Grilled Deer Filet Recipe
Venison Tenderloin (Deer Backstraps) cut into butterflied, deer filets and grilled. I love eating wild venison. In Mississippi we are blessed with a healthy population of white tail deer; and if you want free-range, non-gmo, completely organic red meat, then deer is the way to go. In this recipe I break down the loins (aka backstraps) into butterflied filets. After a short bath in a special marinade, I wrap them in bacon and sear hot & fast over good charcoal. I get a good bed of hot coals and place a set of GrillGrates on top of my standard grill grate. Then when the grill temp is up to around 450-500, it’s time to grill these bacon wrapped deer filets. I do my standard cook for any cut I’m cooking hot and fast. I did shorten my time a little since this was a smaller cut and I wanted to cook it more rare… but the technique was the same. I place the steak down on one side, after 1.5 minutes I rotate it 90 degrees to get those great cross-hatch marks (this is where the GrillGrates really come in handy). Then after about 3 total minutes I flip it and repeat the process. I used my spatula, but really I just used my hands. And with a white cotton glove under a black nitrile glove, you can handle the hot meat without getting burned. To find out more about the gloves I’m wearing in this video, check it out here>> Deer meat is best eaten rare, for me that’s about 120 degrees internal (it’s going to carry over to around 125 internal in the rest). It’s just like cooking a steak only better! But if you wanted to take it more to a medium rare, you can take it to around 125-128 internal and let it carry over to a medium rare – medium. But please, nothing further than that! You can pair these filets with any side dish. I serve them with Grilled Asparagus topped with a Creamy Boursin Cheese Sauce. PrintGrilled Deer Filet Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Venison filets
- 8 strips of thin sliced Bacon
- 2 Tablespoon Killer Hogs AP Rub
- 1 Tablespoon Killer Hogs Steak Rub
- 1 1/2 cups Venison Marinade (recipe below)
Venison Marinade:
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 2 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Killer Hogs Steak Rub
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Killer Hogs AP Rub
- Combine Ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until sugar and honey are incorporated.
Grilled Asparagus Recipe:
- 1 bunch of fresh Asparagus
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Killer Hogs AP Rub
- Rinse and drain Asparagus. Remove the woody stem end and toss with olive oil. Season with AP Rub and place on 400 degree grill for 8-10 minutes turning once for even cooking.
Boursin Cheese Sauce:
- 1 package Boursin Cheese Garlic & Herb
- 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Pepper
- pinch of salt to taste
- Place Boursin cheese in a small pot over medium low heat. Add heavy cream a little at a time while stirring to melt cheese. (add additional heavy cream 1 teaspoon at a time if needed). Season with lemon pepper and a pinch of salt to taste. Serve warm over Asparagus.
Instructions
- Trim silver skin and excess fat from 2 deer loins (back straps). Cut each loin into 4” portions and butterfly each by making a cut 3/4 of the way down the middle of each portion. (be careful not to cut the steak all the way through.
- Place each filet into a shallow dish and pour marinade over the top. Cover the dish in plastic wrap and soak for 2 hours.
- Pre cook bacon in oven on a baking sheet for 6 minutes at 400 degrees. Drain on paper towel to remove excess grease. It should be slightly brown and pliable.
- Prepare charcoal grill for direct cooking over hot coals. Grill temperature should be 475-500 degrees.
- Remove each filet from marinade and drain excess onto paper towel. Wrap each filet with bacon and use a toothpick to secure.
- Season the outside with AP and Steak Rub.
- Place each filet on the hot grate and cook for 1 1/2 minutes, twist the filets to create grill marks and cook an additional 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat this process on the other side.
- Pull the filets off the grill when the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees for rare or continue to cook until your desired doneness.
- Rest the deer filets for 5-7 minutes before serving. Plate with Asparagus topped with Boursin Cheese sauce.
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Brand new to the EGG. and look forward to trying out your BBQ techniques
Malcolm I can’t stop shooting deer and making this marinade for my backstraps. Absolutely my favorite way to eat it. Keep up the great work and I’ll keep buying your products.
I tried the recipe out last night. it was the first time I’ve ever cooked deer, and it was amazing! had to change a few things bc of what I had, but it was great nonetheless.
★★★★★
I love all your work and advise, I’ve learned a TON!!! However, it’s my understanding that venison should be cooked until 145 degrees. Isn’t 125-130 too rare for safe eating?
Sorry, “…advice…”