Story by Tom Claycomb III

In TOJ’s January 2026 issue I covered how to save some obscure cuts off your deer that most people either throw away or just grind.  A few recipes on how to cook them the cuts were also included.  The first installment was so well received we decided to do a follow-up.

It’s a shame a majority of hunters don’t know how to properly cook game and especially how to make it into a gourmet meal. Most dutifully cook their wild game since they killed it A lot of the younger crowd you wouldn’t normally associate with hunting are entertaining the idea since it’s the best source to get real organic meat for their family. We should all encourage and promote that idea.

The Number One rule for cooking game — don’t sizzle it. Very, very few wild game cuts do I cook at any hotter heat than medium. Here’s why. Everyone is used to cooking beef, but cattle are a totally different animal. There are three kinds of fat:

1. Subcutaneous –hint, pinch the roll on your belly.
2. Intramuscular-This is the fat between muscles.
3. Intermuscular- This is the fat intermingled in the muscle on a ribeye called marbling.

Due to amount of fat on fed beef, it is more forgiving. It’s a barrier from drying the beef out as fast when over cooked. Wild game doesn’t have marbling so that is why your deer steaks taste dried out if you over cook on the grill in the same manner as you would a beef ribeye.

I’m going to list a few favorite unique recipes not many people may know, and which cut must be used with each recipe. For instance, a recipe described for Tri-tips, can’t be used for the eye of the round and expect it to taste the same. Every cut needs to be cooked a certain way to maximize its eating pleasure due to its texture, fat content and how tough/tender a cut it is.

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