Venison HindQuarter

Charcoal Mike

Hi all -[p]Took the remnants of my first Boston Butt into the office on Monday, along with the homemade sauce from GFW's website, slaw, and 16 hamburger buns for sandwiches. Nearly got a standing ovation - man was that good stuff. Thank you to Nature Boy and the others for helping me along.[p]Anyway, one of the folks there at my office is a big hunter, and has a couple of Venison hindquarters he would like to have smoked. Anyone have any pointers for doing one of these? What type of rub, marinade, etc? I know it needs to start with as little fat as possible, else the fat will soak in and give it a really gamey taste. Was thinking about just laying several strips of bacon over the meat. His guesstimate is that they are between 10-12 pounds.[p]As always, thank you for any feedback![p]- Mike

Marvin

Charcoal Mike,

Marvin

Charcoal Mike,
I've cooked a lot of venison, but the only slow cooking is by braising. Otherwise, fast and hot is the safest way to good taste without drying out the meat. On the other hand, I have cooked lean briskets for 10 hours with a good flavor and minimal dryness. We get our beef from a Virginia farm: no grain, no antibiotics and no hormones; just good, lean beef - with a fat content as low as turkey breast. Adding enough bacon for that size portion, IMO, well alter the flavor too much. If anyone has a different take, I'd like to learn also.
Regards,
Marvin

djm5x9

<p />Charcoal Mike:[p]I was once told that venison gets a "gamey" taste if it is taken all over the county to show off to folks instead of being properly processed. Never had that taste problem . . .[p]I would marinate overnight in Italian dressing with more garlic and lemon if it suits you. Lean cuts like this are better grilled like you would lamb - 300º/350º direct for a medium internal. Pictured is a venison rib roast. This link shows it marinating. http://djm5x9.home.mindspring.com/venisonribroast1.jpg Notice the cuts at the spine to ease separation at the ribs.

Rex

Charcoal Mike,
I agree with the above. Low and slow cooks need meat with high fat content to keep it moist. I've cooked a fair amount of venison and usually do it medium rare over high heat.[p]I had one hind leg someone cooked using moist heat, done like a pot roast. It was delicious. The key here was using low heat in a closed container with water and vegetables inside. The enclosed steam tenderized and kept it moist. I don't think it would work in an egg.[p]Venison has some similarities to lamb. One of my favorite recipes is based on a lamb shish-kabob, substituting venison leg chunks. If you have a recipe that works for leg of lamb, it might turn out well for leg of venison.[p]Regards.

DTM

Charcoal Mike,
Well I've lived on venison, elk, moose, etc since Meriwether Lewis kicked me off the expedition in '02 for drinking too much.
Anyway venison is different duck, from beef or pork. The best hinquarter recipe I have done is a Big Bob Gibson's of Alabama BBQ fame; modified.[p]Venison hind
olive oil
smashed garlic and onion
a little salt
a lot of pepper[p]Cut and trim fat and silver skin.
Power rub the above into every crease
and muscle union you can.[p]Smoke at 225-250 for 3 maybe 4 hours.
Take off and rough slice/chunk into
pieces 1/2 to 3/4 in thick.
Rub on more oil mix.
Plop in a foil pan.
Smother with your best sauce.
Plenty of braising liquid.
Cover the pan w/ more foil
and back on @ same temp for another 4-5
hours.
Taste for dryness and cut the chunks smaller
and cook awhile more if so.
Sandwich up.
Let us know what you do.
DTM

Charcoal Mike

DTM,
That sounds perfect. I'll be sure to keep you posted.[p]Thank you all![p]- Mike

MAC

djm5x9,
That picture is suitable for framing. Best piece of deer I have seen in a while. I would like that along with the pic of Nature Boy's New Your Strips. Eatable Art.

Nature Boy

<p />MAC,
That is some fine lookin' deer. And thanks. Here is that shot, to be used in combo with Darryl's photo, to help you to get geared up for lunch![p]BTW, these are fat strips of Top Sirloin.
Later!
NB

Cornfed

Nature Boy,[p]My official position has always been that these steaks and djm's bacon wrapped scallops were my favorite BGE food pics. It's hard to take such a stance, though, when people keep turning out such amazing shots, like djm's deer a few posts up...[p]Later,
Cornfed

Nature Boy

Cornfed,
djm has a wide variety of righteous food photos. The scallops are certainly up there. But the frog legs, rabbit, pizza, quails and many more djm5x9 direct heat wonders always get the Pavlov's Dog action working. BING![p]Break out the drool buckets.
Beers
NB

Cornfed

Nature Boy,[p]It's kinda funny how we remember all of these shots like many people remember sports stats. Anyone want to join a fantasy BBQ league???[p]Later,
Cornfed

djm5x9

<p />Nature Boy:[p]Thanks guys . . . Did a couple of racks of lamb Monday and had some left overs for lunch today and thought I would share the picture. If you can get them with the meat between the ribs so much the better.

Grumpa

djm5x9,[p]That looks like a killer lunch. Thanks for sharing and making me hungry on a day I could not get away to eat :~([p]