A Christmas Buck For Dinner

I took a small buck on Christmas day and spent half of the next day butchering the meat for a dinner with my wife’s family. I decided to prepare some fresh venison in a couple of my favorite ways. I took one of the back straps and cut off all the silver skin and membrane before brining for 8 hours in a brine of kosher salt, brown sugar, with garlic, allspice and cloves dissolved in a large mixing bowl. I then rubbed the back strap with fresh course ground black pepper. I also took the neck of the buck and trimmed on the membrane from it. I rubbed the neck with brisket rub which consists of kosher salt, course ground black pepper, garlic powder and allspice. Both of these cuts were placed on my smoker to cook for about 5 hours at around 225 degrees. The slow oak smoke permeates the meat with smoke flavor and hold the juices in the meat. It is cooked to a gorgeous red brown color by the oak wood smoke and has a flavor like no other. The fact that the meat is from our own harvest adds to the meal. Here are before and after pictures of the meat. Good eating, Wild Ed