Deer are broken down similarly to lamb, but are far leaner and longer, so the cuts bear a resemblance to lamb, with some nice surprises through there. Our venison is hung in the fur for up to 19 days in order to set and tenderise in a natural game-hanging dry aging process, in order to further soften muscle and develop the flavour.
Venison Saddle
The long ‘striploin’ of the venison saddle is the most valuable cut on the carcass. This will make up venison wellingtons and medallions, as well as any noisettes or rolls. Off of our dry-hung venison it will be as soft as beef fillet. This saddle can be cut on the bone into venison chops or T-Bones, but it’s rare.
Venison Haunch
The back leg of venison is referred to as the haunch, and is comprised of several large, lean muscles. Breaking these apart from each other is known as ‘seaming’ because it involves scratching along the outside of the muscles with the tip of the knife, prising them apart. Each of these muscles can be tied either on its own or together, and is usually wrapped in either caul fat, lardo or pancetta in order to keep the meat moist when roasting. We do venison haunch joints from 454g all the way up to 1.8kg. Our diced venison is also cut from the haunch.
Venison Shanks
Our Venison Osso Bucco is cut from the shank. Sawing perpendicular to the bone gives perfect discs of meat and bone for braising. The term ‘osso bucco’ translates as ‘hollow bone’ and refers to the appearance of the bone after a long slow braise has drawn all of the marrow out of it to thicken and enrich the cooking sauce. The meat is traditional shin meat and needs this slow cook, but yields delicious, buttery soft mouthfuls after a few hours at the bottom of the oven.
Venison Shoulder
A true unsung hero – Venison Shoulder or Blade is a stunning traditional slow roasting cut that we’re proud to sell. This deserves slow cooking for 2-3 hours until it breaks apart into a sticky, unctuous sauce. The shoulder is the cut that our venison mince, sausages, meatballs and burgers are made from and gives great flavour and a bit of fat to soften it up.