How to Make Brown Venison Stock
working in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley provide her with many opportunities to expand her
culinary horizons and continue to learn and grow through hunting, fishing, foraging, and farming.
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As a hunter, I feel a powerful obligation to use as much as I can of the animals I take. Like the pursuit of game itself, a nose-to-tail approach involves labor, ingenuity, and perseverance, but the rewards are great. I hope this is the year I start utilizing deer for making more than food; I would love to learn how to tan my frozen hides especially. But one of the most approachable ways to use up one of most abundant (and oft-discarded) resources from harvested cervids is to make a simple stock from the bones.
This is not a bone broth, as it doesn’t contain enough collagen to produce that desired gel. A brown stock is so called because it’s made with roasted bones, versus a white stock which uses unroasted bones. Brown stock has a thickened, silky texture from what gelatin is produced during cooking — just not at the spoonable-jelly level that bone broth is known for. This is a mildly seasoned, vegetable-infused, venison-flavored medium for enriching all kinds of dishes. Use it to cook grains, or as the foundation for a sauce, soup, stew, or braising liquid. Do not salt it until it’s done cooking! (See Notes below).
Like bone broth, brown stock is also something you can heat up and drink on a crisp morning, or during a cold night of deer processing. It’s delicious if you add a pat of good butter and a dash of turmeric and red pepper, and froth it up with an immersion blender.
To me the taste of venison brown stock is lightly lamb-like, and definitely distinct. After breaking down deer front and hindquarters, I save the long leg bones with their joints and the shoulder blades. If I cook bone-in roasts, I’ll also save the leftover bones from those too. Meaty bits that escaped the boning knife will add flavor. As kind of a ritual of gratitude, I make a point to include at least one bone from the previous season’s harvest in the current year’s first broth. Since deer ribs are so thin, I don’t recommend using them to make stock as they may break down during cooking. You could certainly add pelvic bones (I haven’t), but I’d avoid spinal material due to CWD.
In terms of spices and additional ingredients, less is more; just a few aromatics and pantry staples to let the flavors of the meat shine through. This is a blank canvas you can dress up later. Stock is also a wonderful outlet for using up lingering produce. I save carrot and celery scraps for this purpose, and there’s always a neglected onion, forgotten head of garlic, or handful of baby carrots with plenty of goodness left to give.
The bones of at least three deer were used for this stock, and as muzzleloader season kicks off here in Virginia, I look forward to stockpiling them again for the next batch — and all adventures to come, in the field and in the kitchen.
For more on wild game stocks, broths, and their uses, check out this episode of Wild Fish and Game Podcast: https://harvestingnature.com/2024/09/10/podcast-episode-202-wild-game-bones-in-the-kitchen-crafting-rich-stocks-broths-and-dishes/
Serving Size: 10-12 servings
Time to make: 12 hours
Special Equipment: Large stockpot, mesh strainer basket
Also works with: The bones of any big game animal
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How to Make Venison Stock
12
servings30
minutes12
hoursKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
5 -10 pounds of venison leg/shoulder bones
2 cups carrot, roughly chopped
2 medium or 1 large onion, quartered
8 cloves garlic, peeled
6 celery stalks with leaves, roughly chopped
4 bay leaves
⅛ cup whole peppercorns
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Preparation
- Preheat your oven to 450F. Saw your venison bones in half or in pieces small enough to fit in your stockpot, and prep your vegetables.
- Place bones on baking sheets and roast for about 30 minutes or until browned, flipping over midway through cooking time.
- Add bones, vegetables, spices, and vinegar to the stockpot and fill the pot with cold water for best extraction.
- Bring the water just to boiling, then reduce heat to a simmer and keep uncovered. You want it to very gently bubble, for a long time — 12 hours or more is ideal. It will reduce considerably and concentrate flavor.
- As the stock cooks, skim off the film of impurities that forms on the surface using a slotted spoon or small strainer.
- Simmer the stock for at least 12 hours, then remove from heat and let cool enough to remove the largest ingredients first with metal tongs.
- Pour the stock through a mesh strainer basket or colander into another pot or large bowl to filter out remaining solids. Discard vegetables and bones, as they are now spent (you’ll see that the bones are starting to look porous).
- Chill the stock. Once the fat has separated and solidified on the surface, remove it and your stock is finished!
- Use within a week or freeze.
Notes
- Notes: You can salt your stock once it’s done cooking, if desired, but not a moment sooner! As the liquid evaporates during cooking and the flavors are amplified, you run the risk of ruining your stock.
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