Bull Meat Question

My buddy had a 2 year old bull that got out and ultimately he put it down. I went up and butchered it with(for) him. Meat smelled a little musky. Think it will be good to eat?

Pull out a strap cook and eat it. Probably be ok.

Good question but an old one. It was asked back when I was growing up. Some thought that there was no reason to castrate young bulls. Others argued otherwise.

Thanks. I pulled some of the loin and will dry age it a bit and try it.

I can only imagine it will be better than any wild game you have ever had unless yall didn't take good care of the meat.

Why so?

I'd think letting it hang and age out would help.

I'm going to. We'll see.

I think feed and age has a lot to do with either.

If he had to chase it and was running prior to putting it down it may smell a bit funky. Animals on high adrenaline will have the hormones at high peak and will give off a musky smell.

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this and lots of latic acid in the blood and muscles if it was exerting a lot. Calm it can eat good on a bull that age.

Neighbor's dogs ran it the night before but he shot it the next morning so it had several hours to cool down. 23 degrees and he hung it and had it gutted quickly. We had it deboned and cooling by 5. Thanks for the input.

Let us know how it turns out.

That lactic acid can really put a bad taste in the meat if it was still built up when it was put down. That's assuming your not sure what happened between the time the dog was running it and when it was put down. It's most likely safe to eat. If the smell is from the lactic build up it may have an off flavor. Still safe to eat but you'll want to make things like stews,sausage, corned beef, or something like that. Basically heavily seasoned and/or slow cooked meats.Nothing you've said gives me any indication that the meat is not safe to eat. Plus if your saying the eat smelled a "little" musky you should be fine. If that's the case it may not even translate to the taste. Aging shouldn't be required and if it tastes off aging won't help but it is always better to age wither way. Just let it bleed out for a week or so. That's always the biggest factor to off flavors. I really think the meat is safe from the sound of it. You may just need to consider your cooking methods if it doesn't taste quite right. No reason to let it go to waist. You can always just cut a chunk off in a couple of days, sear it, and taste it. Let us know how it turns out.

Why in the world would this taste better than any game meat? I grew up cattle ranching and I'm very curious about that statement.

Just a general observation that beef I have cooked has a lot more fat has been more tender and more forgiving in cooking than any venison I have ever cooked.

I sure do love venison and eat a heck of a lot more of it than beef, but im sure there is a reason we raise beef cattle and not deer as livestock.

Yeah, taste is subjective. I prefer venison over beef any day though. There are a few instances where that is different. Like brisket and really high end steaks. I add some pork fat to my ground meat to. But given a normal prime ribeye or a backstrap I'm going to go backstrap every time. I just thought I was missing something on why this bull would taste better than any other game meat.

Remember at one time beef cattle were just as lean as deer. We selectively bred cattle to have the marbling they do today. It wasn't flavor that made us choose cattle. It was several factors like the amount of meat we can get from one animal, their hardiness and adaptability, when they came to america they were far more docile than deer, ease of being herded and farmed, and countless others reasons.

I understand and love a good venison steak. Sorry im taking that prime ribeye rare over a deer steak any day for flavor tender/juicy ness. Is the venison good, better for you, funt to acquire etc. sure as heck is, but as far as table fare the beef wins in my opinion every time.

Just like your post says, don't forget the beef has been selectively bread for hundreds of years. Could the same be done with deer? I guess I don't know, but it hasn't been with the deer we are talking about. They can both be made great table fare, but my opinion is that in their current condition the beef will likely be "better".

The suspense is killing me. I would have tried some of it by now. Slice off a tip of the tenderloin and chicken fry it. My grandpas owned an old fashion butcher shop. Me daddy sold him butchers steers. They were in the five to six hundred pound size. They were called baby beef. We could always slice off enough for at least one supper. What did you do with the liver and heart?.

Not yet. He ate some the night he killed it and said it was good. None of my compadres wanted the liver or heart. I've eaten a venison heart already this year and menudo once so I'm good until next November.
On the venison versus beef thing prime beef and a pan seared or grilled rare piece of venison backstrap from a doe. I'll take the venison every time.