# Venison Meatloaf!



## tukson (Jul 19, 2010)

Well its time to clean out the freezer for this fall's hunting season...

1 large 10lb bag of very lean ground venison left from my oldest son's last archery kill last winter.. I have never used my smoker to make meatloaf, so here goes...;

10lbs very lean ground venison

4 toasted buns (about 3 cups of bread crumbs)

1 medium onion minced

1/4 cup worscestershire sauce

1tbs black pepper

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup hickory smoke BBQ sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

4 medium tomatoes diced

4 cloves garlic minced

topped with strips of smoked homemade bacon.

smoked at 230f for about 4 hours till internal temp read 190f:


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## tukson (Jul 19, 2010)

Well it was good enough that even my dil (city girl) ate two helpings of it. We even told her that it wasn't beef or pork before she ate it... LOL!

If I had enough time I would have put a ketchup topping on it and put it back in the smoker for another hour, but then if it was any better we wouldn't have leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches tomorrow....


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## pineywoods (Jul 19, 2010)

It looks great!!


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## mballi3011 (Jul 19, 2010)

Now that looks great but there is one bad thing..... It's a long time till hunting season.


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## tukson (Jul 19, 2010)

I know ... it is hard to get ready for hunting season when it is still over a 100degrees every day.. Our problem here in Arizona as well as a lot of Western States is that we have to put in for drawings every year in early summer... we just found out last week if we are drawn for big game .....


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## raptor700 (Jul 19, 2010)

That is a sweet looking loaf. I have a little left in the freezer, so I think I will try this for myself. Thanks for the VIEW !!


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## tukson (Jul 20, 2010)

raptor, just so you will know...... I have tomatoes running out of my ears from the garden.. LOL.. so when I put them in the meat loaf, they made a lot of juice even with all the bread crumbs there to soak up the liquid so I let the loaf go till all the liquid had evaporated and this made the flavor intense and excellent.... be sure and don't pour off any of the liquid since this has a lot of the spices in it and with time it will go away and even though the venison was extra lean with no fat except the bacon I put on top it was perfect with moisture and texture... hope this helps ... also a lot of recipes call for eggs and or milk, but I had so much that I thought this recipe when smoked would last longer in the fridge so we could make meatloaf sandwiches out of it this week and so far so good, it makes a great sandwich meat..... my wife and I may like it this way even better than when it was hot .....


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## que-ball (Jul 20, 2010)

Looks great, but without any eggs to bind it together did you have any crumbling issues when you sliced it?

I printed your recipe out, to try once hunting season starts this fall.


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## tukson (Jul 21, 2010)

Que-ball, when it was hot I just sliced it and let it lay down over a spatula to serve to the plates and the lower third was a bit too crumbly, but after overnight in the fridge the the slices stayed together for slicing.. next time I will let it stay in the smoker a bit longer and let it evaporate down some more... for 10lbs I will probably go 5hrs +.... it suprised me a bit by being so moist... for such extra lean venison and no fat added, it was perfect. Also, I believe for this much meat 5 or 6 cups of bread crumbs would be ok and also help to bind a bit more..... The only reason I don't use eggs or dairy products is to help it hold in the fridge for a week or so, and I was afraid eggs would cause it to spoil quicker..I'm not a professional, but this seems to work.... my two sons have elk tags for Az and NM... this fall so I have been trying out these recipes to see if we like them and this one is a keeper..

I was worried about dryness since I took it to 193f internally, but even though I left it uncovered the whole time it was very moist and I guess it was the fresh tomatoes from the garden that added all the moisture.


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## jerseyhunter (Jul 24, 2010)

Looks awesome. That's a lot of meat.  Gonna give it try, but scaling down the poundage as it's only my wife and I.


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## tukson (Jul 25, 2010)

Yes, this large batch will last for a while. My wife works at a local grade school and I'm retired, so everymorning I get to make her lunch and meatloaf sandwiches is one of her favorites. I just slice leftovers and put them in baggies in the freezer and simply take one out and put it between two slices of whole grain bread. The only problem she says is that the smoked meat aroma fills the employee dining room and everyone always wants a taste.... LOL... So now when I send her off with smoked meat of any kind I have to send a seperate baggie of sample meat for the staff! NOW they expect it...


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