Well I do like the cream cheese, jalapeños, and bacon. However I skip the first two steps and grill till bacon is done(which usually leaves meat rare/medium rare)

Here is a solid recipe that will likely determine whether you really like deer meat or if you like the thought of eating deer meat.

Ingredients:

- Half of one venison back-strap (whole)
- Olive Oil
- Kosher Salt
- Coarse Black Pepper
- Garlic Powder

Equipment:

- Charcoal Grill
- Charcoal Briquets
- Wood smoking chips or chunks of your choice (I prefer hickory)
- Meat Thermometer, with probe that you can leave in the meat while cooking
- Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

Directions:
Thaw the back-strap in your fridge for a day or 2 until completely thawed out. Remove from fridge, and trim off any silver-skin or fat that remains on the meat (if it's white, get it off!). Brush or rub the meat liberally with olive oil. Coat generously with kosher salt, coarse black pepper, and a light dusting of garlic powder. Let the meat rest on the counter while you prep your grill.

Pile charcoal briquets to one side of your grill, light and wait until fully ashed over. Leave the briquets on one side of the grill only, as you will need one half of the grill for indirect cooking. When your grill is ready, you shouldn't be able to hold your hand over the briquets more than 5 seconds without burning yourself. Sear backstrap on both sides about 3-5 minutes, or until you have slight charring or grill marking to your preference. Move backstrap to the opposite side of your grill off of direct heat. Insert your meat thermometer's probe into the thickest part of the back-strap. Place a handful of wood chips or 2 wood chunks directly onto the briquets and close the lid. Move your grill's vents to about half-way open. Cook until the internal temp reaches 145F to 150F.

Remove from the grill, wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice into medallions of your desired thickness and serve.

Nailed it. Basically the same exact thing I do...

145 degrees!??! the horror!?!

The two most common methods for aging meat is dry aging and wet aging. Dry aging is when the deer hangs up to two weeks at around 36 degrees. Blood drains by dripping. Wet aging is when the meat is packed in ice to hold it around 36 degrees. Meat is not immersed in water. Melting ice drains from the cooler and rinses blood on its way. Ice is added on top every few days as necessary. Both techniques were taught by Dr. Jones at Auburn Meat Science Lab. Dry aging is preferred if you have a walk-in cooler. But both techniques work just fine. I've been using wet aging for 20+ years and am very happy with the meat quality.

I would dry age every piece of intact meat I eat if I had the space to do it. A long time ago I dry aged a backstrap for almost 2 months. It was incredible.

I cook my backstrap steaks and tenderloins rare. We marinate some, and pan sear some with salt & pepper, Chupacabra Rub, or Everglades. Because I had a great season, we only ate beef 4 times last year and ate deer 3-5 times a week.

My cholesterol, which was already good, dropped over 20 points.

Back in January we aged one at least 3 weeks.




Actually is was about 3 hours. Just long enough to get it out of the woods and the back straps and heart out so we could cook dinner.

Read this about aging meat:

http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2014/the-meat-prophet-of-peru/


It's interesting and I'd love to visit. Also would love to try this if I had the room/place to do it. Here's a portion of the story:

He follows with a porterhouse, an axe-handle rib eye, and a string of other imposing cuts that he’s carefully aged at Osso. This is where Garibaldi is moving the traditional grill master role into unchartered territory. They start at 30 days, then increase to 45 and 60. You can taste the collagen breaking down a little bit more with each cut, resulting in more nuanced flavors. Each is muskier and funkier than the last. He finishes some by holding them directly over the flames. Others he sits right in the charcoal and covers in ash. He moves on to a steak aged 120 days, and then, for the grand finale, a 160-day-old piece of Wagyu. Over the course of nearly six months of aging, natural enzymes in the protein break down and the carbohydrates are converted into sugar, so the flavors are richer and more concentrated. The sizzling beef smells like buttered popcorn. Every bite tastes of pure umami.

I'm with ya.

I’ll go too!!

Far out. Heck I'll try it.

I've never understood it either. What other meat do we soak in water?

I can see aging it, if that's an option.

The salt is supposed to help draw out the blood and people think that gives it a less gamey taste. It certainly helps draw out the blood, but I've never notice an appreciable difference in taste.

How venison is going to taste starts by how you take care of it.

I've always said that if you shoot a prize Angus steer and haul it around on the hood of your truck for 3 days to make sure all your buddies see it, it's gonna taste like crap too.

I de-bone my deer right away and place the meat in gallon zip lock bags and put on ice or in a fridge. It doesn't take up too much room when it is deboned. I let it stay cooled for around 10 days but have gone up to 2 weeks, then I do the final "processing" and vacuum seal and freeze.

I think the most important part is in the de-boning. Ideally, you don't want to cut it up when rigor mortis has set in, but before. Keeping your hands and your knife clean is essential. Don't touch the tarsals, then the meat. Don't get hair all over the meat.

I am not a big fan of soaking in saltwater, but I have done that before. My deer do not taste "gamey". I've processed bucks in full rut that really stink bad, but ended up with some excellent tender and tasty meat.