Smoking Deer Meat – Ultimate Guide to Smoke Venison

If you are anything like me, you probably have some venison in the freezer. The real problem is deciding how to prepare it.

There are a few issues that arise when preparing venison. Many people are turned off by this wonderful meat because it is prepared in a way that leaves a gamey flavor. It is also common to find tough or dry deer meat. If it is prepared the wrong way, it turns out like shoe leather and nobody will eat it.

Actually, venison is a lean meat cut, making it very healthy to eat. Ideally you want to remove any fat found on your cut as it can add to that gamey flavor.

But, be careful because without any fat, it is very easy to dry out it. Typically the longer you smoke it, the drier it gets. So how do you smoke a lean piece of venison without drying it out?

In this article we will cover a method for smoking deer meat that leaves it moist and delicious. It will also have a mild flavor and be butter knife tender, so everyone will like it.

If you are planing to smoke this kind of meat, then you first should properly prepare it. A lot of people think that the preparing process is not very important and I am telling you that they are wrong.

If you want to properly smoke it and make it delicious and moist, then it all begins with the preparing.

Trimming and Butchering Deer Meat

When it comes to eliminating the gamey flavor and tough texture from venison roast, the process should start when it is first butchered.

If you take your meat to a processing plant, you can request that they package it in this particular way or they may already follow this process.

If you butcher it by your own, there may be a few minor changes needed in your process. Here is the process I use to prepare my deer meat before I cook or freeze it:

How to Prepare Deer Meat for Smoking

1) First, I suggest you to trim off as much fat as possible. Unlike most meats, fat is a bad thing on venison meat.

Use a sharp knife and try to avoid cutting into the meat itself. I like using a heavy filet knife for this step in the process.

Cutting Fat Off Membrane

Image Credit: Gusfacegrillah.com

2) Many of the muscle groups have a clear membrane and silver-skin on the outside. It sometimes has a slimy texture to it. This also adds to the gamey flavor.

Get your blade under them membrane and pull with one hand while you slice it loose with the other. It should peel off easily.

3) Remove the muscle groups from the bone in large pieces. Many people slice their venison thin and then tenderize it. This cut is ideal when you are chicken-frying it, but not when it comes to smoking. It is important that your piece of meat be several inches thick to maintain moisture during the smoking process.

Note: You can also cut your piece with the bone still into it. To do this you would make the cut with your knife perpendicular to the bone and then saw through the bone with a hacksaw. I prefer removing the meat from the bone simply because it is less work and holds together better.

Also, if you are having difficulties with this step, read this article for a more detailed guide to trim the fat off easily.

4) Once you have an ideal piece of venison, you are either ready for the brine or you can prepare to freeze it.

To freeze it I wrap it in plastic and then wrap in freezer paper, or I put it in a plastic bag and fill the bag with water.

If you will start smoking it directly, then set the meat aside and get ready to brine it. 

Brining the Deer Meat

When it comes to smoking meat, brining is always a good idea because it helps your meat cut to retain moisture and to add more flavor.

Also remember, the best cuts of deer for smoking are the tenderloins, hams, or shoulder roasts. Choosing one of these cuts will make your experience easier and enjoyable at the end.

There are hundreds of different ways to make a brine, but there are three basic ingredients in any brine: water, salt, and sugar.

Here is a recipe for a basic brine you can use for your smoked venison:

Quick and Easy Venison Brining Recipe

Required Ingredients

  • 1 Gallon of Water
  • 1/2 Cup of Soy Sauce – Make sure not to buy the reduced sodium kind
  • 3/4 Cup of Kosher Salt
  • 1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup of Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/2 Cup of Molasses
  • 2 Tbs. Pepper
  • 1 Tbs. Rosemary

After you make sure that you have all the required ingredients, it is time to prepare the brine for the venison roast.

Brine Venison

Image Credit: SmokingMeatForums.com

Start by combining all these ingredients in a large pot or plastic container. Be sure to mix it thoroughly so the salt and sugar dissolve in the water.

After the mixture is ready, add your meat and let it sit in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.

Leaving it for 12-24 hours to brine is beneficial because as the meat draws the ingredients in, a few changes take place.

The first one is that the salt starts to break down the meat which tenderizes it.

Another one is that it draws moisture into the meat so it will retain that moisture during the smoking process.

Finally, brining does add other flavors to the meat. This brine gives the meat a slightly sweet and salty taste without masking the flavor of the venison.

Deer meat requires more salt than just about any other type of meat, so when you are preparing to cook it, this brine compliments it well.

Prepare to Smoke Your Venison

When you are ready to start smoking, you need to allow 30 – 60 minutes for preparations before you actually start the smoking process. There are several steps to take before you can actually start applying heat and making smoked venison meat.

Prepare Your Smoker

1) First, you should prepare your smoker. Remove your deer meat from the brine, rinse it, and set it on a plate on the counter to bring it to room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

2) Now, soak your wood chips or chunks in water. I typically use mesquite or oak wood for venison to give it a nutty, rich flavor instead of a sweet flavor. Be sure to soak enough wood that you can set some aside to add to your fire later.

3) After you soak your preferred wood in water, scrape your grate and light your charcoal.

I suggest that you never use match light charcoal and try to avoid using lighter fluid if possible. A charcoal chimney is an excellent tool I use to evenly light my coals without lighter fluid.

4) Set up your grill for indirect heat. This is vital as direct heat could cause the venison to seize up and become tough. Put additional charcoal on one side of your smoker so you can put your meat on the opposite side. Add a water pan either under your meat or above your coals depending on the design of your smoker.

Grill Smoker Preparation

Image Credit: Weber

Note: This process can work fine with a gas grill or electric smoker with a few modifications.

With an electric smoker it is easier and you can just follow the manufacturer’s instructions to set it to the desired mode.

With a gas grill you ideally want to leave one burner off and place the meat above that burner. You will need a smoker box to add your wood chips. You will place the box over the burners that are lit to create your smoke.

5) Add your hot coals to your unlit charcoal. Also remove your wood chips or chunks from the water, shake them off, and add them on top of your hot coals.

6) Put the grate back, close the lid, and let the smoker come to temperature.

After a while, you will notice thick white smoke coming from your vents. Adjust the vents to get your temperature to remain steady between 250°F and 300°F.

Season Your Meat

After you have prepared your smoker/grill and let it reach the initial temperature, it is time to season your venison meat.

There are a lot of methods and recipes to season this kind of meat. You can decide to apply a rub or paste, or just season with salt and pepper.

I enjoy using a simple spice rub. My rub has no sugar because a sweet bark goes best with pork or chicken, not venison. Here is my simple recipe for the deer meat rub:

Deer Meat Seasoning Recipe

Required Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. Salt
  • 2 Tbsp. Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
  • 2 Tbsp. Onion Powder
  • 2 Tbsp. Paprika
  • 1 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. Cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp. Cumin

After you collect all the required ingredients, apply them to your meat and make it ready for smoking.

Smoking Deer Meat

Now, it is finally the moment for you to start making the smoked venison meat.

The key to getting your venison to turn out moist, tender, and smoky is maintaining a steady temperature.

The steady temperature technique applies to almost any kind of meat when it comes to smoking it, so keep it in mind.

Plan for a few hours of periodically checking your smoker to make sure nothing is going wrong. It does not take long for a smoker to change in temperature by 50 to 100 degrees if the vents or coals are off.

How to Smoke Deer Meat

Smoking Venison

Smoked Venison - Credit: VenisonHQ

1) Add your meat to the grill in the section of your grate set up for indirect heat.

You have to be quick at this step because you should not leave your lid open for too long as it can throw off your temperature.

2) In order to properly make smoked venison, you have to maintain your grill temperature by checking it every 20-30 minutes.

If you are using an electric smoker, the process is a lot easier because you can monitor it with the built-in digital thermometer and increase or decrease it based on your needs.

If you are using a grill, the easiest method to do it is to control your temperature with the top and bottom vents.

To increase the temperature you can open the vents allowing more air to the coals.

To decrease the temperature, you can close the vents, but not all the way as it will put out your coals. If the smoker stops producing smoke, you will have to add more damp wood chips or chunks to the fire.

3) You will need to smoke the meat for roughly 1.5 hours per lb. of meat or until you reach 140°F internal temperature.

I suggest you have a digital thermometer to check the temperature easily. Just a few degrees off with venison can affect the moisture and tenderness of it.

4) After the meat has reached the recommended internal temperature, pull it out from the grill, wrap it in foil and throw a towel over the top.

Don't cut or serve it yet. You have to let it rest for 20 minutes, so the juices reincorporate into it.

Final Thoughts

Smoked Deer Meat

Served Smoked Venison - Credit: SmokingMeatForums

We, at our family, use and cook venison meat very frequently, sometimes more than other type of meats, especially during the hunting season.

The only difficulty we face is that our friends and extended family are not as enthusiastic about venison as we are, even though it is one of the healthiest meats out there.

We have had to come up with ways to cook it that can appeal to everybody, and smoking method has been a big hit.

By making smoked venison meat, we have managed to leave it moist, very tender and to taste amazing.

We hope your family and friends will enjoy it as much as we do.

About Kendrick

Kendrick is an outdoor cooking enthusiast, living in Kansas. He loves to share his passion about outdoor cooking with everyone on various Social Media platforms (Read More)

21 thoughts on “Smoking Deer Meat – Ultimate Guide to Smoke Venison”

  1. Followed recipe for brine to the T. Brined my tenderloins for 24 hrs. Used my pork rub (sweet) and let sit overnight. Smoked wrapped in bacon for 3 hours at 225. Best Venison I have ever had. No gameyness (and I even left a membrane on one), because the rub was sweet. SOOOOOO tender because the salty brine opened the meat right up. Just amazing all around. Lucky some of my family (in WI) loves venison. Them medallions disappeared quick!

    Reply
  2. 1 tablespoon of Cayenne? Ouch!
    I noticed Hank above said he wrapped his in bacon wouldn’t that hinder the venison being smoked?

    Reply
    • Hello Chris,
      Thanks for coming by. I personally have had great results with that Season Recipe. I think that the spices and ingredients used in the seasoning are actually depending on your taste and preferences.
      As for the bacon wrapping, I know that it may impact the smoking process but I have never tried to wrap my venison and since Hank has had great results doing so, maybe I will try by myself in the future.
      Cheers, Kendrick.

      Reply
  3. Hello KENDRICK, just found this recipe and gonna try it. I have a pellet smoker from Cabelas, basically like a traeger. I’ve never had any smoked venison ham, but everything I hear sounds like , I’ve been missing out… anyway, Thanks and I’ll let you know how things go !

    Reply
  4. I never liked venison until I tried it prepared it this way. I have a gas smoker with the water pan in the bottom and it helps keep the meat moist and so tender you can cut it with a fork.

    Reply
  5. We have two doe hams we are smoking one is 1.66 lbs the other is 1.75. We put them in and an hour later the Internal temp has already reached 1.27 degrees that seems fast… i have never smoked venison before and i don’t want to ruin my meat. Do you have any advice for this new smoker!!!???

    Reply
    • Hello Britt,
      Actually, 1.27 degrees it doesn’t seem too fast to me. For 1-2 lbs hams, you should let the meat smoke for around 2-3 hours or until it reaches the internal temperature of 140°F.
      Hope it helps,
      Cheers Kendrick.

      Reply
  6. Excellent! The only thing is I put half the cayenne in the rub! I knew that it would set my man on fire. Lol

    Reply
  7. You may be off for Thanksgiving, but I’ll post my question in hopes that you might get to respond today. However, I’d appreciate your response whenever. I have brined a deer ham on the bone. I am going to debone it today and remove the fat and muscle. Then, I will marinate it for 24 hours. I use a marinade and not a rub. I plan on injecting the ham with the marinade. Do you ever use marinade instead of rubs, and do (would) you inject venison?

    Reply
    • Hello William,
      Thanks for visiting my site. Actually, I always use dry rub for venison meat since I like the taste of the cooked meat that way. You can choose to use marinate instead and skip the dry rubs but after you finish cooking it, the meat surface will not have the delicious crispy-looking surface, since there is no dry-rub applied.
      I hope this helps,
      Cheers Kendrick

      Reply
  8. Just wanted to let you know we tried your smoked version to the T on your brine and rub. We have a Oklahoma Joe smoker using wood. It was so tender and had a great smoky flavor. We had a 2 pound roast and left it on for 3 hrs. PERFECT

    Reply
  9. Will a shoulder roast, which normally takes a lot of time to tenderize have to be smoked for a longer time, and will it dry out if so?

    Reply
    • Hello Julian,
      If you are planning to smoke a tougher cut of meat like a shoulder roast, it will normally require a longer smoking time to be fully smoked and become tender. Since tougher cuts have more connective tissues, it will need more time to break down. That’s why the slow cooking/smoking is the most recommended method to cook these type of cuts.

      As you mentioned, with longer smoking times, there is a risk of drying out the meat. In order for you to prevent this, it’s crucial to control the temperature and to try and retaining the moisture by using a water pan or spritzing the meat occasionally with a liquid (broth, apple juice etc.) during cooking.

      I hope this helps, let me know how it goes,
      Cheers Kendrick

      Reply
    • Hello William,
      You can actually switch your browser to ‘Reading Mode’ and only have the text and headings in a more friendly interface. You can decide to print it or share that way.

      I hope this helps,
      Kind Regards, Kendrick

      Reply

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