Advice: Venison Thigh and Rear End

[Ptrbve]

Hi all. We are invited to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. I have been asked to smoke some venison. I have never cooked it before and only had a couple bites of it about twenty years ago. It seems as though it does not lend itself to low and slow.

I am told she has two three- pound roasts described as the thigh and buttocks. I am thinking of sous vide at my house and finish on the grill at theirs. It is only a fifteen minute ride.

I haven't found a ton of ideas. Any suggestions? Seasoning, temp in the bath, etc... would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[Argoboy]

I would remove all the fat and silver skin, dry brine and smoke but I would make sure not to over cook it, med rare is always nice. You could also wrap them in bacon to add fat and moisture?

[gcdmd]

Back in my hunting days I would cure my venison hams and then roast them in the oven They were delicious and made great sandwiches.. I wasn't into BBQ at the time. Nowadays I would probably cure and then smoke them, much like a pork shoulder.

[texastweeter]

Trim all sinew and silverskin, dry brine it, inject with the beef injection here on this site, the go behind and inject with canola oil, similar to butterballing a turkey breast. Let rest at least 24 hours in fridge wrapped. Rub with cow crust and cook to medium rare just like described here for beef roast, gravy and all. Slice against the grain. Enjoy. I have several other methods to cook venison if need be... Chicken fried, steaked out, with brown rice and spicy mushroom gravy, chilli, burgers, tacos, jerky, just ask. We eat a lot of venison at our house.

[Ptrbve]

Thank you all...

[JCGrill]

texastweeter from that part of the animal isn't medium rare going to be kind of a tough chew? I was thinking of treating it like brisket, although I would be worried about it drying out too much.

[texastweeter]

That's why you butterball it, and cut thin gains the grain. Also, the injection will help break it down a bit with the Venigar in it.

[texastweeter]

It doesn't have enough connective tissue and fat (even butterballed) to smoke out like a brisket. I tried once.

[texastweeter]

I assume you are referring to whitetail deer, correct?

[kmhfive]

Based on what others have stated, a SousVide bath at 131-135F for 6-8 hours might be worth the effort! The cool it back down to fridge temps for the trip. Smoke at 225F until the IT is back to about 120F an then sear the roasts to finish. Slice thin across the grain.

[HorseDoctor]

All above is good info. You can do it "Baltimore pit beef" style or Italian sandwich style. Medium rare sliced thin is just fine. The more you cook it the tougher it gets, unless you braise it like a pot roast until it falls apart, but probably not what your host wants you to do. Sounds like maybe your host/hostess is asking you to do something they don't know how to do? As texastweeter stated, it doesn't have fat of connective tissue enough to do like a chuck or brisket! Don't even try! You may want to check out the the posts in the beef section on doing an "Eye of Round"...

[Ptrbve]

You got that right. Another guest gave it to them. Nobody knows how to cook it. I think they think if anyone can do it I can. They are more confident than I! I well check "eye of round." Thanks.

[HorseDoctor]

It'll be great! Just don't try to turn it into something that it isn't. Don't overcook, unless you braise it like a pot roast, shred it and drown in BBQ sauce. That might meet some people's expectations of "BBQ" better than sammiches even though IMO, not the best use of the meat. Good luck!

[Ptrbve]

Both roasts were tied up nicely but had a lot of silver skin on them. I had to untie them to remove it. When I did I sprinkled in some cow crust and injected it with the beef injection. I re-tied as best I could using my poor tying skills, put some cow crust on the outside and refrigerated for a day. I set the sous vide for 129 degrees and cooked it for fourteen hours. I seared it when I got to the party on my cast iron pan on the gas grill. I cut 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices and reheated the ample juices in the microwave and plated.

On my plate, I cut it with my fork. There were three of us that ate it then. The other two (including the guy who killed it) said it was the best they ever had and if they did not know any better, would have said it was roast beef! A couple late arrivals tried it a few hours later and were also impressed.

Thank you all for the great ideas!

[Powersmoke_80]

Fantastic, a job well done!

[HorseDoctor]

While med rare may not be "well done" you certainly done well with your approach!!! A little Horsey Sauce would have been a nice accompaniment. A sandwich on rye bread with some horseradish sauce would also make short work of any leftovers!!! Congrats on a great cook! You certainly showed them you were up to the challenge! 👍

[texastweeter]

try as a venison roast reuben!