Wild game cooking takes time.

[Salmonsmoker]

Lately I have been receiving 2 or 3 e-mails each week from members of this site with specific questions about game preparation. The most FAQ that I get is "How can one find the time to prepare these recipie's."

Many of the old techniques and recipe's do take time. Some of them take weeks - many of them take all weekend - most of them require a major part of a day. Let's face it, we live very active lives. The question that people are asking seems to be, "Is it worth it to spend a major amount of my limited free-time on cooking even though it produces a wonderful final product?"

That is something that each person has to decide for themselves. I can only give you my thoughts on the subject.

My job keeps me in front of a computer screen all day - providing information that is timely and accurate, on demand.

When I go home, I'm in Salmonsmoker's World: a place far removed from the fast-paced information age: a place where I can reconnect with my natual heritage; a place where I can recharge my emotional and creative energies.

I was reading a print-out from one of the e-mail questions last night and made a few notes addressing this topic.

One note in particular expresses my feelings;

"Right now, instead of watching some mindless drivel on the tube, I am watching the glowing embers of my campfire while cooking dinner. It is this connection with my heritage that maintains my sanity during the rest of my day."

When cooking over the campfire, I can't just turn the heat down under my Dutch Oven - I have to physically move some coals or adjust the cooking height. Is it worth the effort? ABSOLUTELY! It is the best stress-reduction therapy available in these parts.

Hope this did not wander too far from Wild Game Food Preparation.

ss

[Salmonsmoker]

I hope to get some other comments here.

My wife tells me that her senses are never more accute than when she is calling a deer into her tree stand or when calling in a turkey - that the time spent hunting is when she feels most alive. To me, that is a reconnection with a very deep and natural part of who we are. I get that feeling when I am cooking over my campfire and serving up an excellent game dinner.

My question to you: Is this reconnection important as a motivating factor in our outdoor sports activities? If it is, then the "free time" that we spend scouting, hunting, tracking, cooking and eating wild game is time well spent. It helps us to be more human.

Any other openions?

ss

[Banditto]

Wow SS good post. I know it sounds wacky, but I am educated in Darwinism. I believe that all homosapians are evolved from the same animal. As culture evolved some people hunted and some gathered--much like meat eaters and vegetarians. I have read a lot about, and experienced the 'fight or flight' reponse. Like when you are just about to release that arrow and you get that rush. If you take the time to monitor your heart beat you would see how elevated it gets too. They say that the 'fight' reponse is to get your muscles ready to run after the prey to sink that spear deep into the meat, which is how any predator gets when they are ready to pounce. It is beyond a learned resonse--it is primal and instinctive.

I try to draw on those energies whever I can.

Good luck this weekend.

[Salmonsmoker]

Banditto,

YES! YES!! YES!!! "....it is primal and instinctive." That is why hunting for our food, and killing our food, and butchering our food, and cooking our food over a campfire are all such soul-satisfying experiences. They all take us back to our primal and instinctual roots.

The mosconception that a good steak, or chicken, or hamburger comes from the grocery store (and thus OK to eat) is very far removed from reality. It is also a widely held belief among the majority of our fellow citizens - particularly the Anti's.

Thanks for your comments, Banditto, and good luck in the field.

ss

[Salmonsmoker]

Back on 9/18 Banditto posted a reply in the chain under Crock-Pot Venison. Over this last weekend, I tried that technique with a game bird - only I cooked it in my pit oven in the back yard.

First of all, it took less time than cooking the same recipe in a crock-pot. While the food was cooking, I got some fall lawn work done.

Basically, here's how it worked out. I got a fire started in the Pit oven by noon:30 & kept it going for 2 hours (also had my coffee pot hanging by a small campfire fire). While the rocks were getting hot, I got my 14" Dutch Oven and put a package of Long Grain and Wild Rice (dry) on the bottom. Took the "flavor packet" from the rice and mixed it with a family'size can of Mushroom Soup. Took a large can of Mushrooms and drained the juice into the mushroom soup, then sautaed the mushrooms (for flavor) then mixed them into the soup.

That mixture was poured directly over the rice. Then, I split 2 game hens (sorry, I didn't have any Grouse) & dusted them with Garlic Powder, and laid them over the rice/gravy mixture, covering the birds with gravy also.

Put the lid on the Dutch Oven and put it in the ground.

2.5 hours later, I dug up a wonderful Game Hen on Rice and with a thick Mushroom Gravy dinner.

The meat was very tender and delicious.

What this all has to do with the time that it takes to use some of the more primitive cooking techniques is only a matter of perspective. We put food in a crock-pot and then leave it to cook while we do other things. I did the same with my pit oven.

The final result was different - however. After working on the lawn, I opened the pit oven and then had my dinner with a glass of wine, while sitting by a campfire. This is a good family activity that gets everyone involved in the final step of of hunting/ gathering, and then preparing and eating Game food.

Thanks for the cooking technique Banditto. It has many applications.

ss

[Banditto]

No problem at all. I am writing down many recipes you have posted already.

Now about your name, are you an avid salmon fisherman or what?

You wanna know where I get all my salmon from? There is a retired guy in Augres who is better at catching salmon than most. He will call me and say 'come pick up some fish when you can'. I get 20lb+ packages several times a year. He fillets them, double bags them, and labels them all by specie.

[Salmonsmoker]

Banditto,

Somewhere around 30 years ago, I had an opportunity to taste smoked Salmon for the first time. It was absolutely delicious. I went out and bought some salmon and an electric smoker, and I made my first smoked foods, (thus Salmonsmoker.)

Since that time, and after marrying into a family of avid hunters, making smoked foods, cooking wild game, and primitive cooking have become my avid interests.

My wife IS an avid huntress and an avid fisherperson and we spend many hours each year doing both.

Your web-name is also interesting. How'd you come by Banditto?

ss

[Banditto]

I have been using the name for around 7 years. It is my *shrug* (don't laugh too loud now)...

it is my dogs name!

[Salmonsmoker]

Banditto,

That's a great tribute to your dog.

By the way, where do you meet these fishermen that give you your salmon? The only one's I've met are either stocking their freezer or doing the catch & release thing.

ss

[Salmonsmoker]

I know that much of this chain is tangent to Wild game Food Preparation, yet it seems relavant and part of an ongoing discussion about why cooking and eating wild game is so important.

Back on 10/18 (in this chain) Banditto made reference to the rush that he feels just prior to releasing an arrow. That rush is Adrenalin (sp?) - a response from our genetic memory - a very primal part of our physiology.

Last night, while in my tree stand, I had been sitting for a while and saw nothing. Then a rabbit came along. Rabbit is good. I changed arrows (knocked up a blunt) and was just about to draw when a Red Tailed Hawk dove down in front of me and landed on the rabbit. It completely encircled the rabbit with its wings and tail - and pressed it to the ground. The rabbit gave out one muffled scream and then was silent.

WOW! That was a primal experience: real basic stuff - the same kind of rush that I get when taking game or catching a fish. Suddenly my heart was beating faster and I was much more alert: all thanks to my genetic memory pumping adrenalin into my body.

The adreanalin is our bodies reaction to hunting our food. It gives us the burst of energy that we may need to ensure that we will eat.

MacDonalds has been with us for millions of Burgers. Our genetic memory of hunting our food has been with us for millions of years.

At the same time (and as we have become more of an urban species), MacDonalds (and other such establishments) is where our food comes from. Hunting - and more relivant to this forum, eating wild game - is something that we do for hobby.

Our urban society somehow has it backwards. We, the outdoor sports people are right on track. That is why cooking and eating wild game are such an important part of the whole outdoor experience.

Any comments?

ss

[Ebowhunter]

One comment: I agree. More game less McD's keeps the belt from getting tight.

[Salmonsmoker]

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Salmonsmoker