I looked up some websites and polled some friends on the best way to attack this beast (or should I say, Bambie) :)
Here's what I came up with . . . I hope it turns out as well for you as it did for me.
Step 1. Get a roast of venison. The one I used was hunted by my friend Kent who is an avid bow-hunter. This roast is 4 lbs and comes from some "unknown" part of the deer.
Step 2. 5 DAYS BEFORE YOU PLAN ON COOKING make a marinade of 1/2 bottle of red wine, half a red onion and a full head of garlic, loosely cut up. Put the roast and the marinade in a bag and refrigerate for 4-5 days, turning the bag every day.
Step 3. Get a pound of bacon and a pound of beef fat. I got the beef fat from a local grocery store butcher - it was free!
Step 4. Wrap the venison with the beef fat and enough bacon top and bottom to cover it completely. Use tooth picks to hold everything in place.
Here's a side profile of the roast, note the beef fat sticking out under the bacon:
Step 5. Prepare your smoker and put the roast in. Here I'm using a "smokin sidekick" which is perfect for small roasts. I sits on top of your BBQ sideburner and uses propane. In the bottom I used Jack Daniels Wood Chips which are made from Oak Barrels used to make JD.
Step 6. Close the door and wait. The temperature reached a max of 225f and it took 6 hours to reach the desired temperature of 155f. In total, I went through 3 large handfuls of wood chips.
Step 7. Before you remove the roast, cut up rest of the bacon. and make some gravy:- Fry the cut up bacon in a pot and render the fat out. Discard the fat and keep the bacon to the side.
- Take 1 cup of the discarded marinade and bring to a boil
- Add 1 cup of beef stock
- Boil for 10 mins on med-low heat
- Add 1 cup of whipping cream (35%)
- Add 2 tbsp of corn starch
- wisk and boil for 2 mins
- Reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins on low
- Add bacon to sauce
Step 8. Once roast is done (155f), take out of the smoker and let it rest, covered in foil for 15 mins)
Step 9. Slice it, as you would any other roast of beef
Step 10. Enjoy!
This was truly incredible. The marinade and smoke took away the "gameyness" that is associated with wild meat. Added to that, the bacon-coating was extra smokey and complimented the roast very well.
Enjoy!
