Elk Roast

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First time trying this. Sounds good in theory. Injected roast with BarBQue sause last night with a home made dry rub. This morning put small cuts into it with bacon packed into the cuts. Then warped it up with bacon. Going to smoke it tonight.

So was this over kill. My elk roast usually come out dry so that's why I am going crazy with the bacon. Plus never smoked a elk roast. Figured this will be really good or ehhh it was ok.

 

[Whisky]

Sounds interesting.

What kind of smoker?? Sounds to me like you have been overcooking it. I would smoke until internal temp of 110-115 at 225 degrees and then reverse sear on a grill until about 125-130 internal temp, and pull it to rest. Shouldnt take long to get up to 130, especially with the bacon flaring up. Just a quick sear on both sides ought to do it, crisp up the bacon. Your roast should be very juicy and medium rare.

A lot of people with roasts think you have to cook them until they are fork tender, like brisket, which is too dry and overcooked IMO for lean wild game. I will take them a little tougher and juicy medium rare all day.

 

[Stid2677]

Brine it first,, soak your roast in a basic salt and sugar brine overnight. That will keep keep it moist, lean meat lacks the fat that commercial meat has.

 

[Poser]

Brine it first,, soak your roast in a basic salt and sugar brine overnight. That will keep keep it moist, lean meat lacks the fat that commercial meat has.

I'll second brining. That will help with retaining moisture. Be sure to rinse the excess salt off the meat once the brine has completed.
As for injecting, I am not a proponent of stabbing holes in meat.

 

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I'm using a cheap HomeDepo elec smoke. I usually cook the roast in the oven. This will be the first go round on the smoker. Don't see this being a 5 Star meal, but I hope it will be Redneck tasty.

 

[gelton]

I smoked an Elk Roast this year. Just put a dry rub on it and wrapped it in bacon. Came out okay but the crock pot one came out much better. I smoked it on my offset firebox cooker to an internal temp of 140 and it came out a little dry.

 

[Stid2677]

Lean meat is best cooked using one of two ways,, fast and hot, or low and slow. It also works good to cook in a baking bag.

 

[Jason Snyder]

For smoking I would go internal temp of 125 or so, it will continue to cook inside for a while after you remove it. When I smoke duck breasts I leave them pretty red in the middle and they are phenomenal.

For a good crock pot roast, cut some slits in the roast and put slivers of garlic in them. Coat with a rub and sear the outside in a skillet. Put in the crock pot, and add any veggies you want, along with a cup of red wine and a cup of beef stock. Crock pot at high for an hour and then turn to low.

 

[Whisky]

When I smoke duck breasts I leave them pretty red in the middle and they are phenomenal.

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Funny, I was just looking a couple days ago on smoking goose and duck breasts. I eat my fair share of waterfowl in a year, but have never tried just brining and smoking them before. I do chicken all the time, and have done whole farm raised ducks before. How you do it? Cure or brine them, and then just smoke until rare/med rare? I think sliced thin they would make for some good sandwiches.

 

[Jason Snyder]

http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?t=241439&highlight=smoked+goose

Brine Recipe

1/2 gallon Apple Juice
1/2 gallon Orange Juice
1 gallon of Ice water
2 cups Kosher
1/2 cup Mortons tenderquick
2 cups brown sugar
2 table spoons nutmeg
1/3 cup pepper corns
generous portion of pickling spice

I boiled the juice, salt, tenderquick and brown sugar until all was dissolved, while still hot I put in all remaining spices and stirred that up, then dump the gallon of ice water. Let cool completelty.

The goose breast were trimmed of all silver skin, shot up area and fat. Then I brined them for 5 days. Got the smoker to 190 degrees and smoked them for 4 hours using apple wood chips. The last half hour I basted them with a mixture of 1 cup of honey and 1 cup of teriyaki sauce whisked together. My wife still does not believe me that those are goose.

I let them cool and sliced them thin and served them with hot chinese mustard. They are very good.

Here you go. I only smoke for about 2 hours for ducks. It's too good to waste on sandwiches!

 

[Whisky]

Thanks!!! Will be giving it a try once the weather shapes up!

 

[ScottP]

I'll second brining. That will help with retaining moisture. Be sure to rinse the excess salt off the meat once the brine has completed.
As for injecting, I am not a proponent of stabbing holes in meat.

Third on brining first for elk/deer before smoking if you want to slice it like a roast. There are many variations you can go with, but I typically add 1/4 cup crushed juniper berry to 1/2gal of basic salt/sugar brine. I just had a smoked backstrap sandwich for lunch today. Do not overcook it! Medium rare is awesome here.

If your desired end product is more like a brisket or BBQed beef, you can do your dry rub and then smoke (unbrined) for about an hour at 250 (less time if your pieces aren't very thick). Then transfer it to a slow cooker with a bottle or so of good beer, 1/4c cider vinegar, and about 1/2 - 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (you can get creative here). Cook on low until it can be pulled apart. I did this with the neck off one of my elk last year and it was awesome (better texture than the brisket I did at same time). This is how I've found you can get the smoky BBQd flavor, but don't dry it out to shoe leather.