What went wrong...

[tancowgirl2000]

Dad sent home some meat. In his care package were pounds of Mule burger. Now I dont know if it has anything to do with the mule part or if it had everything to do with the fat content but it was absolutley NASTY!!!

I was thinking ahead. Made up some burgers, refroze em....quick and easy supper right? OMGawd!!! No No No! I couldnt even feed my kids that, couldnt take them out of the pan. They smelt so very rancid....Im scared now that I wont get my fry pan back..and he's new!! What if that awful rancid ick imbedded itself?

What makes deer go rancid other than the fat content?

 

[PytnPlace]

Never had Mule. Did it smell funny b4 you cooked it? Was it packed in dry ice?

 

[tancowgirl2000]

it had a different smell before I cooked it. Not bad really. Maybe thats the way a muley smells? As for it being packed, I doubt it.....its my dad we are talking about and really I cant see him being that technical!

 

[Candocook]

If it was "mule deer" your father or whoever else may not have been careful in his butchering. But the fat from deer MUST be completely removed. It tastes awful and goes rancid quickly if left. It is because of what deer eat--particularly acorns. IN the fat.
There is also a gland--the musk gland--that must be removed or it permeates the meat.

 

[pacanis]

So you received the meat, made up the burgers, then "refroze" them. That's what you said. Do you mean you received the meat frozen, cooked the burgers and froze them after cooking, or you just made them into patties after thawing and refroze them that way? Without cooking first.

Now, I've never had mule deer, plenty of whitetail though, both ones I harvested and I know were gu..... I mean "processed" thoroughly and ones I have no idea how careful the hunter was about removing the glands on a male deer (like Cando mentioned) or where the deer was shot (in the gut?) or how carefully the urine sac was removed.... lots of variables, but I've never had rancid deer meat. And I've had all ages, too.

Something went awry in the handling of the meat somewhere down the line, IMO.

Geez, when I started reading this post and you said "mule" the first thing I did was look to see where you were from. You had me wondering.....

 

[VeraBlue]

It sounds to me like the product was handled incorrectly from the beginning right through the time you were going to serve it. It was probably held incorrectly at the time it was butchered. Then, shipped incorrectly. Then, thawed, handled and refrozen. I'm not sure how you thawed it, the second time, but by that time, the damage was done.

Freshly butchered meat must be frozen immediately or held at 40 degrees to be cooked within 2 days or sold and then frozen at home. Thawed meat, frozen under proper conditions cannot be refrozen. Microorganisms that are present on all meat (and will multiply when thawed) do not necessarily die at 32 degrees and can continue to multiply in the freezer.

Metal is pourous, but I don't believe it's got to be discarded. I'd either bake it in the oven or boil it, to be sure.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Could it be he sent you mule deer?Thats what we have at the ranch.I seriously doubt it was an actual mule or maybe its moose meat?I hate mule deer it has a nasty gamey taste {which some people like but I doubt they are super tasters} and if they didnt field dress it right away and cool it quickly its even worse.White Tail on the other hand is really good especially if they feed from those automatic feeders and Axis is the best.
I would ask him what it is and how he got it.

 

[tancowgirl2000]

Its a Muley fer sure.....you say this like I could be BSing it.....he usually sets out for white tale. It aint moose and it aint elk......Ive enver smelt it this way before. Mind you once he made sausage from a muley and it was the same....Maybe its just the breed....

well none the less im gonna go for that something went wrong with the dress. It wasnt "the" wild fatty taste that game usually has. Sure my dog may like it. If not then you definately know something is wrong with it....

as they say

When in doubt, Throw it out!

 

[jpmcgrew]

Bottom line if it turns you off you dont want to eat it anyway.

 

[Constance]

I've never tasted mule deer, but it does have reputation for being tough.
If your father is an experienced hunter, I'm sure he knows how to properly field dress a deer. Thing is, sometimes the older deer, especially the bucks, just get kind of raunchy tasting.
Kim hunts with several other guys, and every once in a while they run across one that smells funky when they first start butchering. When that happens, they throw the carcass out for the cayotes, as it's not good for anything else.