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Game meats

Game meats are typical of the Autumn and Winter season.

An introduction to game meats

By definition the word game is any animal hunted for food that is not normally domesticated. Depending on what part of the world you live in, the climate, and locally accepted views on what can be hunted, will dictate the type of game available to you.

Traditionally game is something that is hunted. But you can purchase farm game meat, such as deer, buffalo, ostrich, and alligator to name a few. In the case of some animals, like turkeys, the term game is used as a distinction between varieties of species.

Hunters normally field dress their kill. There are commercial processors (lockers) that can process your meat efficiently. The meat needs to be kept cool to minimize spoilage, yet there are some that believe that the meat is better if it is hung and aged.

Through this series we will discuss methods of cooking. Game meat is leaner than store bought domestic meat, as well as being tougher, and over cooking is common. We will also touch on common game and corresponding recipes.

Erin M. Phelan combined cooking, writing and talking about food with her love for the countryside. She has been a modern homesteader and raised her own organic food. Erin lived in a lovely farm in Kansas, with her husband and young children.