How to Make Venison Backstrap
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@kanevak
Have done something very similar. Cut in 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces. Wrapped in bacon and skewered. Seasoned with whatever you like and grilled over charcoal or open wood coals. Left on long enough to char the bacon. Wonderful.
.Have you taken the inside loins and done the same thing? Our ritual is when we get a deer. Those tender loins are what we fry up and stab with a toothpick from a fry pan with butter and onions. Same day as harvest. Excellent!
PapaSop Yes, we use the same recipe for the inner loins as well. Honestly, I can remember any time that I had a steak at any fancy restaurant that was better than venison tenderloin.
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βVenison Backstrap is the tenderloin of a deer.β
With this being said, then what the heck is the tenderloin called then?
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βVenison Backstrap is the tenderloin of a deer.β
With this being said, then what the heck is the tenderloin called then?
HerbcoFood said in How to Make Venison Backstrap:
βVenison Backstrap is the tenderloin of a deer.β
With this being said, then what the heck is the tenderloin called then?
We refer to them as hanging tenders or tenderloin, vs backstrap for the eye of the loin.
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HerbcoFood said in How to Make Venison Backstrap:
βVenison Backstrap is the tenderloin of a deer.β
With this being said, then what the heck is the tenderloin called then?
We refer to them as hanging tenders or tenderloin, vs backstrap for the eye of the loin.
processhead Pretty interesting.
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To me, the loin is the backstrap and the tenderloin is the tiny little tasty morsel on the inside of the cavity. Those get cut out right away in our hunting party.
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Tenderloins are on the inside, beneath the suet fat and kidney. The backstrap refers to the back muscles along the spine. This cut contains what would be separated on a beef into the loin (new York strip) and ribeye. Hanging tender is an entirely separate piece of meat. It is a muscle on the inside that is attached to the diagram. Unlike the other muscles that are found on both sides of an animal (meaning there are 2 of each muscle on a carcass), there is only 1 hanging tender on an animal due to it being centrally located.
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I always thought the back strap was the equivalency of the ribeye
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οΈ Or is the loin the primal that ribeyes come from 

Dr_Pain Ribeye comes from the rib primal or plate which is connected to the loin primal. Because of the size difference, the loin and ribeye are usually left connected on deer. Therefore, backstrap is both loin and ribeye. Ribeye being the portion along the ribs and loin being after the ribs and before the hip bone.
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Dr_Pain Ribeye comes from the rib primal or plate which is connected to the loin primal. Because of the size difference, the loin and ribeye are usually left connected on deer. Therefore, backstrap is both loin and ribeye. Ribeye being the portion along the ribs and loin being after the ribs and before the hip bone.
Deepwoodsbutcher said in How to Make Venison Backstrap:
Dr_Pain Ribeye comes from the rib primal or plate which is connected to the loin primal. Because of the size difference, the loin and ribeye are usually left connected on deer. Therefore, backstrap is both loin and ribeye. Ribeye being the portion along the ribs and loin being after the ribs and before the hip bone.
Thatβs a great explanation. Thanks for the details. It makes perfect sense now
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Well anyway, the perfect way to cook backstrap is to the IT of 129Β°, if you arenβt going to be chicken frying it.
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How to Make Venison Backstrap
Learn how to make Venison Backstrap with Walton's and Meatgistics. Watch the video, read the guide, and then post your questions or comments below.




What Is Venison Backstrap?
Venison Backstrap is the tenderloin of a deer. These are highly prized as they are the most tender portion of the deer and work well with many different styles of cooking.
Meat Block
3 lb of Venison Backstrap
Additives
Soluble Paβs Black Bull BBQ Seasoning
Wild Game SeasoningProcess
We are going to inject it with our favorite injectable seasoning, Paβs Black Bull and then we are going to rub the outside with Excalibur Wild Game Rub. Paβs black bull has high amounts of sugar and molasses to help everything caramelize nicely and the wild game rub has just a hint of heat that should work well with it.
To inject this, we first need to mix up our soluble solution, so I have a pint of water here and I am going to dissolve 1.76 oz or 50 grams of Paβs Black Bull into it. I am mixing for a long time because we want it all to suspend in the water so this will take a little bit of time. Iβm using the Waltonβs Automatic Syringe injector and Iβm just going to pump it until it doesnβt seem like it will take anymore. Once the solution begins to leak back out of the injection holes we will know the meat has taken as much of the marinade as it can.
Marinating
Vacuum seal the backstrap and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to allow the seasoning to equalize in the meat. When vacuum sealing a piece of meat that you have injected, or are marinating, you need to watch the bag to make sure that water is not sucked up into the vacuum machine, as that can obviously create problems for the sealer. As soon as you see moisture start to get sucked to the opening of the bag hit the seal button on your vacuum sealer.
Rubbing
When it is finished marinating rub it liberally with the Wild Game Rub and make sure to fully cover all sides. With injecting and marinating it the Backstrap should be able to hold the rub on the outside easily. If it does not, you can add a light topical mustard rub to allow the seasoning to adhere.
Note
Now, we need to talk about proper cook temperatures. I know people are very picky when cooking venison. Youβve worked for the meat so you want the best taste you can get out of all that hard work. However, no matter how clean the deer was you should still be following standard food safety processes. That means cooking a whole muscle cut, like this, up to 145Β°.
Thermal Processing & Smoking
Stage 1 - Smoke at 200Β° until the internal temp reaches 145Β°
Cooling
Pull your Backstrap out of the smoker once it reaches 145Β° and let it βnapβ under tin foil for 5 minutes to allow the juices to be absorbed back into the meat. If you skip this step you will see a lot of the juice leak out of the meat once you cut it, if you let it nap it will absorb back into the meat.
Additional Tips
- When choosing a marinade you should look for something that already contains some form of phosphates as this will help give you a juicier finished product
- When choosing a rub for the outside of the loin you should either choose a complimentary flavor or something that will offer a different but strong flavor, otherwise it is going to get lost in the marinade
Other Notes
I know a lot of you like to stop it well short of 145Β°, but itβs like wearing a seat belt, yes your car will start without you having it on but eventually, something is going to happen and that seat belt is going to keep you safe. Same thing with cooking to 145Β°, if you donβt, especially with wild game eventually you are going to give yourself food poisoning.
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Jonathon Grilled lightly seasoned with steak and roast seasoning.
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bocephus Lightly salted, Coarse Pepper pounded in, on both sides, grilled on very hot coals quickly, buttered & rested. Deeeeelicious!
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Dr_Pain Ribeye comes from the rib primal or plate which is connected to the loin primal. Because of the size difference, the loin and ribeye are usually left connected on deer. Therefore, backstrap is both loin and ribeye. Ribeye being the portion along the ribs and loin being after the ribs and before the hip bone.
Deepwoodsbutcher very well explained.
Thank you sir -
Deepwoodsbutcher very well explained.
Thank you sircdavis Iβm a woman, but you very welcome.
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Deepwoodsbutcher very well explained.
Thank you sircdavis said in How to Make Venison Backstrap:
Deepwoodsbutcher very well explained.
Thank you sirMAβAM!! -
cdavis said in How to Make Venison Backstrap:
Deepwoodsbutcher very well explained.
Thank you sirMAβAM!!Dr_Pain
No worries! -
Dr_Pain
No worries!Deepwoodsbutcher said in How to Make Venison Backstrap:
Dr_Pain
No worries!It is just a playful reply. There were no way to determine gender from your name or profile pic associated. I had to look at my own reply to see if I had replied with gender since living in Louisiana we always end with those βsigns of respectβ (namely maβam and sir!)
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cdavis Iβm a woman, but you very welcome.
Deepwoodsbutcher my apologies to you and a lesson learned for me. Never assume. Again I apologize and I love all your posts.
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Deepwoodsbutcher my apologies to you and a lesson learned for me. Never assume. Again I apologize and I love all your posts.
cdavis Not a problem at all and no offense taken. Have a great day!
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