Venison shoulder pulled BBQ

ng30345

Smoked a venison shoulder and got it to pull apart. It was pretty good. Had never done it before and wouldn't have known how without this forum.

Covered with bacon. Followed the Elder Ward form of stacking charcoal. Got the meat over 195 degrees and it worked. Was a bit dry and I had to cut off a bit of the tough outer parts. I'll do a hind quarter next.

It was suggested that next time I should boil it for an hour before smoking to keep it moist. Anyone tried that?

Austin Smoker

I just think you're gonna have a tough time getting any venison to "pull" like pork...just too lean. Maybe if you put it in a DO with a bunch of fat of some kind?

Misippi Egger

What about injecting it with a butter-type injector solution before cooking?

Or brining?

DrZaius

Brining would be my first choice. Works well with other lean game meat.

Unknown

We eat a lot of venison. On the grill it seems to work best as backstraps, tenderloins, or steaks rubbed with olive oil and seasoned and sitting for an hour or so at rooom temperature. Then grill hot and fast and rare, just a few minutes per side, and let sit to rest 10 minutes or so before serving. Please serve it rare or it will be chewy and not near as tasty. For falling apart venison you should cut it into stewing pieces, brown it and cook it long and slow with onions and red wine (that you would like to drink - not crummy wine) for a few hours, then add vegetables and cook some more. Don't let it dry, add water as necessary.

I've had really good salt cured and smoked venison that can be sliced thin (like dried beef). I've only had my BGE since xmas and haven't tried smoking anything yet.

Venison should also be aged properly if you really want some quality meat. That doesn't mean hanging it in the back yard or in the garage until you feel like dealing with it.

ng30345

Aging is crucial, yes. And I don't know why I didn't think of brining it first. Good idea.

One thing I know for sure is that venison can be smoked to a point of pulling apart. It's not quite the same softness as pork, but it can be done. For those of you who may have gone to GA Southern Univ, you will be familiar w/ Vandys BBQ restaurant. Way back in the day, if you brought them a large venison hind quarter, they'd smoke it for you. You'd pick it up 2 days later and you could pull it apart and/or chop it up. Tasted fantastic.

Here's a question. When I would pick my venison up from them, it would be in a large paper grocery bag. The bag had obviously been involved in the smoking process b/c it would be covered in an oily, smoky residue. Does anyone know at what point in the smoking process they would have put it into a paper bag?