Venison

[Cheech]

OK...I got my Bradley Smoker for Christmas.  I made some rookie mistakes, learned from them, and now have a success story.  My first smoke was a pair of chickens.  After I put them on the smoker I remembered that I had two tenderloin from a deer I had shot a few days earlier.  These were fresh...never frozen.  I threw them on with the birds and they came out perfect.  They were melt-in-your-mouth tender and had just the sweetest flavor you ever laid a taste bud on.  I was blown away.

It went so well that I invited the in-laws over the next weekend for smoked backstrap.  I warned them that I was still new at this and that I had no idea how it might turn out.  Good thing I warned them because I scorched those backstraps.  They were so dry I doubt the dog would have eaten them.

I came back to the forum to get some advice.  I was advised to get a wireless meat thermometer, which I did...immediately. 

Last week I smoked another venison roast.  I marinated it overnight in italian dressing, wrapped the whole thing in bacon, and cooked to an internal temp of 135 degrees...with smoke rolling for 3 hours.  It came out great.  It was a bit rare for my wife's liking but the cavemen in the house demolished it with great enthusiasm.  It was really good.  I vowed that the next time I would bump up the temp to 145 and see how that worked.

Today I had another go-round with the venison.  I used the same process as last time, but today I took it to 145 degrees internal.  Once again I was rewarded with a sweet-smokey-warm-velvety-melt-in-your-mouth-and-getthehelloutoftown flavor.  Eyeballs rolled back in their sockets, normally talkative mouths were reduced to "mmmmmmmmm", it was perfect. 

My timeline has been:  The first time I cooked it perfectly on accident.  The second time I burned it on accident.  The third time it was great but a bit rare for my wife.  Today I nailed it right on the head.

I thought I'd post this for the folks who wonder about cooking venison.  I've been cooking them for 20 years but have just now started really using a smoker on them.  These roasts took about 3 hours to reach 145 internal temp.  I have a Bradley Digital 6 rack Smoker and I think I had the temp set on 200.  I used a Maverick ET733 (2 probe) to monitor the temp.  My cook box temp ranged from 189 to 217 degrees throughout the process.  It would wander up and down but the ability to monitor it is a huge advantage.

So if you like your roast a little on the rare side then 135 degrees should work.  If you like it like the picture above then you should go to 145 degrees.  That's about perfect for me so I don't think I'll go any higher. 

These roasts were taken from the rear leg of the animal.  There are four distinct "roasts" on the hind quarter.  In my part of the world (MS/TN/AL) these will generally be around 1.5 to 3 lbs each (deboned) depending on the size and sex of the animal.  If you cook a whole ham/hindquarter with the bone-in I imagine it would take a great deal longer than the 3 hours I noted above.  I'll be doing a whole ham later this year and will update with notes after I do so.

A picture is below.  Sadly a picture is only worth a thousand words, because it would take a million to properly express how great this was.


venison by scarfam, on Flickr

[Saber 4]

That roast looks great and I'm glad you've gotten your smoker dialed in better. Soon you'll be doing cheeses, bacons, and sausages.

[Cheech]

Bacon is on the radar.  I already have the stuff I need to make it...just need to find the pork belly.  That's the last ingredient!

[Saber 4]

Bacon is on the radar.  I already have the stuff I need to make it...just need to find the pork belly.  That's the last ingredient!

If you can't find belly you can always use pork shoulder and make hillbilly or buckboard bacon.