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Smoked venison is prepared by cooking slowly over a flame or in a smoker grill, adding tenderness and flavor while preserving large cuts. Marinating or smoking at the end of cooking helps retain moisture. Smoking is an ancient technique, and modern smokers use charcoal and aromatic wood chips. Venison is lean and muscular, so smoking can dry it out, but marinades, salt rubs, and combo cooking can help. Jerky is another popular smoked venison preparation.
Smoked venison is venison that is cooked slowly over a flame or prepared in a professional smoker grill. Preparing meat with smoke adds tenderness and flavor, and helps preserve even large cuts. Venison is a traditionally lean meat, which is at risk of drying out when left in the smoker for a long time. As such, most smoked venison has either been marinated before cooking to lock in moisture or smoked only at the end of its cooking cycle.
Smoking is one of the oldest ways of cooking meat, especially wild caught game such as venison. Hunters traditionally bring their kills back to camp, then cook the meat immediately so as to preserve it for the journey home. Hot smoke from low flames slowly cooks the meat from the outside.
The process typically takes place in a dedicated smoking room or other enclosed space. Modern meat smokers often look like standard barbecues or grills, but are specially designed to capture and distribute the smoke. Regular charcoal is all that’s needed, but aromatic wood chips — made from alder, hickory, or other natural woods — are quite common. The richer the smoke, the more flavor it will impart to the cooking of the meat.
Venison is typically very low in fat. The meat is mainly lean and is very muscular. This results in nutritious cuts and concentrated flavours, but can come with some smoking challenges.
More than most other cooking techniques, smoking tends to dry out the meat. High-fat cuts do best in smokers, as fat deposits keep steaks naturally moist from the inside out. Smoked venison runs the risk of losing some of its natural tenderness if smoked for too long or too hot.
The liberal use of flavorful marinades is one of the best tips for smoking venison. Soy, molasses, vegetable juice and beef broth are popular options. Soaking steaks overnight or for a few hours before cooking helps them retain moisture longer.
Other ways to prepare venison for smoking include rubbing the venison in salt or starting cooking in a more conventional way, such as on an open grill or in the oven. So-called “combo cooking” imparts smoked venison with the flavor of smoke without the time needed to induce dryness. Usually the meat is cooked to a certain internal temperature, then transferred to the smoker to finish things off.
Depending on the recipe, however, jerky may be desirable. Smoked venison, for example, is little more than cured strips of meat prized for its highly concentrated flavor and long shelf life. Smoking is one of the best ways to prepare jerky.
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