How to Smoke Venison Backstraps

Deer season is upon us, and there’s no better way to build enthusiasm than to make a delicious meal out of that first harvest. Although back straps and tenderloin are great sautéed in butter, don’t limit yourself to a single recipe.

Jason Maure has developed his smoking technique down to a science. On his website, he illustrates just how easy it can be. Here’s how he does it.

When smoking venison and most wild game, I prefer to brine the meat instead of marinating it. Brine penetrates deeper into the meat and the salt prevents the fibers from tightening up, keeping moisture and natural juices inside.

Take pride and some extra time to make sure all the silver skin and tough pieces are trimmed off. No one especially non-hunters like to chew on a tough old dried up piece of meat. You spent hours in the field to harvest that buck, now is the time to make it the best it can be on the table.

Starting with a basic brine of 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of brown sugar to 2 quarts of water mixed into a sauce pan.

Bring this mixture to a boil stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar and then remove from the heat.

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