Question for you deer smokers

daninnewjersey

daninnewjersey

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Buddy of mine asked me to smoke this deer hind quarter....or whatever you call this piece. It's maybe 12-15 pounds....give or take....and I DON'T want to mess it up. The only deer I've ever smoked were some ribs which I thought came out like sh*t but my buddy loved them. Anyway....please help the New Jersey boy have a good cook....I'd appreciate it....
 
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Looks like a good hunk-a-meat, I'd smoke it to about 140 IT, probably inject with apple juice first, good luck..
 
With a lean meat like venison, it's important not to over-cook. 140 degree mentioned above is a good target
 
I debone and clean as much silverskin as possable. Soak over night in apple juice. Than puncture it in multiple places and plug with bacon and garlic or whatever other spices you want. Wrap the entire thing in bacon and cook around 275 till internal temp of 160. Some go higher on IT and some lower thats just my personal preference. Venison is extremely lean so you need the bacon to help keep it moist or you will end up with jerky.
 
Get all that silver skin/ anything that looks like fat off, it will be terrible if you dont. Keep it as rare as you are comfortable will, it wont forgive you like a pork butt.
 
I prefer to break it down into individual boneless roasts. If you follow the creases where the muscles meet you will end up with a top round, bottom round, eye of round, and sirloin roasts. The bottom round resembles a brisket flat in appearance and is delicious when smoked and sliced medium rare.






You can brine the sirloin roast and cook it to med rare as well, then slice super thin, and serve with horseradish sauce.

Here is a great picture tutorial on how to break it down.
http://www.nefga.org/forum/showthre...oning-a-Deer-Step-by-Step-Guide-with-Pictures
 
That is a hindquarter. If you are going for med-rare I would not smoke to 140. Once you take it off your smoker and let it rest the internal temp will rise 10 to 15 degrees before the temp settles, i.e., it is still cooking! Cook to an internal temp of 120-125, pull it, and let it rest on your counter top for 20 minutes before any slicing. Also, I agree with Todd. I break the hindquarter down into its roasts. It is a lot easier to deal with and super easy to do. Just follow the seams of the big muscles and you can't really fark it up. A whole hindquarter is going to be quite a bit of meat and reheating any left overs will be more cooking, thus no more med rare....plus you can make four or more big dinners out of it.
 
I agree with going med-rare. Just like the others have said, remove the outer silver skin and fat.
Here's a front leg cook..

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137602

I like to marinade overnight, then sprinkle with dry rub and smoke, basting every 30 minutes or so.


Good luck with what ever you do! Aim on cooking it on the pink side and you'll be OK. :-D
 
Not sure what his intent is but if he is feeding a big crowd there is an alternative and that is to smoke till 160 and then add your favorite beef sauce, cover and braise until you can reach in a pull the leg bone out. The meat will shred easy and you can mix it in will all of the juices/sauce and eat it on buns like pulled pork. This way is a lot more forgiving and it tastes great. Everyone is correct about it drying out but if you use a braising liquid and rehydrate the pulled meat it is delicious. BAsically, cook to medium rare or to pulling temps, anything in between is not recommended.
 
ShencoSmoke said:
Not sure what his intent is but if he is feeding a big crowd there is an alternative and that is to smoke till 160 and then add your favorite beef sauce, cover and braise until you can reach in a pull the leg bone out. The meat will shred easy and you can mix it in will all of the juices/sauce and eat it on buns like pulled pork. This way is a lot more forgiving and it tastes great. Everyone is correct about it drying out but if you use a braising liquid and rehydrate the pulled meat it is delicious. BAsically, cook to medium rare or to pulling temps, anything in between is not recommended.
Click to expand...
THIS.. is another great option. I have slow smoked then panned and foiled hind quarters till they finally give and they will pull similar to a butt.. Liquid is key as shencosmoke says though..
 
Brother I wish you well. I hunted deer in the Texas hill country for about 11 years. Always harvesting 4-5 deer. Sometimes more when the ranch had MLD doe permits. I had zero luck smoking, zero. I could start with smoke then move to a covered pan with onions garlic bacon and t-bone trimmings. I became an expert at kbobs and chicken fried steaks with deer meat.

That's a brutal piece of meat to learn on. It can definitely be done and done in spectacular fashion. I, Just couldn't get the hang of it.
 
ShencoSmoke said:
Not sure what his intent is but if he is feeding a big crowd there is an alternative and that is to smoke till 160 and then add your favorite beef sauce, cover and braise until you can reach in a pull the leg bone out. The meat will shred easy and you can mix it in will all of the juices/sauce and eat it on buns like pulled pork. This way is a lot more forgiving and it tastes great. Everyone is correct about it drying out but if you use a braising liquid and rehydrate the pulled meat it is delicious. BAsically, cook to medium rare or to pulling temps, anything in between is not recommended.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more with this post. Both ways are very good. For crowds I like the smoke, braise, pull, add liquid back, method. The problem with going medium rare is that it may not be what some prefer. It would be like having steaks at a party and not being able to cook to order.
 
The round roast on the under side of the leg bone is great for the, dare I say, crockpot. So that being said I don't see why you couldn't smoke for awhile then braise and make great pulled/shredded sandwiches. Matter of fact I just talked myself into trying that the next time I get me a deer.
 
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