Bison meat

[MOOSE MILK]

I got a bison last year and was wondering how others are enjoying their meat. I have shot lots of old mature moose and deer and have never had anything as tough as this bison.
I have marinated, slow cooked and sous vide a bunch of the more desirable cuts like t-bone steaks and rump roasts, I have good teeth and have a hell of a time chewing this thing. The only way I can tenderize this is by pressure cooking the crap out of it. I am now turning t-bones into stews and chilli.
The ground burger is very nice great flavour, thinking of chunking up all the roasts and turning it into burger.
This bison was shot in really cold windy conditions, was freezing quickly, hide stiffened up before we could quarter it and load into truck. It was frozen in the morning and didn't start to thaw out till we hit the ferry, hung for five days before butchering, maybe it should have hung for much longer?
MM

[KodiakHntr]

Personally, I think I would have hung thawed it out and tried a steak to see what it was like, and then I would have hung it at least 15 days.

And possibly longer than that. I wouldn't even have contemplated cutting at less than 12 days myself.

Other thing you can do is take steaks out and thaw them in the fridge, and dry off all the blood and just let them age for a week + in the fridge before cooking. That will help some.

[scuba]

Shot a big bull 5 years ago and it was excellent. Killed it in January, -30 weather. Froze solid for 3 days before I got to the butcher. They hung it for 2 weeks. Maybe the butcher you used wasn’t familiar with proper cuts of meat? I recall getting quite a bit of burger back but steaks and roasts were great.

[MDR]

Other thing you can do is take steaks out and thaw them in the fridge, and dry off all the blood and just let them age for a week + in the fridge before cooking. That will help some.

This worked on my bison.

[Thunderstix]

I have eaten more wild bison than the average Joe and only one was tough, but it was a freaking monster, and truth be told I only got pepperoni from that one but was told it was tough.

[JoeSixPack]

I shot a 10 yr old bull several years ago. It was tough as nails. Literally had to lean on your fork for a few steaks. Chew, and chew, and chew, and chew, then chew some more. By the end I just took what steaks I had left and ground them all

[Ubertuber]

Yup, try aging it in your fridge for a number of days. Sure can't hurt.
Make jerky is another option.

[adriaticum]

Marinate the meat and use baking soda in the marinade to tenderize the meat.
1/8" slices and in the marinade for 6 hours.

[Imdone]

Marinate the meat and use baking soda in the marinade to tenderize the meat.
1/8" slices and in the marinade for 6 hours.

1/32" slice even better. Then marinate for 7 days or Grind it into burger, then grind it again, after that grind it one more time.
Then call your dentist to book appointment for broken and cracked teeth.

[high and to the right]

I was warned that the big bull I got with my bow (and the only bison I shot) would be tough so I just went ahead and ground it all into burger. You can do a lot with burger. But the best part of the bison is still the memory of the hunt!

[cameron0518]

That's too bad about the meat being so tough. I was impressed with how tender and lean both of our bison were. Hamburger and jerky seem the best solution.

[tdot]

The meat may have suffered from Cold Shortening. Meat shouldn't be cooled too quickly within the first 12-16 hours or frozen before about 72 hours. Once rigor mortus sets in, it takes about 72 hours for it to release, if it hasn't there is nothing you can do to improve the meat, it essentially will forever be in a state of Rigor. I learned this the hard way after a deer froze on me within hours of shooting it. I thought it was a good thing, but it was the worst wild game I've ever eaten. There is actually a number of things happening to the meat in the first 72 hours after death, and the science is interesting and definitely has a substantial affect on the meat quality.

[Ride Red]

Our bison from 3 years ago was some of the nicest game I’ve eaten. I’m not a steak guy, but love my roasts, especially cross rib roasts. We only have some burger left and need to chase another one :)

[Krico]

The meat may have suffered from Cold Shortening. Meat shouldn't be cooled too quickly within the first 12-16 hours or frozen before about 72 hours. Once rigor mortus sets in, it takes about 72 hours for it to release, if it hasn't there is nothing you can do to improve the meat, it essentially will forever be in a state of Rigor. I learned this the hard way after a deer froze on me within hours of shooting it. I thought it was a good thing, but it was the worst wild game I've ever eaten. There is actually a number of things happening to the meat in the first 72 hours after death, and the science is interesting and definitely has a substantial affect on the meat quality.

I’ve never heard of this. When I shot mine it was about -35C, we immediately cleaned and quartered it and it froze solid in no time at all...hung it for a week back in PG in a garage just barely above freezing and butchered ourselves.

It was the most tender, delicious game meat I’ve ever had.

[tdot]

Interesting, I wonder if the -35 was so cold that something entirely different occurs. In the meat packing plants they literally electrocute the meat to prevent the issue so they can freeze within 24 hours. There is a ton of scientific studies on it and the effects on meat.

[MOOSE MILK]

I did do most of this bison into burger which is excellent, I only kept the prime cuts that are so disappointing.
I took a nice bull in Wyoming a few years ago and had most of it done into burger and the prime cuts done in roasts and steaks, the table fare was excellent, this bull was shot in shirt sleeve weather, we needed to get this one cooled in a hurry!
My tough bull was not as big as the Wyoming bison, figured we were in for some wonderful table fare.
I'm wondering if that cold quick freeze was the culprit that made my meat so tough.
I have tried to age it in the fridge to no avail. It dose make some real great chewie jerky and beautiful peperoni. My grand kids say my burgers are the best.