Deer Tenderloin

I think you would be better off doing it Hot and Fast on the grill to rare or med rare. Maybe put some wood in for smoke.

Don knows stuff!

Thanks Don and Tom. Amy suggestions on internal temp. My research has turned up a wide range - some say 130 other say at least 160 for food safety reasons.

Nate

If you have some confidence in your product safety,folks will cook them to finish around 135º.This often means pulling them off a hot fire,around 125º and resting.

I guess if you were concerned about trichinosis,finishing above 137º would be a goal and about medium doneness.

The government may feel that a few mins at 160º will make little varmits dead.

I'm with Tom....If you are confident the meat was cared for properly and you like rare to med rare, take it off at his temps. I just think a longer low temp smoke will dry it out way too much.

I don't know much about venison. But since it sounds like it is best rare to med rare couldn't it be done the same as beef tenderloin or ribeye. Set your CS to 210˚ with your wood of choice and smoke slow and slow until the deer tenderloin is at around 125˚; then finish with a sear on the grill or in a 450˚ oven for 5 minutes or so; being careful not to over cook.

db

If you were going to 160F, you might as well turn the tenderloin into sausage.

I eat a lot of Venison Tenderloin. Almost once a week...

The best that I have found is marinade it over night in a mix of soy sauce, lemon juice, pepper, garlic powder and a little hot sauce. Most importantly add a coarsely chopped onion to the marinade. Fire them on the grill over medium heat and add some of the onions to the top of the tenderloin along with a little marinade. Flip them and do it again finishing up the onions and marinade. Cook them to rare / med-rare. Also, cut the chunks generously sized. Venison is so damn lean it dries up in no time.

Its not really smoking or BBQ but it is damn good that way.

What TN Q said.

SmokinMAINEiac (who has eaten deer meat for almost 60 years and still loves it).