# Adapting beef stew recipe for venison

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adapting-beef-stew-recipe-for-venison/604303>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 28, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adapting-beef-stew-recipe-for-venison/604303 "2011-11-28T02:02:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adapting-beef-stew-recipe-for-venison/604303/1 "2011-11-28T02:02:23Z")

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A hunter friend of mine gave me a nice portion of venison from one of the deer he took this year along with several good bones for making stock. I’m in the mood for a nice, hearty stew and this venison looks like a good candidate for the stew pot. I’m not all that familiar with venison though.

When I make beef stew, I tend to prefer to let the flavor of the beef predominate and keep the flavors simple with just a little mirepoix, salt, pepper, bay leaf and leek. Can I just use my standard stew recipe and trade the beef for leaner, more gamey venison with no alteration?

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adapting-beef-stew-recipe-for-venison/604303/2 "2011-11-28T02:44:46Z")

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Yes. No variation required for a stew. I interchange beef and venison all the time.

I don’t really believe in the existence of gamey flavors. I think it’s just the taste of animals we don’t eat as often. If I always ate deer, I’d think cows tasted gamey.

Ultimately, it is leaner. If you want to have some flavorful fat in there, bacon is the time honored go to.

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**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adapting-beef-stew-recipe-for-venison/604303/3 "2011-11-28T03:15:36Z")

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I firmly believe in the existence of gamey flavors, and I suspect it is related to an animal’s diet and lifestyle. We get most of our meat from a farm where the cows are 100% grass fed and finished, and do quite a bit of roaming around and grazing on random stuff they find in their pastures.

Some of the beef, though not all, has a very distinct gamey flavor. I happen to like a bit of gameyness, so it’s ok by us, but it is distinctly different than supermarket beef, even than the special happy beef from Whole Foods.