Anyone smoke a deer neck roast?

FanOfFanboys

Deer neck roast. Rubbed better than beef bouillon then a dry rub. Going to smoke at 225-250

Think I'm going to make tacos out of this. Once pulled I'll hit with broiler for a minute

But do I cook like pulled pork? 207ish/probes like butter? 

Langner91

It is way leaner than a pork butt.  I'd wrap it in bacon for some moisture.  And even then, you might end up only eating the bacon.

shtgunal3

I haven’t done one but would love to hear/see how it turns out for you. Please take pics and keep us posted.

FanOfFanboys

It's getting close to done but don't have time to get other stuff ready. So my plan is to FTC, pull, and vacuum seal. I will some flavorings to the vacuum seal. Then tomorrow I'll reheat via sous vide 

I'll definitely take pics and report back if it's worth smoking or if should stick to the crock pot

fishlessman

I've had it in stroganoff.  Pretty good but I've never made it

Langner91

Dying to hear how it turned out!

Griffin

Waiting to see the results...

shtgunal3

^^^Agree^^^

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Langner91 said:

It is way leaner than a pork butt.  I'd wrap it in bacon for some moisture.  And even then, you might end up only eating the bacon.

This is unfortunately true. Deer is so much leaner and does not have all the intramuscular fat and connective tissue our porcine friends have that make them so tender and delicious. Best thing to do with venison roasts (besides grind them up and mix with beef fat for burgers) is get a little smoke on them and braise them to finish. A smoky braise in a dutch oven would be a nice way to do it.

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shtgunal3 said:

^^^Agree^^^

^^^^^^^me too!

alaskanassasin

It might be ok if it’s a young deer. Curious how it turned out, jerky would be a good fit.

FanOfFanboys

Well that wasn't very good lol. The dogs enjoyed it though

It was definitely too lean. I'll stick to the crock pot in the future. Worth trying, especially considering how easy that is to come across

Photo Egg

FanOfFanboys said:

Well that wasn't very good lol. The dogs enjoyed it though

It was definitely too lean. I'll stick to the crock pot in the future. Worth trying, especially considering how easy that is to come across

As they say in baseball…Beautiful Swing…
Never hit a ball if you don’t get the bat of your shoulder.

Langner91

I have posted my favorite pheasant/venison/wild game recipe here several times, but this thread reminds me that hunting season, and therefore, game eating is upon us.

Wrap game in Bacon.  Several layers depending on game size.  Just wrap it in bacon until you feel good.

Put bacon wrapped game in crockpot, fill with one bottle of beer, onions chopped, carrots chopped, potatoes quartered, salt, pepper, hot sauce, bbq sauce to taste.  Hell, just toss whatever you like in there.

Simmer on low all day while you work in the yard, watch football, or do whatever you like to do.

At supper time, remove bacon wrapped game from crock pot.  Take bacon off, throw away game and commence eating the bacon, onions, carrots and potatoes.

Nothing finer!

CornfedMA

My go to for neck and shoulder roasts is barbacoa. Hank Shaw has a killer recipe. Look it up. I’ve made it with everything- deer, elk, bear, geese, even beef. Never disappoints. 

alaskanassasin

Yeah I thought maybe it was bad you could thin slice and make a stir fry or fajitas something. My dogs have never had it that good.

shtgunal3

@CornfedMA thanks for recipe. I will definitely be trying that this season.

nolaegghead

How bad would venison have to taste to keep people from hunting deer?  It's all about the hunt, not so much the rewards you reap. Hell, I like a challenge, making venison palatable is just that.  There's nothing inherently bad about venison, it's just that we're jaded from our Western palates eating grain fed animals. 

My buddy harvested some alligator last week.  "Do you want some alligator meat?" he asked.   You can't give it away unless someone is making sausage.  I declined.   I would love to make some sausage with it but too much going on right now.

EGGjlmh

If deer tastes so bad acording to you guys then I wonder why anyone would ever have deer farms

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EGGjlmh said:

If deer tastes so bad acording to you guys then I wonder why anyone would ever have deer farms

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Yes. You are such a normal guy. 

alaskanassasin

I like deer, I grind it with beef fat.  My wife however does not so I don't hunt them anymore, because its hard to eat a whole deer for lunches.

Langner91

Venison is delicious.  Venison roasts are nearly always dry and chewy.  And Gamey.

When I hunted, I kept the back-straps (Tenderloins), some ground, and the rest I put into summer sausage.  

I like the ground better than beef when used in tacos, meat sauce, and chilli.  I think it takes on seasoning better than beef.

But, the lean-ness of it makes it very challenging to cook without drying out.

Of course, reading about a neck-roast triggers my childhood PTSD. My dear mother never met a piece of game that she couldn't dry out from overcooking.  Just like mushy vegetables and boiled potatoes, there are just some things we ate too much of growing up.  But, I would eat it again right now if she were here to fix it!

Fitfarms

We usually get 3-4 deer every year. We cut steaks and grind a lot make smokies and jerky. This is my latest cook. Back strap stuffed with mushrooms onions cream cheese seasoned wrapped in bacon smoked on the BGE  Amazing!!

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@Fitfarms that looks fantastic. We are about to be covered up in venison. We will make a ton of sausage but I do love the loin cuts/backstraps.