Choosing And Preparing Wild Game Meats
by Jim Hofman
Many fine dining restaurants have featured wild game meats on their menus for years. Chefs have honed their culinary skills on these lean, easy to prepare meats for appreciate diners. Now, meats like elk, ostrich, alligator, bison, and more are available to the consumer market. As a result, there’s been an increased interest in the best ways to choose and prepare these various wild game meats. Don’t be concerned with trying wild game meats. The market for these meats is exploding, and for good reason. Wild game meats are lean, tasty, low in cholesterol, and easy to prepare. In fact, you’ll spend less time cooking these meats because their lower fat content means less cooking time. For a perfect comparison, consider ground sirloin vs. ground beef.
Just about every type of wild game meat you can imagine is now available to you via specialty internet providers. To give you a few examples, you can buy buffalo, elk, antelope, rattlesnake, ostrich, and alligator. Or, how about llama, snapping turtle, kangaroo, or caribou? These are just a few of literally dozens of wild game meats available to purchase.
How Are Wild Game Meats Packaged?
Most of the above examples are available in a variety of cuts. You can typically buy most wild game meats as burgers, steaks, and roasts. Also, wild game sausage is a lean, tasty delicacy and generally available in most wild game meats. Many can also be purchased as ribs or racks.
Cooking And Other Preparation
Wild game meats are just like any red or white meat. If you like marinating meats before cooking, feel free. The only limit is your creativity. Use the exact same marinades as any traditional meats.
As for actual cooking of wild game meats, the major factor is not overcooking. Red meats like buffalo, elk, ostrich and kangaroo are extremely lean. Therefore, just like any very lean meat, they are best prepared to medium rare, cooked through. Our personal observation is the main reason why people don’t like wild game meats is because they’re overcooked. These meats can be grilled, roasted, pan seared … the exact same manner you’d cook other red meats.
Regular red meat recipes can be readily substituted with wild game meats. Chili, stew, burgers, roasts, are some common cooking methods. There are great recipes for buffalo meatballs, rattlesnake chili, and alligator jambalaya. Or how about elk medallions, ostrich skewers, and turtle fricassee? Basically, any recipe for traditional meats is perfect for wild game meats. The biggest difference is … less fat, less cholesterol!
About the Author
Wild Game Meats are now more easily available than ever, and waiting for you to try with your favorite meat and other recipes. For more information and savory recipes, stop by our resource site devoted to Wild Game Meats.
