Elk

[Rookie]

Who's done it? What kind of wood is best?

[Bad Santa]

Did what? :shock: Hardwood works best, except if your gonna get hit with it. Then, I'd prefer a soft wood.... :wink: :lol:

[Rookie]

The best advice I've had in ages - lol. I guess that was the briefest, most bland post I've ever made, but I was kinda in a hurry at the time.

Anywho, I've got a bunch of Elk roasts that my buddy gave me to put on the smoker. I've never eaten the stuff let alone try to cook it. Anyone have suggestions. I've got hickory, mesquite, pecan, and I can get something else if it would work better than what I've got.

TIA

Rookie

[Bad Santa]

Just a lil bit more info about what it is your wanting to do, would probably get more responses.
You smoking a hind leg ham or a front shoulder roast, back loin? Grilling steaks or what? Usually pecan is milder, so a lil harder to oversmoke the meat but will taste the smoke. Oak is heavier or a good one to use along
with another wood for flavor
Hicory'sgood but can quickley oversmoke and make the meat taste bitter. So there are lots of choices at your disposal or use.

[Bad Santa]

Elk is one of the best wildgame meats I've eaten, but it is very lean so it tends to dry out pretty quickley. Which can be a real problem. As a rule of thumb most of the roasts from wildgame, since they are very lean, are braised to soften the meat and produce a sauce to moisten while cooking.
How thick are these roasts? Are they still the big hunks of meat taken off of the bone by your friend or have they been already processed by a butcher?

You may want to try and inject them with a marinade, cover with a rub and while smoking, baste or heavy mist them regularly, every 45 min. to a hour. Take to an internal temp of about 142 then pull and wrap in foil and place in a dry igloo, wrap the foiled roast in towels and let it rest at least for 30 minutes to an hour. Just be aware of drying out problems.

[3970010]

Elk is pretty horrible. My suggestion, Put it on a Fed-Ex truck with my address on it. I will dispose of it for you. Make sure you can cold ship it. PM me for the correct address.

[Bad Santa]

That's mighty kind of you to offer that 397sumthin.....yeah, Rookie, best thing to do is just send it to 397.....he'll get rid of it for ya.


Psst 397.........I'll call ya later to see if he fell for it :wink:

[Txngent]

Hell, he will probably place with it! :)

Do ya'll ever soak wild game in buttermilk for a bit? I sometimes soak the more stronger smelling cuts and have had pretty good luck. I have also soaked deer roast in a brine... 3/4C. Molassas, 1 Cup Tender Quick and about 4 gallons of water. I use a cooler and soak it overnight for about 8 hours. Turns out pretty tasty.

[Mic]

I agree wid Santa in that Elk is one of the finest wild game I've ever consumed! Like he said, it is lean and will dry out so a marinate of some sort would be advisable. Think I would use pecan wood for smoke.

Mic

[TexLaw]

A brine could work nice, or a quick and hot cook. I don't think I'd leave it on a low pit for hours and hours, unless I wanted a paperweight or cannonball.


TL

[mykidsdad]

Got a few of these critters in the yard everyday:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/backcountrybbq/IMG_7216_edited.jpg

Cooking elk poses a few problems. Most important to you is that it is VERY lean. Other problem is that the fat naturaly found in woild game is nasty stuff. It is not sweet when cooked liek that found on domesticated livestock. Remember these guys eat twigs and berries...not corn and grain.

First trim the heck out of the meat. The buttermilk soak is a great idea but do not over do it..it will decompose. I have butterflied roasts and rolled bacon into them then either wrapped the roasts in more bacon or caul fat (looks like lace made of fat and membrane...ask your butcher).

For Tenderloins, backstraps and the like a redwine or other acidic marinade works great...JUST COOK IT no higher than medium rare...remember this LEAN.

[BamaBBQ]

Not having cooked elk, I can only share something that I've done successfully with deer, it may be worth a try, but it doesn't come with any guarantees, so if you do this and it doesn't work for you, don't come looking for me! I first got this idea from an old German cook book, so it's not an original idea, it has a history of some sort.

I actually cut thin strips of beef fat and inserted them in slits in venison before cooking. For me, that really solved the problem with dryness, because it is the lack of natural fat in the meat that creates the problem in the first place.

So far, I've only done that with a roast; I'll be trying a couple of hindquarters in the smoker using the same technique, and then cooking them like a brisket.

So as I say, try at your own risk, but I am feeling very confident that it will be good for the smoked venison hindquarter. Should work with elk too.

[Rennie]

:D Like they say that is some nasty stuff. Pack it in ice and send it to me I will despose of it in a timely manner. Heck I would even send you some mesquite and pecan wood to help pay for the shipping :D


Rennie

[oregonboy]

I growed up on the stuff,we never made roasts out of it cause it gets too dry,plus being the oldest of three big boys, we made steaks to make it stretch. i still just do steaks and burger and jerky.So what ever you try and if it works please post it.maybe next season i'll cut some roasts out and try it.still think flour'd and pan fried is the best !!mmmmm gravy-n- taters

[bearbonez]

When I lived in Ruidoso, my buddy worked for a vet who made mostly house calls to ranches. He always had way more meat than he could use, so I got plenty from him. Elk, venison, antelope, and oryx on a couple occasions.
Made chicken fried steaks, carne asada, chili, burgers, name it. I never ate store bought meat. So This was all i used for any meal. As far as smoking I just used oak on my el cheapo brinkmann bullet smoker at the time. Always came out great.
If the meat is too gamey for ya. Let it soak. I liked using a little lime juice, cilantro, garlic and beer or whiskey.

[big smitty]

Elk is awsome. Go online and get a larding needle (try this site) http://www.kitchenconservatory.com/lardingtrussing.htm . Cut up thin slices of bacon and use the larding needle to pull the bacon strips through the roasts. This will introduce additional fat into the lean meat and then all you have to do is cook it to your liking and you will have an awsome piece of meat to eat. Like the others have indicated, if you do not want it send it my way! I'll send you back a taste, I promise.