.  I use all three of the soak ingedients and the lemon and lemon zest in ground venison. The choice is determined by the cut of meat.
For cooking the backstrap, I use milk. For frying any other steak, I use buttermilk/sour milk and for a roast prepared in the oven or cooked on the pit, I use vinegar.
But this recipe is specifically for fried deer meat, so I soak the thawed venison, at least 8 hours, in buttermilk or sour milk.  If you do not have buttermilk on hand, make sour milk by adding  1 teaspoon of vinegar per 1 cup of milk and let it sit about 5 minutes to clabber.

1 package of deer steak
enough buttermilk or sour milk to cover and marinate
eggs
milk
flour
salt
pepper
oil or shortening for frying

Cut the venison steak into the desired sized pieces, cutting away any connective tissue or "silver skin" that has been left during processing. (You can leave the tissue on but it makes the meat chewy.) Place deer steak in a shallow dish and pour enough buttermilk or sour milk over to cover. Place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
Remove the deer steak and rinse. Then pat dry.
Season with salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl, mix 1 egg to 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup water. Beat until combined. In a second bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.
Heat the oil to 275 to 300 degrees in a skillet.  This is where a large electric works great because you can cook a pound of steak all at once. Remember to leave enough room between the top of the skillet and the oil so that the oil does not boil out.  Also, you will have to cook the meat in batches if your skillet is not extremely large because you have to leave room between the pieces of meat.
Now, dredge the meat in the seasoned flour first, then in the egg wash, and then back in the flour.  Carefully add the meat to the hot oil.  You may need to make more of the seasoned flour and the egg wash as you go, depending on how much meat you have to fry.
Fry the steak until it is golden brown on all sides.  Any left over meat can be refrigerated and used for sandwiches the next day.

Enjoy!

Deloris