Marinating venison properly for tenderness and flavor is much more than dumping meat into liquid and hoping for the best. For excellent results, you need to understand the process, learn the how-to and have excellent marinade starter recipes.

Of all the whitetails I’ve eaten over the years, only one or two ever seemed consistently tough in texture or off in flavor across the cuts we made in the home butcher shop. Whether the problem was the deer itself or “user error” during shot placement, field-dressing, transporting, aging, butchering or the freezing process, marinating the meat was one way to make it better on the table.

But you don’t need that rare batch of “poor” whitetail venison to enjoy marinades. Any meat can always use a little tenderizing, and marinades add welcome flavor variety to your venison-eating lifestyle.

A recipe-in-general is one way to adjust venison flavor. Marinating can be a part of the recipe — or marinating can serve as the recipe itself before grilling, broiling, pan-searing, sautéing, frying, browning or otherwise cooking the meat.

Marinating Science

Almost any kind of protein can be marinated. In the wild game category, that includes poultry (think of pheasants or prairie grouse), waterfowl (any species of duck or goose), small game (rabbits and squirrels come to mind), as well as red meat, whether it’s from an elk, moose, pronghorn, bear, mule deer … or the best of all, our very own everyday garden-variety whitetail.

Marinating actually has four purposes and outcomes. You get all the benefits when you marinate meat, but only one or two of these factors may be your marinating goal.

Tenderize … You could read a treatise study on marinating to understand all of the background behind how it tenderizes meat, but everything comes down to this: The marinating process breaks down proteins in the meat. The acids and/or enzymes contained in marinating ingredients work to deteriorate collagen and other connective tissues. Result: The meat becomes more tender.

“Flavorize” … Acids or enzymes in a marinade mixture do the breakdown work, but these building block ingredients can also serve to alter the meat’s flavor; so do other spices, liquids and ingredients that you add to the marinade. Marinating can add variety to your menu by changing up venison flavors meal-to-meal, or altering and improving the flavor of that rare batch of poor venison.

Moisturize … Simply put, marinating moisturizes venison. Never underestimate this benefit. By its very nature, venison is not streaked or striated with fat within the muscle tissue. Outer fat should always be trimmed away. That leaves an extremely lean piece of meat that benefits from the fat and other moisture it picks up during the marinating process. Result: The meat is less likely to dry out during cooking.

Varietize … If you are fortunate enough to have venison in your freezer, a little flavor variety never hurts. Marinades can easily transform a cut of standard venison into something very different, and add some “spice” to your venison cookery while inspiring some more marinade experimentation and successes.

Marinade Components

Any marinade must contain at least one of three key classes of ingredients to start and conduct the tenderizing process that is the basis of the marinating practice. Fat is the other marinade key for flavorizing and moisturizing.

Acids … An acid-based liquid denatures or breaks down proteins in meat. Acids are the most common marinade base and activator. Examples of good marinade acids include vinegars (many interesting varieties are available), alcohol (wine and beer come to mind, but harder liquor works, too, particularly bourbon), and lemon or lime juice.

Enzymes … Enzymes do a good job of breaking down collagen and connective tissue so that meat tenderizes and marinade flavors get absorbed. Examples of enzyme agents include fruit juices (pure apple, grape and cranberry are particularly suitable for venison), pineapple, figs, papaya, honeydew and ginger. Some of those latter examples could add some interesting flavors to venison. Commercial meat tenderizers are generally rich in enzymes.

Dairy … Although not as common as acids or enzymes as a key marinade tenderizing agent, dairy liquids — whole milk and buttermilk serve as the best examples — can also serve as a marinade base. Dairy products are both mildly acidic and contain an enzyme in the form of calcium. Dairy-based marinades are more common for use with non-red meats, but chefs occasionally use buttermilk with venison, such as for chicken-fried steak.

Fat … Every marinade, no matter what “active” ingredient is used from the above three components, also needs a fat. This is especially important with venison, which is perfectly lean. Oils are the perfect fat for marinades, with olive oil leading the way. But really, any oil will do, from straight vegetable oil to corn, canola, safflower, sesame, soy, nut or chili oil. In addition to moisturizing meat, oil adds key flavors.

Marinating Technique

There’s much more to marinating than throwing together a few liquids, adding a few spices and throwing in some meat to soak.

It all starts with a good marinade recipe concept, for sure, and we’ll cover plenty of those. But in addition to all the science covered, there’s also an art to good marinating. Use the following strategies, techniques and tips to improve and perfect your marinating practice.

Go Thin or Chunked … The thicker the cut of meat, the less chance your marinade has a chance of soaking in. Ideally, strips of meat 1/4-inch to ½-inch up to 1-inch thick will do the best job of absorbing marinade. Strips or chunks tenderize faster and take on flavor better than a larger, intact piece of meat.

Provide Access … The “go thin” tip isn’t to say that you can’t marinade an entire piece of meat, such as a steak or chop or even a roast. You can. But if you do, provide channels of access for the marinade to enter into the meat and do its work. Slices or stabs from a sharp knife can do the trick. So do pokes from a sharp-tipped fork.

Focus on Tougher Cuts … Some cuts just don’t need much marinating because they are tender and flavorful already. For example, it’s hard to improve a chop you get off the loin on any deer, or the sirloin at the top of the rump. But tougher meat from the front shoulder, as well as the lower two-thirds of the back leg, is prime for marinating.

Don’t Overdo It: Time … With marinating, it’s easy to think more is better. Generally speaking, if that marinade is getting into the meat well, any timing over two hours might do more harm than good to your end results. Too much marinating can take meat back the other way — tighten it up — or ultimately break it down too far into a mushy mess. A half hour to one hour, and sometimes two hours, make ideal marinating window time frames. Stripping or chunking meat reduces marinade time, another advantage of that practice.

Don’t Overdo It: Volume … Just as too much marinating time can be a bad thing, so can too much marinade. That can overdo it on the meat, too, making it soft and mushy. Rather than a full-immersion bath, an ideal marinating session is more of a light soak.

Nonreactive Container … Marinate in a ceramic or glass container for best results and least chance of altering the flavor of your meat in a way you don’t want. Stainless steel works, too, as does marinating in a plastic bag. Avoid aluminum, because it can react with the acid ingredients in a marinade recipe, affecting both favor and food safety.

The more marinating you do, the more ideas and insights you get about juggling meat toughness, marinating time and key ingredient combinations for best results. It’s why marinating is an art as much as it is a science.

Marinade Recipes

The best marinades are simple, and use fresh, quality ingredients. For example, olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt are an incredibly simple, wonderful and classic combination. Turn to the following additional concepts for great starter venison marinades, and use them as bases for developing your own marinade creations. Each of these base recipes makes enough marinade for 1 to 2 pounds of meat.

Steakhouse Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons salt, dissolved in 2 ounces

water

4 scallions, cut in half

2 big cloves of garlic

1/4 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

powder

1 tsp. cumin

2 teaspoons honey

Mix it all up and cover your meat completely. Marinate in the fridge for an hour.

Balsamic Marinade

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

Sea salt and black pepper to cover all sides

Thyme (fresh or otherwise)

Rub meat with all the ingredients. This is sort of a wet rub.  Leave the meat in the fridge a half-hour before cooking. Add 1/2 cup olive oil for a more traditional, liquid marinade.

Greek Marinade

3 cloves of garlic, minced

4–5 tablespoons fresh oregano (or 2 Tbsp.

dried), minced

2 tablespoons parsley, minced

Grated zest from half a lemon,

along with the juice

Extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the venison)

Mix the ingredients together, salt and pepper the meat, then slather the mixture all over the meat. Place in plastic bag or wrap inside the fridge for at least two hours.

Country Marinade

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup fresh thyme, minced

1/2 cup fresh rosemary, minced

This is very similar to the Classic marinade combo mentioned. Experiment with different spice options here, but keep it simple.

Cuban Marinade

Full bulb of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup lime juice

1/2 cup lemon juice

Zest from the citrus

2 teaspoons cumin

Mix it all up and cover meat completely. Marinate in fridge for an hour.

Continental Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Change up the amount of Dijon to your taste. Try other mustards, too; horseradish is sublime.

Conclusion

Marinating is a key approach for adding flavor variety to your venison bounty. In addition, a good marinade can tenderize and moisturize meat for more savory cooking results. There’s a lot of science behind the practice, but once you have the basics down, marinating becomes an art you’ll love exploring and experimenting with for the rest of your venison-cooking days.

— Tom Carpenter is a longtime D&DH contributor from Minnesota.