Looking for advice, Grilled Back Strap

[Gibbs44]

Set up a hunt for my neighbor through a guy at church. He got his first doe and first buck (happened to be a nice 8pt by the way). Anyway, he wants to share the meat, and would like to grill some backstraps. I've always sliced them into small steaks and fried, and put to gravy.

I've not really done much grilling of the backstraps, anyone got any good recipes/advice for such a thing?

Thanks,

Sully

[Beagle333]

Wrap em in bacon to keep them from drying out. Mmmmmm..... bacon. :-D

[Badger Matt]

Think rare, medium rare at most, as overcooking venison dries it out.

Heat up some blueberry jam and use it as a topping for a nice sauce that complements the meat.

[Anonym]

I like to make a bacon weave to wrap around backstraps and prefer to smoke them for a couple hours. Without a smoker, only light half the grill and slow cook it from the non - lit side, rotating often to cook evenly. I've never seasoned wrapping in bacon and it's a fantastic flavor!

[dragon813gt]

A simple way to grill is slow cook and season w/ pepper. Backstrap is one fine cut of meat that will be ruined w/ over seasoning. The meat is the flavor :)

I prefer to smoke them over grilling. Less chance of over cooking them. You want them to be medium rare at most.

[jonas302]

I put rub with salt and pepper plenty of salt maybe some season salt or garlic what ever suits your fancy the salt helps lock in juices a couple tablespoons olive oil in a ziplock bag refrigerate overnight these are cut about 6 inches long

Have your grill hot then turn the burner down and let them babys sear on the hot grill also locks juices in turn a few times until your satisfied me just barely pink in the middle put on plate loosely cover with foil and let rest 5-10 mins when you slice them the plate will fill with juices Venison does not have to be dry its pretty much the only meat I eat and wouldn't trade it for fatty beef any day

[Hickory]

Nise is correct in the proper grilling technique.
This is a piece of prime venison that should never be over cooked.

I butterfly the backstrap about 5/8" - 3/4" thick marinade in pineapple juice for 16-18 hrs. This will help to tenderize the meat.
Using a very hot grill, cook for no more then 90 seconds on each side.
DO NOT ADD ANY SALT TO THE MEAT UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO EAT IT. Adding salt to the meat or marinade will only help to dry out the meat making it tough as leather.

I like my meat medium well, but venison backstrap is best on the rare side.

[Bodydoc447]

I often grill them as butterflied chops seasoned with Morton's season salt with a little compound butter (I like garlic) on top to finish them off. Agree with the medium rare. They get a bit dry if overcooked.

Doc

[Lloyd Smale]

i have a simple way that works well for me. I put the whole back strap on the hot grill. I sear it on both sides to seal in the juices then cook it hole till its about cooked through half way (testing with a knife) then i take it off and butterfly the whole lenght of it and then put the raw sides down on the grill untill it is cooked (a little pink) All the time im cooking it I brush on melted butter to keep it moist. As for seasonings i like the marinaded in italian dressing or ranch dressing and sprinkied with motreal steak sesoning but truth be told there great without the seasoning too.

[Gibbs44]

Hadn't thought about butterflied back strap. I might just have to try that one. All good suggestions, now I'm hungry.

[winelover]

This is the marinade I use for whole backstraps.

2/3 cup of red wine vinegar

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 TBSP of Ketchup

1 TSP of Rosemary (dry)

1 clove of Garlic (crushed)

1 TSP of Hot Sauce

Mix together and place in zip-lock bag with whole backstraps. Refrigerate and marinate for no more than 5-6 hours. I use a gas grill, total cooking time is approximately 20 minutes. I turn the meat every 5 minutes and baste with the extra marinade. This marinade works great on pork tenderloin also. Pork can be marinated, overnight. Venison tends to absorb too much vinegar if marinated too long.

Winelover

[**oneshot**]

Clean any and all blueing off the meat, Coat with BBQ sauce(sweet baby rays is what I use) set in fridge for a few hours. I get my BBQ grill up to 500(I have a 3 burner type) Put the meat over the flame portion of the rack. Roll them a 1/4 turn every 30-40 seconds keeping them over the flame. On the last turn, turn your burners down to 1/4 power(250degrees or so) and shut off the middle heat. Move the meat to the center of the grill for indirect heat. Cook about 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the loin with a turn every few minutes to keep it evenly cooked. Keep a close watch on the temp as I don't know your grill. The outside should never look like it's drying up Meat should still be very (to put it into a better term) limp when lifted on one end or very squishy when pinched with the tongs. Remove from grill and let stand for 10minutes. This usually works out to a medium rare favoring the rare side. Serve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! make sure to get some for yourself as you serve.

[Gibbs44]

They turned out great. Did some teriyaki butterfly cuts, and a roullade, or however you spell it. Pretty much cooked medium, and delicious. He wanted to grill out short order, so we didn't have time to marinade much, otherwise I'm sure it would have been better. Thanks again for the advice.

[Lloyd Smale]

hard to find a better meal then back straps on the grill.

[DougGuy]

These all sound good. For those of you who marinade and/or use a little vinegar in seasoning venison, don't overlook raspberry infused balsamic vinegar from Alessi. This stuff goes well with red meat, and you get a little raspberry undertone to the gravy.