Venison got a little tough

[44man]

I took out a small roast and made thick steaks, wrapped in bacon, little olive oil and seasoning.
I used the broiler and cut beef time a little because of the foil I put under the meat. Nice and pink in the middle but chewy.
Next day I sliced very thin, heated a baked tater with sausage gravy, then the meat just a little. It helped a lot.
I don't know if the broiler is to blame, never got tough with blackened in the cast skillet. Only second time in my life to use a broiler. Works great on Omaha Steaks.
Should I marinate?

[fivefang]

.44, why not use a "sauer-braten" marinade ?

[fourarmed]

There are very few ways to get tender venison. Blackening is number one. Red hot iron is by far the easiest way to get high heat to the surface of the meat fast. You can tenderize by pounding in seasoned flour using the edge of a large saucer or small plate, then flash fry in a skillet with very hot oil. About the only other way is to cook in a wet environment until the meat falls apart.

I have done whole hind quarter roasts with sort-of success by larding heavily with salt pork and cuts of garlic and lemon, marinating in red wine and onions, then roasting over a very hot wood fire with frequent turning and basting. Stop when internal temp reaches about 110 degrees, and wrap in foil in a hot oven until it reaches about 130 or 140. This is pretty good, but still not as good as blackening, and unless you are feeding 15 or 20 people, you have leftovers that are nowhere near as good as blackened round steak.

[MaryB]

To many broilers in home ovens are way under powered. You could try making a platform to lift the meat closer to the flame(I am guessing gas oven, if it is electric lost cause, they do not have the heat needed) and sear it faster so it cooks less inside...I use a fry pan that is all stainless and crumple foil to bring the height even with the top lip of the fry pan. That puts the steak about an inch under the flame in my broiler.

[Lloyd Smale]

tell you something that works good for the tougher cuts. Get them half froze and slice them paper thin with a razor knife and fry them in butter with onions, mushrooms and peppers and put them on French bread with lots of cheese. Makes the best philly cheese steak you ever ate!

[Wild Bill 7]

Try using Adolphs meat tenderizer. Regular and/or low sodium. Works every time.

[Idaho Mule]

Just out of curiosity, what part of the deer was the "small roast" from? JW

[MT Gianni]

If I were to guess I would suspect cut thick and broiled. That will increase cooking time and cause the outer surface to be tough with a underfed heat source. When I started in the gas business I saw home ranges rated 9,000 btu for tops and 22,000 btu for ovens and broilers. That has change to today's 9,9, 16 and 5500 btu tops, 20,00 for ovens and 16-18,000 broilers. With the space it is tough to get the heat right where you need it for quick cooking and it is often insufficient. Thinner cuts help some but the thicker ones are best put on a heavy heat sink like a preheated cast iron pan.
The reason for this is not lawyers but appliance efficiency ratings. In general the smaller a burner is the easier it is to get a high flame efficiency rating. The higher the rating the easier it is to sell. Heaven forbid that the burner already modulates from lo to high, why not keep it at 22,000 btus and add a low med and high setting.

[fourarmed]

However you choose to cook your venison, using a Jaccard 48-tooth tenderizer on it judiciously will make it tender. To have it juicy, there is no substitute for high heat applied quickly.

[MaryB]

On this subject... anyone have one of the small Weber Q gas grills like the 2200? I am curious if it has enough oomph to sear a steak decently. I can grill on charcoal but cooking for one it gets kind of expensive...

[mcdaniel.mac]

Has anyone tried the "pseudo-sous-vide" technique? I learned it via another forum and it works well on pork and beef. You vaccuum bag the meat with some marinade in the bag, put it in a hot water bath (temperature depends on the desired cook, probably go about 140 for venison) for an hour, then do a quick sear in a skillet on both sides to lock in the juices.

I haven't had venison to try it on since I learned it, but I figured I'd share anyway.

[Lloyd Smale]

that's another thing I do with tougher front sholder and hind quarter cuts. Run them through my cuber attachment for the grinder. cubes steaks are a family favorite around here. Chicken fry them and cover them with sausage gravy!

However you choose to cook your venison, using a Jaccard 48-tooth tenderizer on it judiciously will make it tender. To have it juicy, there is no substitute for high heat applied quickly.

[44man]

My oven is propane and the broiler gets hot, distance to the flame is good.
I used 6 minutes first side and 5 the other.
I used a roast from the hind quarter.
Broiler was hot enough to cook the bacon wrap in that short time.
I have the Jaccard and should have used it. I made a big hammer for chicken fried. This thing does a job.Attachment 185284 Big diamond checkering on one side.

[Wayne Smith]

I've rubbed neck roasts, covered with thick cut bacon, and put them in the smoker for about five hours. Came out good and tender.

[44man]

Can't beat the smoker but time was short.

[lightman]

My Wife will beat it half to death with a tenderizing hammer. Everything except the backstrap. If it a larger buck, the backstrap gets beat too. She just cooked a plate of the sweetmeat tonight! Yum Yum!