Tough Pronghorn
Pronghorn
This was a rifle kill but that's not the topic.
Yesterday I killed a buck and today my wife and I cut it up. We put all the future burger meat in a box and sealed it like usual. We also took the steak, chops and roasts and plastic wrapped plus with waxed freezer paper (2 layers total) . Then my wife fried some of the backstrap for a late lunch.
We then took all the roasts, steak and chops out of the freezer, unwrapped all of it and put in a box for future grind. She took the fried meat and cut it in quite small pieces and put it in a slow cooker for 6 hours before making stew. The meat in the stew is challenging to chew.
I've eaten a lot of Pronghorn and never had such a tough one. Not even a mildly tough one. It was even tougher than and 8.5 and 11.5 Rocky Moutain Goat I've eaten parts of.
Has anyone else ever had a tough one??
I slow cook meats often and I leave it overnight to cook. It falls apart when you try to remove it from the pot. IMO...6 hours in a slow cooker doesn't seem like enough time to break down the meat.
Re: slow cookers all are not the same. I had a Rival brand whereas venison roasts wouldn't tenderize even if left cook a long time. Checked the temperature...it didn't get above 180*. Bought a Crock Pot brand...it simmers, checked it at 210*. No matter what I put in it the meat falls off the bone.
In 2018 I shot my buck and two does in unit 73. Had a great hunt! All 3 were broken down and on ice in about an hour from the shot. Same experience as yours: Super tough! The puzzling part is that I handled the meat exactly the same way as two previous antelope hunts.
I found that if I aged the meat in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days after thawing (I vacuum seal) then the steaks were just as tender as all of the other antelope I have taken. Hope this helps with yours as well. I almost ran all of mine through the grinder... Pete
Rigor mortis is very important in meat technology. The onset of rigor mortis and its resolution partially determine the tenderness of meat. If the post-slaughter meat is immediately chilled to 15 °C (59 °F), a phenomenon known as cold shortening occurs, whereby the muscle sarcomeres shrink to a third of their original length.
Cold shortening is caused by the release of stored calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of muscle fibers, in response to the cold stimulus. The calcium ions trigger powerful muscle contraction aided by ATP molecules. Albeit tough meat.
Never met a hunter that electrocuted his kill yet, Huntcell. But, there’s a lot left to 2020!!!
Electrocution has nothing to do with it; it’s about being DEAD.
I was referencing the next paragraph of what Huntcell got from Wikipedia, GF. It speaks of sending an electrical current through meat to stop the process he spoke about.
The point was or is that riga mortis sets in and then dissipates . If you cut up meat in between one could have issues.
Riga mortis is not caused by electricity. Has nothing to with electricity the next paragraph related that meat packing places use electricity to more quickly dissipate riga mortis versus waiting around for it to dissipate naturally.
While some individual animals are tough, the vast majority of tough meat is due to people being in a rush.
I use my slow cooker all the time and the meat is always tender. Got some deer stew in the refrigerator right now that I slow cooked a couple days ago. It is great. However, I always age my deer about a week before cutting it up.
In a roasting pan at 220 in the oven, 6 hours is perfect, even for shanks.
Slow cookers often times take hours to get up to full temp which is why you want to boil the liquids first before adding them. Watch the slow cooker and start your timer once you see it start to simmer. Sear your meat before putting it in the slow cooker too. The meat is better and it gets it heated up.
And that’s what I was referring to, Hunt cell. JOKING about a hunter sending electrical current through his animal to make tender. Tough crowd lol...
Should have pointed out that I had to bone and pack this one 0.8 miles. Used to be I would have just left the bones in but at 72 every pound I'm not packing is worth the effort.
Done it before and it didn't make the meat tough.
Same happened to me this year Larry. First antelope of dozens to ever be tough. It was a doe. Boned and in a cooler within an hour. The tenderloins and backstraps were very tough that night.
