Side of Venison

3 reviews for Side of Venison

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   kevingrain (verified owner) – 11/08/2015

   I’ve had this about four times now, so it’s time for a review. Firstly: what to expect? Well, not an entire half deer delivered to your doorstep, so don’t worry. My last few orders have been packaged in sealed bags of just the right size to go straight in the freezer. You can probably expect 8 half kilo bags of stewing/casserole meat making around 4 kilos in total, maybe two burger packs and two sausage packs weighing about 2 kilos in total, 1 kilo of venison fillet/saddle and two haunch joints, between 1.5 and 2 kilos each. That all adds up to between 10 and 11 kg of venison, and if you do the maths, it’s a lot cheaper than buying the individual cuts.

   The quality has been consistently excellent. I have particularly liked the fillet steak. You could roast this as a joint, but I trim it slightly and cut it into around 8 pretty thick steaks. Alternatively, you could cut it into thinner medallions if you don’t like it as rare as I do. They will prepare this for you if you specify, but I just take it as it comes and prepare it how I feel on the day. The same with the haunch joints. These are huge, and I cut several haunch steaks from them and freeze them separately. These also fry very well. Of course, if you have a big family or a special occasion, just treat yourself to the whole joint.

   Last point, venison is a health food, in case people haven’t heard. It’s very low in sat fat and grass fed wild deer meat will be much higher in omega-3 than processed meat from the supermarket.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   nanook (verified owner) – 29/01/2016

   This was my first time ordering a side of vension, and I’m so happy that I did. A big box of lovely meat delivered right to my door; totally fresh and fantastic quality. My only regret is that I have to freeze some of it! Definitely the healthiest and freshest meat you can eat.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   clairersheppy – 08/02/2017

   I am very fond of venison, and had been researching venison on the Internet when I came across the possibility of buying a side of venison from Macbeth’s butchers. I was a little apprehensive about buying online, especially as Macbeth’s are in the north of Scotland and I am in the south-west of England, and there were 1 or 2 questions I needed to get sorted out before considering placing an order; they were how long will venison keep in a freezer, and how much space would a side of venison require in the freezer? The answers to these two questions were that the venison should keep for up to 2 years in a freezer, and a side of venison comes in a box about 12″ x 12″ x 15″. With that information I went ahead and ‘phoned Macbeth’s to give them a good idea as to what I wanted. (They will prepare the meat more or less as you wish if you talk it through with them.) I then placed the order, specifying how I would like to have it prepared, (not being a lover of sausages I asked for them to send the meat that would have been used in them as mince instead). They prepared and shipped the order on the Tuesday, and told me that it should be with me by Wednesday morning, usually by mid day.

   When the order arrived, (just after midday in fact,) I discovered that it was packed in a polystyrene purpose made box, with a pack of ice blocks in it which had not even softened! As for the meat itself, there were five packs of escallops, eight packs of diced venison, seven venison fillets, two packs of venison mince, 10 burgers, and two joints of venison haunch each joint of which were about a kilogram in weight. As I now live on my own, I cut each of the two joints of venison haunch in half, and similarly cut the five packs of escallops in half as well. If the ease with which it was possible to cut through the two joints is anything to go by, the meat is certainly going to be very tender.I am reckoning to eat venison no more than once a week, and have calculated that if I do so it will take me about 48 weeks to get through the whole of the side of venison! (Less if I am generous and serve venison for my occasional visitors.) An idea as to the various weights you can expect to receive has been given in a previous review.

   I shall be experimenting with various recipes, and will probably start by having a look at the recipes on the Macbeth’s website.

   Review by Claire on 8-2-2017