Deer Steaks

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  • mumfrey

    Active Member
    Nov 16, 2017
    662
    Northern Balt Co
    Smoked Venison Ribs

    Sorry to hijack the steak thread but don’t forget the ribs. I don’t hunt, and I’ve never butchered a deer, but I understand most people don’t use the ribs because they are a pain, BIG MISTAKE. Every year I get some venison ribs to smoke for a friend and I like them better than pork ribs.

    If you want to try venison ribs, when butchering, keep the area of meat on the ribs between the skin and rib bones. This gives the ribs more meat as the ribs themselves are meat slim.

    We all know venison dries out easily, so brining overnight before the smoke is crucial. My brine is 1 gallon of water, 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup Worcestershire, 2 TBSP crushed pepper corns and 1 TBSP of fresh or dry rosemary, juniper berries, bay leaves, savory, marjoram in any combination.

    2 hours before smoking, remove the ribs from the brine and dry well. Give the ribs a nice slather of ghee (some people use butter or bacon fat, but ghee is healthier and gives a nicer flavor profile) and rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper. I don’t use sugars in the rub as I prefer a savory bark on these ribs but use whatever you like.

    Smoke at 225-250* for 2 – 2.5 hours until the color is right. Make sure you don’t have a dirty smoke as I have ruined venison ribs when the smoke isn’t clean. You can’t just run to the store to replace a rack of venison ribs. I use a small fist chunk of pecan and a small fist chunk of oak with the bark removed. Depending on what smoker you use, you may need to add more wood.

    Place ribs cupped side up on a sheet of heavy aluminum foil, add 2 TBSP of ghee and spritz well with apple juice and wrap. Cook wrapped ribs an additional 2 - 2.5 hours until the meat is tender. Once ribs are done, I’ll let them set, still wrapped, for an hour before devouring.

    Never had the ribs. Your instructions have made me quite hungry for some.
     

    HogCommander

    Active Member
    Aug 10, 2013
    411
    Texas Hill Country
    Here's a fresh backstrap steak my buddy cooked at deer camp this year. Seasoned with just salt and pepper, seared in a super hot skillet with lots of butter for about 45-60 seconds per side, then transferred to another skillet with butter on medium heat. Cooking in butter produced an amazing crust! Don't remember how long it took once on medium heat but basically cooked until the steak just barely started to firm up. The result was medium rare awesomeness!

    KmfL66B.jpg
     

    mumfrey

    Active Member
    Nov 16, 2017
    662
    Northern Balt Co
    Here's a fresh backstrap steak my buddy cooked at deer camp this year. Seasoned with just salt and pepper, seared in a super hot skillet with lots of butter for about 45-60 seconds per side, then transferred to another skillet with butter on medium heat. Cooking in butter produced an amazing crust! Don't remember how long it took once on medium heat but basically cooked until the steak just barely started to firm up. The result was medium rare awesomeness!

    KmfL66B.jpg

    AND paired with a Stone IPA? Yes, please...
     

    CSHS

    Active Member
    Apr 21, 2015
    197
    I've eaten venison all my life. It can be hard to cook. Steaks have to be rare or they're tough. What may taste good to you, a lot of people won't like. I get the tenderloins, backstraps, a couple roasts, and the rest burger. Below are winner recipes that everyone will like. My advice, cube or grind the steaks and use in some of them.

    Venison Stew
    1 to 2 pounds venison, cut up in cubes
    2 packages onion soup mix
    1 32 oz package Beef broth
    6-8 potatoes, cubed
    2 onions, sliced
    2 packages sliced mushrooms
    1 cup red wine
    2 Tbsp Worchester sauce
    1 tsp garlic salt
    Sauté mushrooms and onions in oil
    Season meat with Lawry's, lightly brown in oil
    Combine all in crock pot for 7 1/2 to 8 hrs on low
    Near the end, turn to high to get to a simmer. Thicken with flour/water roux

    Venison Stroganoff
    1 to 2 ponds venison, cut into cubes
    Salt and pepper to taste
    Garlic powder to taste
    2 onions, chopped
    2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1 can skim milk
    1 (12 oz) package egg noodles
    1 package (8 oz) sour cream
    1 or 2 packages sliced mushrooms
    Soup and milk in crock pot.
    Season venison with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Sauté onion in skillet: when soft, add venison and brown. Drain and add to crock pot.
    Sauté mushrooms, add to crock pot. 5-6 hrs on low. Stir occasionally.
    Cook noodles in lightly salted water.
    When noodles are almost done cooking, stir sour cream into meat mixture. Pour meat mixture over noodles and serve.

    Venison Meatloaf
    1 lb ground venison
    1 egg
    1 (4 ounce) packet saltine crackers, finely crushed
    1/4 cup barbecue sauce
    1/2 cup onion, chopped
    1/2 Teaspoon dried sage
    1/2 Teaspoon steak seasoning (A-1)
    2 Tablespoons brown sugar
    2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
    3 slices bacon
    Gravy: Heinz Homestyle Savory Beef or Mushroom
    Preheat oven to 350˚
    Mix the venison, egg, cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, onion, sage, steak seasoning, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce in a mixing bowl with your hands until evenly combined. Pack into a 3x7-inch loaf pan and lay the bacon strips over top.
    Bake 60 minutes, the bacon should be crispy. A thermometer inserted into the center should read approx 160˚. Serve with gravy and mashed potatoes or stuffing.

    Venison Bacon Burgers
    1 lb ground venison
    4 slices bacon
    1 Teaspoon garlic salt
    1 onion, minced
    1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    1 egg
    4 hamburger buns
    Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned and crispy. Remove and crumble. Sauté onion in bacon grease. Pour onions and grease into a bowl and allow to cool.
    Once cool, mix in venison, bacon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and egg until evenly combined. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before grilling.

    Venison Stir Fry
    1 Pound or so of venison tenderloin (backstrap)
    Bottle Stir Fry Sauce
    Bottle Szechuan sauce or General Tso's sauce
    Bag of frozen stir fry vegetables or 1 onion and 3 peppers (red/yellow/orange, no green) cut up.
    Lawry's season salt
    2-3 cups (after cooking) white rice or 1 package Lo Mein noodles
    1/2 cup Cocktail peanuts or cashews if desired.
    Slice venison about 3/8" thick, season with Lawry's seasoned salt. In a pan of hot oil, lightly browned the venison on both sides. Put in a meatloaf pan and pour stir fry sauce on the layers. Cover with foil, in the oven for 2 hrs at 300˚
    Sauté the onions and peppers in vegetable oil
    Cut the venison into bite-sized pieces
    Drain the oil, in a hot pan add rice or Lo Mein noodles (previously cooked), the meat, a little water and about 1/3 bottle each (more to taste/coat) of the stir fry sauce and Szechuan/Tso's. Mix until hot and all ingredients are coated with sauce.
    Cocktail peanuts or cashews added in the last few minutes if desired.

    New Favorite: Venison Queso Dip
    1 pound venison burger
    1 package taco seasoning
    1 32-ounce block original Velveeta cheese
    1 can original Rotell
    1 can hot Rotell
    Cook the venison into taco meat per the seasoning packet's directions. Slowly melt in Velveeta, add can original Rotell (undrained) plus 1/2 can hot Rotell. Try the queso, if you want it spicier, add the rest of the can. Serve with tortilla chips or Fritos.
     
    Last edited:

    mumfrey

    Active Member
    Nov 16, 2017
    662
    Northern Balt Co
    I've eaten venison all my life. It can be hard to cook. Steaks have to be rare or they're tough. What may taste good to you, a lot of people won't like. I get the tenderloins, backstraps, a couple roasts, and the rest burger. Below are winner recipes that everyone will like. My advice, cube or grind the steaks and use in some of them.

    Venison Stew
    1 to 2 pounds venison, cut up in cubes
    2 packages onion soup mix
    1 32 oz package Beef broth
    6-8 potatoes, cubed
    2 onions, sliced
    2 packages sliced mushrooms
    1 cup red wine
    2 Tbsp Worchester sauce
    1 tsp garlic salt
    Sauté mushrooms and onions in oil
    Season meat with Lawry's, lightly brown in oil
    Combine all in crock pot for 7 1/2 to 8 hrs on low
    Near the end, turn to high to get to a simmer. Thicken with flour/water roux

    Venison Stroganoff
    1 to 2 ponds venison, cut into cubes
    Salt and pepper to taste
    Garlic powder to taste
    2 onions, chopped
    2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1 can skim milk
    1 (12 oz) package egg noodles
    1 package (8 oz) sour cream
    1 or 2 packages sliced mushrooms
    Soup and milk in crock pot.
    Season venison with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Sauté onion in skillet: when soft, add venison and brown. Drain and add to crock pot.
    Sauté mushrooms, add to crock pot. 5-6 hrs on low. Stir occasionally.
    Cook noodles in lightly salted water.
    When noodles are almost done cooking, stir sour cream into meat mixture. Pour meat mixture over noodles and serve.

    Venison Meatloaf
    1 lb ground venison
    1 egg
    1 (4 ounce) packet saltine crackers, finely crushed
    1/4 cup barbecue sauce
    1/2 cup onion, chopped
    1/2 Teaspoon dried sage
    1/2 Teaspoon steak seasoning (A-1)
    2 Tablespoons brown sugar
    2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
    3 slices bacon
    Gravy: Heinz Homestyle Savory Beef or Mushroom
    Preheat oven to 350˚
    Mix the venison, egg, cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, onion, sage, steak seasoning, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce in a mixing bowl with your hands until evenly combined. Pack into a 3x7-inch loaf pan and lay the bacon strips over top.
    Bake 60 minutes, the bacon should be crispy. A thermometer inserted into the center should read approx 160˚. Serve with gravy and mashed potatoes or stuffing.

    Venison Bacon Burgers
    1 lb ground venison
    4 slices bacon
    1 Teaspoon garlic salt
    1 onion, minced
    1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
    1 egg
    4 hamburger buns
    Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned and crispy. Remove and crumble. Sauté onion in bacon grease. Pour onions and grease into a bowl and allow to cool.
    Once cool, mix in venison, bacon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and egg until evenly combined. Refrigerate for 20 minutes before grilling.

    Venison Stir Fry
    1 Pound or so of venison tenderloin (backstrap)
    Bottle Stir Fry Sauce
    Bottle Szechuan sauce or General Tso's sauce
    Bag of frozen stir fry vegetables or 1 onion and 3 peppers (red/yellow/orange, no green) cut up.
    Lawry's season salt
    2-3 cups (after cooking) white rice or 1 package Lo Mein noodles
    1/2 cup Cocktail peanuts or cashews if desired.
    Slice venison about 3/8" thick, season with Lawry's seasoned salt. In a pan of hot oil, lightly browned the venison on both sides. Put in a meatloaf pan and pour stir fry sauce on the layers. Cover with foil, in the oven for 2 hrs at 300˚
    Sauté the onions and peppers in vegetable oil
    Cut the venison into bite-sized pieces
    Drain the oil, in a hot pan add rice or Lo Mein noodles (previously cooked), the meat, a little water and about 1/3 bottle each (more to taste/coat) of the stir fry sauce and Szechuan/Tso's. Mix until hot and all ingredients are coated with sauce.
    Cocktail peanuts or cashews added in the last few minutes if desired.

    New Favorite: Venison Queso Dip
    1 pound venison burger
    1 package taco seasoning
    1 32-ounce block original Velveeta cheese
    1 can original Rotell
    1 can hot Rotell
    Cook the venison into taco meat per the seasoning packet's directions. Slowly melt in Velveeta, add can original Rotell (undrained) plus 1/2 can hot Rotell. Try the queso, if you want it spicier, add the rest of the can. Serve with tortilla chips or Fritos.

    Thanks!
     

    CSHS

    Active Member
    Apr 21, 2015
    197
    Two more, chili works every time. Lasagna is great.

    Chili
    2 packages Chili mix (McCormick's Original)
    2 lbs ground venison
    1 can of kidney beans, drained
    2 cans of white beans (great northern or navy), drained
    1 can of tomato paste, one 29 oz can tomato sauce, one 29 oz can diced/petite tomatoes
    1 can original Rotell tomatoes
    5 jalapenos, sliced, seeded
    2 onions sliced
    1 each red, yellow, and orange peppers, cubed
    Lightl sauté onions and peppers, brown meat, add all ingredients to large oval crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs, stir occasionally.
    Serve with grated cheddar cheese, mini saltines or oyster crackers. Every better when reheated the next day.

    Crock Pot Lasagna (large oval cooker)
    4 jars Prego (96 oz).
    1 lb venison
    1+ lb sausage
    1 box lasagna noodles, uncooked
    32 oz container ricotta cheese
    3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
    1+ cup grated Parmesan cheese (5 oz wedge)
    2 eggs
    1 Teaspoon of oregano
    1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic salt and Italian seasoning
    2 Teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
    Salt and pepper to taste
    Brown the venison and sausage together. Mix all the non-meat ingredients together.
    Break the noodles to fit the container
    Layers: cover bottom of crock with sauce then (3 or 4 layers)
    noodle, meat, mix, sauce
    noodle, meat, mix, sauce
    noodle, meat, mix, sauce, noodle, remaining sauce
    Cook on low for 4.5 hrs, turn off crock pot and let cool for an hour, serve
     
    Last edited:

    fscwi

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 21, 2012
    1,537

    All good recommendations. For the stroganoff, I also like to use browned burger instead of cubed steak. Growing up it was called "poor man's stroganoff" because burger was cheaper than steak. Also quicker to make as it doesn't require time in the slow cooker to tenderize the steak.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,815
    Here's a fresh backstrap steak my buddy cooked at deer camp this year. Seasoned with just salt and pepper, seared in a super hot skillet with lots of butter for about 45-60 seconds per side, then transferred to another skillet with butter on medium heat. Cooking in butter produced an amazing crust! Don't remember how long it took once on medium heat but basically cooked until the steak just barely started to firm up. The result was medium rare awesomeness!

    KmfL66B.jpg

    I do something similar. Marinade in soy sauce and syrup with a dash of 5 spice. Summertime I grill it. Wintertime I fry in a skillet until medium rare. I slice it thin and serve over mashed potatoes with greens along side. Ghghghgghgg!
     

    mumfrey

    Active Member
    Nov 16, 2017
    662
    Northern Balt Co
    Two more, chili works every time. Lasagna is great.

    Chili
    2 packages Chili mix (McCormick's Original)
    2 lbs ground venison
    1 can of kidney beans, drained
    2 cans of white beans (great northern or navy), drained
    1 can of tomato paste, one 29 oz can tomato sauce, one 29 oz can diced/petite tomatoes
    1 can original Rotell tomatoes
    5 jalapenos, sliced, seeded
    2 onions sliced
    1 each red, yellow, and orange peppers, cubed
    Lightl sauté onions and peppers, brown meat, add all ingredients to large oval crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs, stir occasionally.
    Serve with grated cheddar cheese, mini saltines or oyster crackers. Every better when reheated the next day.

    Crock Pot Lasagna (large oval cooker)
    3 jars Prego (72 oz). Th more, the better,
    1 lb venison
    1+ lb sausage
    1 box lasagna noodles, uncooked
    32 oz container ricotta cheese (3+ cups)
    3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
    1+ cup grated Parmesan cheese (5 oz wedge)
    2 eggs
    1 Teaspoon of oregano
    Garlic salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste
    Brown the venison and sausage together. Mix all the non-meat ingredients together.
    Break the noodles to fit the container
    Layers: cover bottom of crock with sauce then (3 or 4 layers)
    noodle, meat, mix, sauce
    noodle, meat, mix, sauce
    noodle, meat, mix, sauce, noodle, remaining sauce
    Cook on low for 4.5 hrs, turn off crock pot and let cool for an hour, serve

    Yes, can't go wrong with chili. Lasagna? sounds good.
     

    ChrisD

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 19, 2013
    2,991
    Conowingo
    I cut up my own deer. I put the straps and some roasts on the meat slicer and cut as thin as I can get it. The sections of meat have to be put in the freezer for a while until firm before slicing. My wife make an awesome slow cooker minute steaks for subs.
    1.5-2lbs. of thinly sliced meat
    1 packet of dry Italian dressing mix (4 seasons)
    1 green pepper sliced thin
    1 onion sliced thin
    1 cup beef stock
    1/2 cup dry red wine
    2 tsp. Garlic salt
    2 tsp. Black pepper
    When cooked, drain liquid and add provolone cheese to melt into meat.
    Serve and thank me later!

    I made some deer loin and pork loin Canadian bacon today.
    Used this brine recipe, https://nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/
    I’ve used it for pork loin before, first time on deer. Brined 3 days, half hour fresh water soak, pat dry. Then I put it in the refrigerator uncovered for a day to get a nice pellicle. Smoked 3 1/2 hours at around 225 which gave me 150 on the meat thermometer. Back in the refrigerator tonight in a ziplock bag, slice and start using tomorrow. My wife liked the deer better than the pork loin. The red color of the deer is from the pink curing salt, same as the pink in the pork.
    02406758-AD96-4DF1-9836-DC91DD16D94E.jpg
     

    kookymonstir

    Active Member
    Feb 8, 2011
    172
    St. Leonard Md
    You can marinate venison if you like but I treat them just like beef. Spray some cider vinegar on them and season them generously with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Then either put them in a very hot grill or a very hot cast iron skillet that has a little olive oil in it. 3 minutes per side or so depending on size then onto a plate and cover right away with foil. Let them sit for a few minutes while you set the table and then whoa NELLY! I highly recommend some garlic bread to soak up all that juice
     

    CSHS

    Active Member
    Apr 21, 2015
    197
    What about burgers? Are they cooked rare also?

    No. Cook them like you would regular hamburgers (I don't like rare hamburgers). I make burgers from just ground venison, usually seasoned with a little Lawry's. But they can be dry. The bacon fat really helps.

    I made the crock pot lasagna today and it was awesome. Our crock pot is fairly large so I changed the recipe to 4 jars of Prego. More sauce is better.

    I made some deer loin and pork loin Canadian bacon today.
    Used this brine recipe, https://nwedible.com/how-to-make-canadian-bacon-at-home/
    I’ve used it for pork loin before, first time on deer. Brined 3 days, half hour fresh water soak, pat dry. Then I put it in the refrigerator uncovered for a day to get a nice pellicle. Smoked 3 1/2 hours at around 225 which gave me 150 on the meat thermometer. Back in the refrigerator tonight in a ziplock bag, slice and start using tomorrow. My wife liked the deer better than the pork loin. The red color of the deer is from the pink curing salt, same as the pink in the pork.
    View attachment 248491

    I gotta try this. I need a meat slicer too for your other recipe
     
    Last edited:

    ChrisD

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 19, 2013
    2,991
    Conowingo
    No. Cook them like you would regular hamburgers (I don't like rare hamburgers). I make burgers from just ground venison, usually seasoned with a little Lawry's. But they can be dry. The bacon fat really helps.

    I made the crock pot lasagna today and it was awesome. Our crock pot is fairly large so I changed the recipe to 4 jars of Prego. More sauce is better.



    I gotta try this. I need a meat slicer too for your other recipe

    I have this one from Cabela’s. It’s not the fanciest, but for the few times a year I use the thing, it’s sufficient. I’ve had it for 5 years now. And it’s on sale right now, and with free shipping:
    https://www.cabelas.com/product/hom...577480/heavy-duty-slicer/1843125.uts?slotId=0
     

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