A neighbor gave me an elk loin and invited me to have at it. Venison of any type is rare when you grow up in London so I was at a bit of a loss. All I could see was that it was really, really lean. And huge.

So I followed the only sensible plan of action - go to Amazing Ribs & see what they have to say. I concluded that a reverse sear was probably the way to go. I rolled it for a consistent diameter, then put in a marinade for a while. At the time I thought that was sensible, everyone (aside from AR) recommended it. On reflection, it was a waste of time and wine.
I set up the weber kettle 22.5 for indirect using the smokenator. No water pan, so the temp would be in the 350 range. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and put the loin on. I had a digital probe in, alarm set for 130. I thought there would be some carry over, and there would be a sear at the end that would bring it up to the 140 range.
Once the meat hit 130 I reverse seared directly above the smokenator coals (see pic) for about minute on each quadrant. The meat needed to be turned four times, and I tried to do the opposite side each time. The meat is being seared in the pic below. I'm afraid I can't remember the cook time, but it was significantly less than an hour, perhaps around 30 minutes? The potatoes weren't close to being ready, I remember that much!

The meat rested a short while, then I sliced. It was as good as it looks! Beautiful even color across the meat, a crispy 'crust', still very juicy - but not bloody. Thin slices across the grain, just fabulous.
As I say, the marinade was a waste of time. Didn't do anything for retaining moisture (as we know), and really just distracted from the meat - also I think caused the band around the outside. That would be the only part I would change. The finish temp was just above 135.

Reverse sear seemed to work! Cheers, Matt
So I followed the only sensible plan of action - go to Amazing Ribs & see what they have to say. I concluded that a reverse sear was probably the way to go. I rolled it for a consistent diameter, then put in a marinade for a while. At the time I thought that was sensible, everyone (aside from AR) recommended it. On reflection, it was a waste of time and wine.
I set up the weber kettle 22.5 for indirect using the smokenator. No water pan, so the temp would be in the 350 range. I seasoned with salt and pepper, and put the loin on. I had a digital probe in, alarm set for 130. I thought there would be some carry over, and there would be a sear at the end that would bring it up to the 140 range.
Once the meat hit 130 I reverse seared directly above the smokenator coals (see pic) for about minute on each quadrant. The meat needed to be turned four times, and I tried to do the opposite side each time. The meat is being seared in the pic below. I'm afraid I can't remember the cook time, but it was significantly less than an hour, perhaps around 30 minutes? The potatoes weren't close to being ready, I remember that much!
The meat rested a short while, then I sliced. It was as good as it looks! Beautiful even color across the meat, a crispy 'crust', still very juicy - but not bloody. Thin slices across the grain, just fabulous.
As I say, the marinade was a waste of time. Didn't do anything for retaining moisture (as we know), and really just distracted from the meat - also I think caused the band around the outside. That would be the only part I would change. The finish temp was just above 135.
Reverse sear seemed to work! Cheers, Matt
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