# First time making Elk (or any game)



## independent (Mar 12, 2010)

Hi guys,

I'm new here, found you guys by googling "smoking elk roast" :)

Anyway, I have some Elk roasts that a friend gave me.  I don't really know what type of roasts they are.  Each one is about the size of a fully loaded Chipotle burrito.  I have a Big Green Egg and I'd like to make these tomorrow.  I love seared rare beef steaks, and I love long slow-cooked pork... so I'm not dead set on any type of cooking method.  I wanted to get some advice on what to do in advance to the meat in terms of rubs or marinades.  And then finally, what cooking method do you guys suggest for a first-timer?

Thanks!
Jeff


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## mballi3011 (Mar 12, 2010)

First off Jeff welcome to SMF. You need to top into Roll Call and introduce yourself and then we can give you the big welcome that we like to give new members. Now for your elk roast you can still sear them if you want to but I would then smoke them to about maybe 140° or so and you should be fine. You might want to lay some bacon strips over the meat so it wouldn't dry out. Now I'm not really the one to give you instructions but someone will be around shortly to give you the right info.


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## rbranstner (Mar 12, 2010)

Make sure you don't over cook them. You want wild game like venison and elk to be medium maybe medium well or it will dry out. I agree putting some bacon around it helps a lot. There is little to no fat at all on these cuts of meat so they can dry out if you don't watch it. Check out this post erain just posted. It looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://smokingmeatforums.com/forums/...ad.php?t=71874


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## bassman (Mar 13, 2010)

Like Rbranstner said, make sure you don't over cook them.  Elk, having absolutely no marbling gets dry and tough in a hurry.  We grill our elk steaks for about 2 minutes per side and they come out med rare to rare and are tender and juicy.


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## caveman (Mar 13, 2010)

Notice how he asked you to stop by roll call & then gave you the advice you sought?  (I love this place.)

More advice here!!!

And yet more information!!!


When you decide to stop by roll call, Welcome.


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## westsmoke (Mar 13, 2010)

I like to smoke elk to about 140 and then use the slicer for thin slices. Depending on the cut that you have, it could be tough and chewy. Thin slices are pretty tender and real tasty.


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## independent (Mar 13, 2010)

Thanks guys!!

So any advice then on rubs or marinades for the roast?


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## pit 4 brains (Mar 13, 2010)

No need to marinade.. S&P will work for spice. Do you have a chuck or round roast? 
Here's a little something I did tonight with some tenderloin... Good luck.. And DON'T OVERCOOK THE MEAT...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=90616


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## independent (Mar 13, 2010)

Getting ready to fire up the Egg and get this party started!

Two quick questions...

1)  I'm assuming as lean as this stuff is there is no point in trying to catch drippings and make gravy?

2)  Should I use a water pan in the smoker to keep it moist?  My friend says when he has done these before he does them at like 350 and they only take 35-45 minutes... so with that short of a cook I'm not sure a water pan would do much... then again, could it hurt?

Thanks!
Jeff


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## stuffradio (Mar 13, 2010)

I cooked it for a bit more than 3 hours and I got drippings, so I'm not sure. I think at the very least the water will help keep it moist, no?


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## independent (Mar 14, 2010)

The roast with a little S&P (I actually googled "S&P" to figure out what you guys were talking about and then realized that I was a moron and you meant "salt and pepper" 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






)







After about 40 minutes on the Egg at 350... used some hickory wood as well as the normal oak lump. Internal temp was 130 when it came off.







And the end result after resting 30 minutes. Sliced up really nice. Super tender, nice smoked flavor. The meat itself was very mild, no gamey taste at all.







Hope my first Q-View attempt was worthy!


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## erain (Mar 14, 2010)

that last picture is what its all about... i really got to give you some additional kudos on this because not only was this your first wild game smoke and i would love a plate of that... but, looking at your first picture, the raw roast on the plate. you really dont have that great a piece of meat to start with. you can see how there are actually 3 separate muscles in that hunk. when deboning roasts you want to sparate the muscles and not have pieces of different ones in the same roast as they all cook up a little differently. but looks like you did a great job with what you had...


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## independent (Mar 15, 2010)

Thanks Erain!

I see what you mean about the different muscles coming together.  I didn't really put 2 & 2 together when I was making it but cutting it up was definitely a pain with all that in there.  Makes sense too that the different sections would tend to cook differently, didn't think about that either.

So seeing what you've seen, can you tell me what type of roast this would be considered?  Pit 4 Brains (awesome name, btw) was asking if it's a chuck or round roast, I have no idea how to tell the difference.

Thanks,
Jeff


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## erain (Mar 15, 2010)

pretty hard to tell, i have taken down quite a few deer and elk etc... my guess is its from the round, possibly part sirloin tip, top, and eye of round... but thats just a guess. again it looks great!!!!


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