Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 13:46:01 -0600
From: Shane Henry <shenry@UMR.EDU>
Subject: Beef-Venison Taste Test
To: Multiple recipients of list FIREARMS <FIREARMS@utarlvm1.uta.edu>

A little humor out there, for all you hunters and your families who don't
like venison...

---------------------------Begin Excerpt---------------------------
Thought you might find this funny....  I got this from my sister who works for
the University of Wisconsin Extension.


Tom

SUBJECT: VENISON - BEEF TASTE TEST

Controversy has long raged about the relative quality of venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is tough, with a strong "wild" taste. Others insist that venison is tender, and that its flavor is delicate.

The UW Foods Research Department recently conducted a taste test to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions.

First a high-choice holstein steer was led into a swamp a mile and a half from the nearest road, then shot several times. After some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged over rocks and logs, through mud and dust, thrown into a pick-up box and transported through rain and snow 100 miles before being hung out in the sun for 10 days. After that it was lugged to the garage, where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout this test, within the limitations of the butchering environment. For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff at the steer carcass, but were chased out of the garage if they attempted to lick the carcass, bite hunks out of it, or sit on the workbench.

Next the steer was dragged into the house and down the basement steps. Half a dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic people worked on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was 375 pounds of soup bones, four bushels of meat scraps and a couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an inch and a half on the other.

The steaks were fried in a skillet full of rancid bacon grease, along with three pounds of onions. After two hours of frying, the contents of the skillet were served to three blindfolded taste panel volunteers.

Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said that it tasted exactly like the venison he had eaten at hunting camps for the past 27 years. The results of this trial showed conclusively that there is no difference between the taste of beef and venison.

Many people believe venison tastes best when well seasoned. It is suggested that this report also be taken with a bit of salt.