Buffalo Meat Tips

Buffalo meat is similar to beef but is different in some very important ways. It needs to be cooked differently to ensure it doesn’t become tough. To do this, the most important things are to not overcook and to not dry out the meat. You can cook buffalo meat to the same level of rarity or well-doneness that you prefer beef be cooked, but you need to take more time to do that. For example, if you want your buffalo meat well-done, you should cook it at a low temperature (e.g. 180–200° F) for 10+ hours. Slow cooking works well for the less tender cuts. It is best to cook buffalo meat to a medium doneness at a medium heat to avoid drying the meat out.

The good news is that you can substitute ground buffalo meat for ground beef in most recipes, but because buffalo contains very little fat, it is imperative that you not cook too hot or too quickly, or the moisture will all evaporate. This also means you end a recipe with roughly the same amount of meat you started with raw: not much evaporates, so there is very little reduction.

Though buffalo can be substituted easily for beef, it has its own unique flavoring. If you are a novice to cooking with buffalo meat, try cooking it on its own first. It needs little extra seasoning, and you can cut out more calories from your dish by using fewer condiments and sauces without necessarily sacrificing any taste.