Well I'm back again, sorta....been a crazy past few months. A broken smoker, frigid weather not allowing me to smoke, rescued a new puppy, the list is endless but I'm healthy and have more to not complain about that I do so I'm just going to consider myself lucky. ANYWAYS....
I've been tasked on doing food for the family again for the holidays (SURPRISE). The plan is since I have to work Easter weekend (and no I cannot go out for trout opening day >:( ) is that they wanted 2 turkey breasts and a deer hind quarter (bone in). My plan was to brine the turkey breasts on Sunday and let them rest Monday, smoke and complete them on Tuesday or even Wednesday and then put them in the fridge and re-heat on Sunday morning. That is safe correct????
More importantly is the deer that I have. Its about 8-10 lbs right now but it's frozen. I was thinking of using the WSM for this one since it is still colder out and I have an easier way of regulating the heat increase or decrease. Plus I want the charcoal taste of this as well. My questions are how can I cook/smoke this. DO I basically do this like a brisket. WHat should I rub this down with? SHould I use a traditional pork shoulder or brisket rub or should I try something different that is less overpowering since it is a cut of deer? What IT should I cook this to? Since it is lean there won't be much fat on this so it will cook different. WHen finished I will probably slice or pull depending on how it turns out and re-heat in a crock for Sunday. ANy help with this since I have never did a large piece of deer would be much appreciated.
Other than that I hope everyone is well and it's good to be back.
ALSO....still waiting for someone to tell me how to get those "BLACK SMOKEY STICKS" with that rich dark black color!!!!!!!!
John
Black abgus meat I think was mentioned
that's got to be the reason, thanks for the clarification :o :o :o :o
I been working on that one from nepas for awhile
let me know when you get it.
HAH
Are the turkey breast still frozen? If so, and if you can, you should push the dates back a couple of days. Such as brine them on Tuesday, and smoke/cook on Thursday or Friday?
Although what you have planned should be alright, it does border on how long to keep cooked poultry in the refrigerator. Changing your timeline would be a little safer?
the turkey breasts are still frozen the only problem I was having was that I am only off on Tuesday into Wednesday and I work Wednesday all the way until Sunday morning (I work 3rd shift) I guess I can always wake up earlier on Thursday or Friday and smoke and then SRG them. If I remember when I did them last time for Thanksgiving it only took a total of 4 hours each to smoke and SRG the breasts.
As for the deer I have no idea what I am going to do with that. I'm still leaning towards smoking and cooking it, slicing and perhaps freezing and then crock potting it on Sunday to keep it safe. Other than that I am stumped. I hate doing these smokes in bits and pieces.
Any help or insight (esp with the deer roast would be appreciated) I have searched and basically its a smoke and slow cook at 200 degrees til it gets to an IT of 140-145. Also from what I am reading that doesnt take long either.
John
John if you had more time I would say to brine and cure the venison like a ham. Thinking you dont have a spare 36 hours to smoke the ham though
With your work schedule, you should stick with your original plan. I can't make any suggestions on the deer, since I rarely cook venison.
I throw a couple of BBQ's a year, and the only way I can do it is in bits and pieces. In the end it all comes together, and their is less pressure on the day of the event. If something goes wrong while you are preparing something a day or two ahead, you have time to repair things. :) Be sure to make a list and timeline of everything that needs to be done, so you can check off what is done, and what still needs to be completed.
Use deer in any thing you would use beef in. Only differance figure it at 0% fat and we add 10%-20% pork fat too it. Its a milder fat and better then beef in my opionon. Makes great sausage, ham or bacon. I frees in different amounts that i need for things. Just made a great italian fresh sausage and a spicy breakfast one too.
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Consooger, I'm highly interested on how you work the deer leg and results. That thing is lean and I've never attempted o cook whole. Take pics and I hope you have a great meal!
As of now I have it marinading in a nice mixture that I made and will have t set overnight. I'm going to cut some holes in it and pus a few garlic cloves in it. Pull it and sprinkle it with some salt and pepper and throw some bacon on it and let her ride.
I will post pictures tomorrow/Wednesday when I have time.
Quote from: Consooger on March 25, 2013, 03:15:04 AM
As of now I have it marinading in a nice mixture that I made and will have t set overnight. I'm going to cut some holes in it and pus a few garlic cloves in it. Pull it and sprinkle it with some salt and pepper and throw some bacon on it and let her ride.
I think you'll be fine. Never done a bone-in, but I marinade over night, then smoke/cook @230 'til an IT of 145 - 150. A 3 lb roast takes about 3 hrs. After FTC, I chill it usually over night, then slice it thin and warm it in a little beef broth in a crock pot.
And here we are. Did a lot of smoking and all turned out awesome.
2 deer hind quarters sitting in the magical juice
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer001-1_zps00a05fef.jpg)
Rollin with some hickory
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer002_zpsb067787b.jpg)
Threw 3 Sam Adams Boston Lager in the water pan for moisture
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer003_zps534d7bea.jpg)
Can I get any more gadgets that tell me my temps? This iGrill thing rocks by the way!
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer005_zpsca633a89.jpg)
temps set where I need them to be, now time to add the treats
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer004-1_zps3dfdb9fd.jpg)
Also had some ribs thrown on for dinner. Rubber down with John Henry's pecan and mustard
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer006_zps4671e44e.jpg)
Also got some teriyaki jerky going for trout camp as well.
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer007_zpsc7ce6c8d.jpg)
Glazed them a lil with some BBQ sauce
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer008_zps94340c84.jpg)
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer009_zps01e14ca6.jpg)
Honey/Butter/brown sugar combo
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer013_zps81756ca2.jpg)
Ribs out of the foil and 30 mins to get a lil crispy
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer016_zpsace4dba2.jpg)
Gave some to the MIL/FIL and they loved them
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer017_zpsc76e31b6.jpg)
Now I was going to wrap the hinds with bacon to keep them moist but with the beer in the pan and the ribs dripping on the hinds I fiigured I would be ok. I kept the ribs on the top rack and the hinds on the bottom rack. Was shooting for an IT of 145-150.
AND HERE WE ARE!!!!!!!!
first quarter
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer014_zps1c4fe5aa.jpg)
second quarter
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer015_zps91fec46f.jpg)
Gonna foil both and then throw in the fridge overnight. I will slice the next day.
The next day, unwrapped and out of the fridge.
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer018_zps4b47fd08.jpg)
First quarter all aliced up
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer019_zpsaca3d3c9.jpg)
Second quarter
(http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg129/Consooger/deer020_zpsc62b4129.jpg)
And with that they are all sliced up and sitting in their own juices. I will make a thin au jus/broth to put this in on Easter Sunday. I am going to place all the meat in a crock pot and keep on low heat. I do not want to dry the meat out.
And with that being said, the combination of the meat, the marinade I made, the hickory and charcoal this is BY FAR the best piece of meat I have ever tasted in my life, HANDS DOWN. Just turned out absolutely delicious. I do not want to see what happens to this come Sunday. It will not last long.
As for the turkey's got one breast brining and will brine the other one tomorrow.
More to come on that later this week/weekend.
CHEERS!!!!!
John
Everything looks great! That deer looks amazing! What IT did you pull it?
Ah, saw 145-150 after my post. Great work!
Well at a loss for words other then Fantastic!
How's that BBQ guru performing on your WSM?
Quote from: STLstyle on March 28, 2013, 02:10:39 PM
How's that BBQ guru performing on your WSM?
The Guru works awesome, a little pricey but it was worth every cent. Gonna get the adaptor for it so I can hook it up to the bradley and I will be all set.
The venison looks really good. I may have missed one of your earlier post, but what did you finally decide on for the blower adapter.
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on March 29, 2013, 01:29:52 AM
The venison looks really good. I may have missed one of your earlier post, but what did you finally decide on for the blower adapter.
Habs to be honest I havent even gotten to talk to my FIL to see if he could construct one for me. I am using the adaptor that came with the unit but. I remember you and I speaking a while about this. What was the name of the other company/website that had the adapter that fit right over the outside? We were both talking about this and I can't seem to find the site.
The site is Rock's Bar-B-Que (https://www.rocksbarbque.com/). They make the Stoker temperature controller.
Here is the link to their Blower Adapters (https://www.rocksbarbque.com/10cfmAdapters.html). Also check the support area. There are some useful videos there.
Awesome, thanks again!
Consooger , down here in Ms. we are blessed with plenty of deer. I hunt right out back of my house. We have commercial deer processing shops on every corner and most do a great job. I am in my sixties and grew up hunting and processing our own venison. No way will I pay $300.00 and up to have mine processed.
Anyway years ago I was asked to smoke two hind quarters for a church function. I had never done one and it was cold outside in the twenties. Not wanting to use the charcoal grill, I headed to Walmart to see what I could find. Well being December they had no grilling equipment out yet. After stopping at another Walmart, I found a Brinkman Electric Gourmet Dome Smoker on the top shelf, after talking to the lady in the garden center I was told she had heard of no complaints about them. But was not sure if it would get hot enough with the temperature being in the twenties. Well this was Saturday, and I had to get busy. I paid 49.00 at that time and headed home, got it put together. Being in the dark on how to treat the hind quarter I had to just wing it and hope for the best. I used a paring knife to cut small holes in them and plugged the holes with bacon and garlic, coated them with Zatarans cajun season, filled the water pan with apple cider and threw two onions in the pan. Piled hickory chunks on the element and plugged it in. It was 6:00 PM and I had no idea what to expect. About thirty minutes later, that thing was smoking like a freight train. At 10:00 PM, I added more hickory and decided I had done all I could. If the good Lord wanted these folks to have smoked venison in the morning, then he was gonna have to take over from here.
Well I must admit he did a fantastic job. At seven Sunday morning I went out and touched the dome and was surprised to find it hot. Removed the lid, looked up to the sky and said Lord Thank You Jesus. What I found was two hind quarters, pulling off the bone and with such flavor, they would make you slap yo mama. I have done hundreds for folks since that day and never a complaint. I have used many recipe variations, but always use the gourmet smoker for hind quarters. Have three at present and still are reasonably priced. I have found that I like to fry my bacon and inject the grease directly into the meat. Never taken IT, just smoke them twelve to thirteen hours, and always perfect results. Sorry for rambling lol. Just rethinking some great old memories.
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I honestly don't think I will ever look at any other roast other than venison the same way. I cannot wait to try other variations. Sounds like you got the whole venison thing down pat.
Consooger,
Just like Forest Gumps shrimp, there are a thousand ways to prepare venison. We harvest enough each winter, to last us the year. In our house we don't eat much beef, other than Rib Eyes. Other than pork, venison is our main meat diet. When prepared properly it is fantastic. For the one's who say they don't care for it, they most likely have never had it prepared right. I have had my share of that from folks who have no idea how to cook venison. Being such a lean meat, a lot of folks will over cook. As for whole smoked hind quarters, you can't go wrong. I just have never figured out how to make one last more than a day in our house. Lol. Have a Blessed Easter.
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Nice looking ribs and venison.