Deer Shanks!

[JJ3]

I think that shanks (both front and rear) may be my favorite part of the deer. I love to cook shanks. Braise them for a few hours in a dutch oven on the stove and they just fall off the bone — all of the gristle and connective tissue just melts away. I cooked a pair of shanks tonight for supper and served with a turnip risotto and sautéed spinach. Delicious.

Finished product



I started by browning the shanks for a few minutes on each side in olive oil.


Then sautéed some aromatic veggies (onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.


Added a little flour for thickening and a can of tomatoes put up from the garden, along with some broth. Then put the shanks in to braise. And added some twigs of rosemary, thyme, an oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.



They cooked on the stove for 2 hrs 45 minutes on low and they were done!

 

[Omega]

Been meaning to try them, now that I've seen how they turn out.

 

[JJ3]

Been meaning to try them, now that I've seen how they turn out.

You definitely should try them. A lot better than just adding it to the grind pile.

 

[Omega]

You definitely should try them. A lot better than just adding it to the grind pile.

I did worse, I would just dump them, cut them off at the knee. I had found a recipe for osso buco on the slow cooker and decided to try it, just haven't got around to doing it yet. I didn't keep a deer this year, so will have to wait until next season.

 

[MidTennFisher]

That looks awesome. We make them in similar fashion and love it. Most people just grind them up or discard them entirely not knowing that when slow cooked like this the meat is fantastic.

Sure there is still a little but of stuff to remove but that's a small price to pay for the quality of that meat.

 

[TAFKAP]

Nicely done. We love them too, and pretty well cook them exactly as you did.

 

[JJ3]

I did worse, I would just dump them, cut them off at the knee. I had found a recipe for osso buco on the slow cooker and decided to try it, just haven't got around to doing it yet. I didn't keep a deer this year, so will have to wait until next season.

I follow a recipe for osso buco that I use when making osso buco from veal shanks. I've used this same recipe for lamb shanks too.

 

[TX300mag]

My favorite part of the deer

 

[JJ3]

That looks awesome. We make them in similar fashion and love it. Most people just grind them up or discard them entirely not knowing that when slow cooked like this the meat is fantastic.

Sure there is still a little but of stuff to remove but that's a small price to pay for the quality of that meat.

Exactly!

 

[TAFKAP]

Getting the shanks to eat was the reason I started hanging on the gambrel at the tarsal bones, not through the shank tendon

 

[BamaProud]

I love them, almost as much as the neck. Going to see what I have in the freezer for this weekend.

 

[Omega]

I love them, almost as much as the neck. Going to see what I have in the freezer for this weekend.

That is another thing that I did not like processing, but I made some neck stew in the crockpot once and I changed my opinion on it. I still shoot them in the neck, but I save as much as I can for the crockpot. Will still need to debone in a CWD area, but at least I won't have to worry about cleaning it as good as I do the quarters, that stuff just melted away.

 

[Kahrman]

I do them the same way except I use a mixture of red wine and beef stock to braise them in. When they are done I dump all the veggies and braising liquid into a blender and blend into a thicker sauce to pour back over the shanks. They are delicious.