A Venison Experiment

[MacEggs]

First off, this was my very first time cooking venison .... So, "experiment" seemed appropriate.

I was gifted some venison a few weeks ago from my neighbour's son-in-law.  I was very thankful.

I decided to do some LNS (Low N Slow) for the beginning stage ... then a quick grilling job to finish.

I let these packages thaw for 48 hours in the fridge, then busted them open ...

I put a very light coating of EVOO, Kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper on each piece, then onto the smoker (mini UDS).












I maintained an average cooker temperature of 170℉ for about one hour ...
I checked the IT with my trusty Thermapen, and I got reading of 130℉ ......

Needless to say, I was not expecting that.

I immediately fired up a full "mini" Weber chimney of lump for the grilling stage.




Ready to come off the smoker and hit the grill.














I warmed up some store-bought Chimichurri sauce .... just-in-case ...

This was delicious!!  A lot of it was in the medium to medium-well stage ...

Some pieces were closer to med-rare or close.  I gotta say that I / We were very happy with the end results.

I still have some more packages remaining, so I hope to do an even better job next time. 

[5280Jeff]

Nice Job! Only venison I've had was in chili. The cook explained it was a very lean meat that needed some moisture added. Yours looks very moist in the pics.

[jamesnomore]

[/]

This! Get in my belly!

[1buckie]

Good Show, man !!!!!


That stuff can be tricky....I've gooned out & got it dry as few times......gotta watch it more carefully then beef, etc.

[MacEggs]

It is very lean.  I did not see any fat in these pieces.  Something I was not used to.  Almost gotta treat it like beef tenderloin.
I never buy BT, but the ones that I've cooked (purchased by others), have cooked fast.

[Mark Schnell]

The packages say venison steaks and venison chops. They look like the backstraps to me, which could fit both titles. That equates to the loin on a pig or cow. These are some of the tastiest parts from a deer too. Depending on the size of the deer it is pretty good hunk of meat. The tenderloins on a deer are pretty small but amazing when grilled up quickly.

I've harvested, butchered, grilled, and smoke loads of venison over the years. There are lots of factors that affect the taste of the meat, one of them is how quickly the deer dies. If it runs a long ways after dying or is not allowed to lay down and expire slowly, especially in bow hunting, then the deer produces adrenaline and that increases the gaminess quite a bit. Of course, just like beef, when it is completely bled and allowed to age for a while that helps too.

I love vension but was skunked this past season. I'm aching to have a good season coming up!! Congrats on getting this incredibly healthy meat!

[BBcue-Z]

Those look delicious!!
And perfectly cooked I may add
I wish I could find venison around here

[WNC]

Looks good, I'd saw nice job on your first experiment!

[tb80]

Looks great.  I have three deer in my freezer I will be eating on this next year.  I primarily just grill the steaks hot and fast to medium rare.