Question for game smokers

[Smokin Bill]

Is there any particular wood/smoke flavor that is best with venison? For example hickory is typical with pork, oak with beef, or alder with salmon.....

Any roast recipes would be appreciated as well; I did go through a venison search and got what is already on the forum.

The recent thread on venison jerky has me doing some myself soon for a guy from church. This guy is a bow hunter that has special permission to thin out herds in several parks in the area so venison is plentiful.

[Richtee]

I prefer the milder woods with venison, especially good quality venison. By that, I mean not an old swamp buck ;{) It has a delicate flavor that is easily covered up. Maple, and the fruitwoods are my first choices, sometimes also pecan.

[Richtee]

I would also add- the kill has alot to do with it too. Now, I'm not knocking bow hunting, but many times, even with a good hit in the vitals, the deer will run quite a ways before expiring, and this will add undesirable flavors to the meat.

Not saying they won't run if gunshot, but the kill tends to be quicker.

This information might help determine the processing/treatment of the meat.

[Gunslinger]

I use shag bark hickory or pecan. I treat venison like beef.
I think you're gonna get as many opinions on this as there are on favorite color.

[blues_n_cues]

i second pecan for venison & turkey.
peach or cherry for other wild fowl.

[PreacherRodgers]

i've never smoked any deer meat because of how lean it is. mine always goes to the grill. so i will be watching to see what i can learn from this thread.

good question Bill

[blues_n_cues]

i've never smoked any deer meat because of how lean it is. mine always goes to the grill. so i will be watching to see what i can learn from this thread.

good question Bill

wrap it in bacon or put a fatty on the rack above it if you have that option

[Gunslinger]

wrap it in bacon or put a fatty on the rack above it if you have that option

Ditto. I even cut slits in roasts and stuff it with bacon. You could even butterfly and roll bacon up in it, then wrap in bacon. Bacon, bacon, bacon.

[Smokin Bill]

wrap it in bacon or put a fatty on the rack above it if you have that option

OH YEA!!!! I saw the bacon wrapped roasts in the Wild Game section, I wouldn't forget the bacon.

I suspect I will get a lot of different suggestions but I'll no doubt know what not to use and likely find some common denominators.

[Kingudaroad]

I see a lot of folks smoking whole venison hams. I just don't see how all that connective tissue surrounding the muscles can not ruin the flavor. No offense to anyone who likes to do venison like this, but I would suggest individual whole muscles with nothing but bright red meat to start. There is absolutely no renderable fat on a deer

For slow cooking they will also require some type of larding (as suggested with the bacon). I have seen where folks cut strips of thick bacon into triangles, freeze the pieces solid, then poke the frozen bacon into the roast.

Pecan works well, but I'm sure fruit woods are great also.

[SmokinLee]

The last deer ham I did I every 1/2 hour,the first half hour would get a spiced apple juice and the second would get a bacon grease slather and repeat.

[davidmcg]

Well crud, everybody beat me to it. I use pecan and just a small touch of oak, cherry and mesquite. I wrap all the venison in bacon, and on the roasts I'll stuff a slice or two inside. Here is the deal though, I marinade it for at least 10 hours in milk. Takes a lot of the gamey flavor out and even helps with the older bucks. Best deer to take in my opinion for meat quality are the 2 to 3 year olds. Just my preference. Seems in that age group the deer are matured enough to have good muscle distribution and gristle will be low. Besides, I am not looking for a trophy.

Running of the deer after the shot is also a point to be made. A lot of hunters don't believe it, but its there. A quick kill leads to better tasting meat. It was explained to me once the chemical breakdown, but its similar to us. Under stress we dump massive amounts of adrenaline and dopamine into our blood, deer do the same. Furthest I have ever had a deer run on me was 100 feet. Doesn't seem like much, but it is. An amazing amount of blood is lost in 100 feet.

Biggest thing that effects the quality of meat though is what the deer grazes on. Pasture grazing and berry/orchard grazing is different than the robbing of a corn field. Along with the quality of water available.

Another factor is herd size/area population and the stresses that imposes. Those city deer that are thinned out every few years will be over stressed and might even be on the verge of chronic wasting disease. It will effect meat quality. Which is why I don't get involved in those deer herd thinning hunts. Besides, no sport there.

[RowdyRay]

Lot's of good suggestions. I've used hickory and oak so far.

I just did 3 smaller roasts for my brother. We tried it without bacon this time. We did have about 6 chunks of pork loin above them though. He also marinate them for about 15 hours first. Used cherry and apple. Pull them real rare or they'll dry out too.

[blues_n_cues]

Well crud, everybody beat me to it. I use pecan and just a small touch of oak, cherry and mesquite. I wrap all the venison in bacon, and on the roasts I'll stuff a slice or two inside. Here is the deal though, I marinade it for at least 10 hours in milk. Takes a lot of the gamey flavor out and even helps with the older bucks. Best deer to take in my opinion for meat quality are the 2 to 3 year olds. Just my preference. Seems in that age group the deer are matured enough to have good muscle distribution and gristle will be low. Besides, I am not looking for a trophy.

Running of the deer after the shot is also a point to be made. A lot of hunters don't believe it, but its there. A quick kill leads to better tasting meat. It was explained to me once the chemical breakdown, but its similar to us. Under stress we dump massive amounts of adrenaline and dopamine into our blood, deer do the same. Furthest I have ever had a deer run on me was 100 feet. Doesn't seem like much, but it is. An amazing amount of blood is lost in 100 feet.

Biggest thing that effects the quality of meat though is what the deer grazes on. Pasture grazing and berry/orchard grazing is different than the robbing of a corn field. Along with the quality of water available.

Another factor is herd size/area population and the stresses that imposes. Those city deer that are thinned out every few years will be over stressed and might even be on the verge of chronic wasting disease. It will effect meat quality. Which is why I don't get involved in those deer herd thinning hunts. Besides, no sport there.

i go for that basically- west texas(uvalde)style. soak overnight in buttermilk & lemon slices then do what we said. oak,pecan,skeet mix...nilgai & pronghorn work well w/ this or red buck.

[blues_n_cues]

p.s.- texas deer & hawg this year is goingtobestringy rangy & suck- no rain & no acorn to graze on. i'd never eat any texas wild meat this year due to the drought. i don't know where ya live but i know i'd not pay for a southern state hunt/meat this year.