Do you grill your backstrap? If so what type seasoning.do you use and is the meat dry when finished?

Thanks!

I like Prasek's chop dust or the Chupacabra seasoning. I usually sous vide my back strap, since it comes out perfect every time. It doesn't dry out if you cook to temp which I usually do 130° I wouldn't go above 135°, when you grill.

Not as good on the grill as the tenderloin but it beats the snot out of doing without.

I marinate them in Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing for several hours really like the way they turn out.

Backstrap is the only thing I still marinate in Italian dressing. I cut mine into pieces about 3/4" thick, poke them full of holes with a fork, then wrap the outside in thin bacon making little filet mignons. Put them all in a pan and marinate in Zesty Italian dressing, Allegro, Worcestershire, Soy, lemon, & onion for 48 hrs. Fire up the pit and cook on indirect heat, I lay them all out on the grill and dust them with the seasoning of your choice. I don't flip them, I let that juice form little pools on top and it keeps the meat moist. When almost done I glaze them with melted strawberry preserves. Now, this is what I do when cooking for people that say they don't really like deer meat. After trying it this way, they always get gobbled up. I've even muscled out hind quarters from old rutted up buck deer and done them this way, and people thought it was backstrap. If folks enjoy it, it's wort the effort to me.

When grilling for myself or folks that DO like deer meat, I don't do all that. I just marinate in a little Allegro/Worcestershire usually, dust with Montreal Steak Seasoning or salt & pepper, and sear quick in a hot cast iron skillet over mesquite coals. I treat it just like a beef steak and tent it with foil with a little butter to rest for 5-8 minutes. Both methods are delicious, and the meat is always tender & juicy as long as it's not overcooked. A WHOLE lot of folks out there overcook venison and then complain that it's tuff & dry LOL.

I think the trick is not to overcook it. Regardless of the spices/marinade you use, the more you overcook it the drier and tougher the meat will be.

You could consider doing the backstraps as a Venison Wellington. Here is a video of a chef making a Wellington with a spingbok "fillet" (is that what you would call a tenderloin in the US?). Anyway, I'm quite sure that the chef in fact used a springbok backstrap for the Wellington because the fillet of a spirngbok is much smaller than the cut of meat he is used.

https://vimeo.com/178327487

I have made the above recipe 3 times using backstrap of mountain reedbuck (roughly the same size as a springbok) and it was excellent every time.

I just go with olive oil rubbed on for fat, course black pepper, Kosher salt and crushed garlic in a Ziplock preferably overnight. Direct heat over hot charcoal, pulled off rare and let rest.

Some may knock it, but using a sous vide setup is an amazing way to cook backstrap. I'll use the grill just to sear it. I cut back strap into 8"-10" long pieces (whatever amount you would normally cook for a meal) and vacuum seal them. When I am ready to eat some I set the sous vide to 125°f and throw the backstrap in still frozen for about 2 hours (1 hour is fine if it's thawed). Pull it out, pat it dry with paper towels, hit it with some kosher salt and garlic powder, and throw it on the grill or in the cast iron with some garlic infused clarified butter to sear it. Sometimes i'll serve it with some chimichurri sauce or something like that. Everyone loves it. Comes out very juicy and tender.

Hard to knock it when it comes out perfect every single time, I am very pro sous vide.

That looks perfect! I'm gonna try it one of these days...

It is excellent even doing the final steps in a hot skillet in the house. Mine always set the smoke detector off though..lol. I have done Sous Vide HQ steaks the same way in the house and on the grill, both were tender and excellent.I like to do BS marinated in Paces Picante sauce overnight and then grill them over mesquite coals. I never add any extra spices to them before grilling, just take them out the marinate and straight onto the pit. I am going to try one Sous Vide in the Picante Sauce one time also.

WHAT, PACE!

Gettarope

There are better options now...I started with the Pace way back in early 90's.

Souls vide is “cool” but I still prefer grill marks and a little char!
Roaring coals as hot as possible and only needs a minute or two on either side!
I target 140*

You still achieve that with the sous vide.

hard to grill imho, rec sous vide then throw on grill to finish/grill marks

When I grill blackstrap,all I put on it is olive oil,salt, pepper,and garlic.
Grill to rare or medium rare at the very most.
It will not be dry.

Salt and pepper wrap with bacon and on the grill till med. rare.

I got to figure out what I'm missing with the bacon. I love bacon, but wrapping anything in bacon has always been disappointing. I end up with no sear on the meat and chewy bacon or if I try and get the bacon a little crisp the the meat is overdone. What am I doing wrong here?

We typically cut our backstraps in 6 and 8 inch lengths. Rub in olive oil and season with whatever you would put on steak, grill the darn thing no more than medium rare - overcooking wild game is, indeed, the very worst thing you can do to it. Once cooked and only once cooked, cut it into portions for serving.

Lovey my grilled backstrap and grill it far more often than I fry it (although that ain't bad either).

A venison backstrap has little to no fat the bacon keeps it moist and juicy. I cook the strap to rare-med. rare and toss the bacon before eating.

Use the thin cheap bacon for wrapping lean meat, if you use thick cut your meat will be over cooked by the time the bacon is crisp.

I prefer to season, then sear in a cast iron skillet with garlic butter to 130*. Axis filets like this will melt in your mouth.

But I don’t have an issue keeping the meat moist and juicy without bacon? So you would just end up eating the meat with no char on it?

You are probably right I just though bacon would keep it moister (IDK if this is a word)lol. Gonna try your method next time .Thanks