curing and smoking whole venison backstrap ?

[CapnMP]

I tried to brine a backstrap but after smoking to a temp of 150, its appearance was very nice. but the salt was over powering . I would love to know a good brine recipe and how long to leave in the brine before smoking.

[Joe Hell]

@Curtis-p I don’t normally brine red meats…I haven’t tried it that I can remember. Pork and chicken is about it. For something as special as backstrap I might even stick to salt and pepper although Walton’s has tons of seasonings that would work really, really well. My favorite all around seasoning/marinade that I have been using lately is the Soluble Pa’s Black Bull Seasoning. It would be great with the backstrap particularly if injected. After the initial ‘marinading’ process you could pat dry and apply any number of homemade rubs or available seasonings at Waltons.

[Jonathon]

@Curtis-p With a backstrap I’d use Pa’s Black Bull too, I did in this video https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/879/how-to-make-venison-backstrap and it was absolutely amazing. When you say brine are you meaning an actual brine or a marinade? Pa’s has both an injectible and a marinade which would work well!

Rub the outside of it with your favorite rub before smoking and it will come out delicious!

[CapnMP]

Joe Hell
thanks for the info, I had not heard of this until 3 years ago and I think the reason it was brined was to cure or preserve it while
frozen. A friend of a friend makes these after hunting season so they can be taken out of the freezer and sliced up for snacks and they are fantastic but he wont share the recipe. When they are unthawed even after many months they are still perfect.
Have you tried freezing any portion and is it still as good when first made?

[CapnMP]

Jonathon

I will definitely being trying your recipe. I guess my real question is if it was also cured in a brine and then frozen would that keep the backstrap just as good coming back out of the freezer. as with snack sticks or even chipped venison.
I did 1 backstrap with 2 teaspoons of pink salt a 1 1/2 cups of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar is 2 gallons of water. it turned out ok but the inside didn’t stay pink.
Then I found another recipe for the brine. 1 1/2 cups of salt 1/2 cup of pink cure 1 cup of sugar per gallon of water… left in frig for 7 days and when I smoked the backstraps they were pink in the middle but inedible because of the amount of salt. made me sick because I used and lost 2 backstraps.
what i’m trying to accomplish is being able to freeze the product and then just pull out and thaw to serve in slices,maybe with cheese and crackers or so on .
Any input would be greatly appreciated

[Joe Hell]

@Curtis-p I’ve never seen any recipe call for that much curing salt for such a small portion of meat. Sure Cure for example calls for one teaspoon for 5 lbs of meat. A half cup is 24 teaspoons…that’s enough for 120 lbs of meat! You could be treading in dangerous waters. I would forget brining the backstrap altogether. If anything I would treat it like roast beef deli meat if that’s what you are after. That or pick a different cut of meat entirely. Backstrap is a special cut that doesn’t need much to be spectacular. IMO I would give up on the brine and curing salts but that’s just me.

[CapnMP]

Thanks again for the info, I guess my only other question would be about sure cure, I thought the 1 teaspoon for 5 lbs was for ground meat or a dry rub. If its in a brine would that change to an amount per gallon of water? and or would I even need a cure in brine with all the other salt. like when making pastrami.

[Joe Hell]

@Curtis-p I’ll let the experts field that question! I could be wrong on the cure…it just seems like a ton.

[CapnMP]

10 4, Thank you.

[Bhouin1086]

@Curtis-p I have made pastrami out of rear leg roasts and they turn out awesome (I would have a hard time doing that with a back strap being a great piece of meat). I cure it for three days in the fridge in a wet brine and then cook it to 150 on the smoker. Let me know if you want the recipe

[Joe Hell]

Bhouin1086 I was just thinking that pastrami might be the way to go as well. Or maybe that was the initial intent regarding the ‘brine’?

[Bhouin1086]

@Curtis-p @JOE HELL
Here is the recipe I use, never had anyone complain about it. Makes a great ruban sandwich

[CapnMP]

Bhouin1086
That sounds like what I was looking for, do you think the amount of pink salt would vary depending on the size of the roast is is it depending upon the amount of water?

[schultzgang]

@Curtis-p why waste a good back strap brining & smoking. Just my opinion!

[CapnMP]

schultzgang I will be trying the recipe out on a roast before I move onto the back strap again.
What I’ve had before was truly fantastic and was just a really easy way to save and serve

[Bhouin1086]

@Curtis-p the amount of brine you are making

[Bhouin1086]

schultzgang I agree that is why I use the big roast from the back legs

[Joe Hell]

Bhouin1086 That sounds excellent!

[akdave]

@Curtis-p. Be careful when using Pink Curing Salt as 1 ounce will cure 25 lbs of ground meat. Pink Curing Salt cannot be directly substituted for Mortons Tender Quick as a 2 lb bag Of Mortons Tender Quick only has .32 Ounces of Curing Salt and the rest is Salt and Sugar according to the label. Pink Curing Salt is Potent Stuff!!! and should be used accordingly.

[Bhouin1086]

Joe Hell here is the last one I have in the freezer I made about a dozen of them this year! They go fast lol