Wife and kids were gone for the weekend at one of her relative's graduations, beings I have spent more than enough time in Iowa for work I was given a pass besides someone had to look after the dogs. Weather could have been been better but it was just good enough to do some simple cooking on the pellet smoker. Saturday night was a 1lb Venison Backstrap chunk from a buck I got in December (first ever with a muzzleloader) and Sunday was a couple pieces of Salmon from a trip I took with a buddy to Lake Sakakawea ND, sorry that there was no sides as I decided to go carnivore on the meals. Time to fire up the OKJ Rider DLX
Friday Venison Backstrap Seasoned with Bovine Bold. Haven't used this for a long time, it was pretty good and I think the kids would enjoy it but I forgot how much of a sweet flavor it had. Next time I am going to try kosher salt and fresh crack black pepper then a light coat of Bovine Bold. Seasoned and let rest in fridge for 2-3hrs. Idea was to let it get some smoke at 160-180F till an IT of around 110, preheating cast iron pan to get a finish sear. About 1hr later and I was around 115F so I opened up the fire chamber to sear and cranked it to high for a little bit, melted some butter on the cast iron and ready to sear.
![20250517_182542[1].jpg](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='1500' height='2000' viewBox%3D'0 0 1500 2000'%2F%3E "20250517_182542[1].jpg")
Turning to get all sides, was around 1.5-2min per side. Crust is looking good but temp was creeping fast because I didn't start the sear as early as I had planned. (Wait till the end to see results). Ooo La La this crust is going great so far
Sear was setup nicely and rolled in the browning butter. IT was at about 132 when I pulled it off the heat and onto the cutting board. 5min rest and the IT went to 145F. I'm thinking that I overshot it and it probably will not be as juicy as I was hoping
![20250517_195237[1].jpg](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='2000' height='1500' viewBox%3D'0 0 2000 1500'%2F%3E "20250517_195237[1].jpg")
Moment of truth after the 5+min rest, IT went to about 145F. Sliced nice and thin, to my surprise great color and plenty of moisture. The color in the picture is pretty true to real life as far as the redness goes. Sliced thin'ish and drizzle juices and brown butter over the plate, this went in my belly pretty quickly. Tenderness=Check, Juicy=Check, Seasoning=Check, Clean Meaty Flavor=Check (I'm still trying to understand the "gamey flavor"). The family loves deer steak and this method will go into rotation a little more. I have done similar using the grill grates to sear but the cast iron pan and butter took it to next level. Even though this was legit 1lb of meat I didn't have the crash of over eating, I was contempt not overly full and slothy. Since going to bigger chunks and cooking them whole I have had even better results than my previous methods and seems to give more forgiveness if the temp creeps up there during the rest
The "Pup's" thought I was going to be sharing, but they were wrong. I did give them their own treats for being well behaved.
Sunday night found me wanting something a little lighter beings I ate lunch around 2pm then took a little nap in the recliner (not a typical concept for me). Decided on some salmon from this past September, ND stocks Chinook salmon in the lake. They do not reproduce and only live for 4-5yrs typically, they are not very fatty and have a different color than what most think of for salmon. I promise you one thing after learning a few things cooking this type of salmon and they are very good, I aim for a little lower finish temp. My brother in law says they don't taste very good and are dry, I now understand because he probably way way overcooks them. I have been experimenting over the winter using the oven and had myself a pretty good plan.
Feeling a little Cajun flair and beings I was doing two pieces I tried two rubs, seasoned up and let sit for about 1.5hr. Both were very good.
Onto the OKJ Rider at about 160F for about 1hr.
After 1hr I turned the heat up and open the deflector to sear leaving the salmon on the higher rack. Decided to brush on a light glaze of Big Wicks on the Holy Vodoo, this stuff has been yummy on the few pieces of salmon I have been experimenting on (Texas Sugar is another good match), the Cajun Creole go a couple pats of butter on it. Pulled them around 140-145F and let rest for about 5min as I cleaned a few things up.
I was not mad an this, outside of I could have had one more piece :)
Thanks for looking and hopefully I will be contributing a little more here and there, especially in the wild game side. There have been some personal struggles the last few years and over the last 1-2yrs most things just keep getting better and I am slowly getting back to one of my favorite hobbies which was cooking and BBQ'ing.
Friday Venison Backstrap Seasoned with Bovine Bold. Haven't used this for a long time, it was pretty good and I think the kids would enjoy it but I forgot how much of a sweet flavor it had. Next time I am going to try kosher salt and fresh crack black pepper then a light coat of Bovine Bold. Seasoned and let rest in fridge for 2-3hrs. Idea was to let it get some smoke at 160-180F till an IT of around 110, preheating cast iron pan to get a finish sear. About 1hr later and I was around 115F so I opened up the fire chamber to sear and cranked it to high for a little bit, melted some butter on the cast iron and ready to sear.
Turning to get all sides, was around 1.5-2min per side. Crust is looking good but temp was creeping fast because I didn't start the sear as early as I had planned. (Wait till the end to see results). Ooo La La this crust is going great so far
Sear was setup nicely and rolled in the browning butter. IT was at about 132 when I pulled it off the heat and onto the cutting board. 5min rest and the IT went to 145F. I'm thinking that I overshot it and it probably will not be as juicy as I was hoping
Moment of truth after the 5+min rest, IT went to about 145F. Sliced nice and thin, to my surprise great color and plenty of moisture. The color in the picture is pretty true to real life as far as the redness goes. Sliced thin'ish and drizzle juices and brown butter over the plate, this went in my belly pretty quickly. Tenderness=Check, Juicy=Check, Seasoning=Check, Clean Meaty Flavor=Check (I'm still trying to understand the "gamey flavor"). The family loves deer steak and this method will go into rotation a little more. I have done similar using the grill grates to sear but the cast iron pan and butter took it to next level. Even though this was legit 1lb of meat I didn't have the crash of over eating, I was contempt not overly full and slothy. Since going to bigger chunks and cooking them whole I have had even better results than my previous methods and seems to give more forgiveness if the temp creeps up there during the rest
The "Pup's" thought I was going to be sharing, but they were wrong. I did give them their own treats for being well behaved.
Sunday night found me wanting something a little lighter beings I ate lunch around 2pm then took a little nap in the recliner (not a typical concept for me). Decided on some salmon from this past September, ND stocks Chinook salmon in the lake. They do not reproduce and only live for 4-5yrs typically, they are not very fatty and have a different color than what most think of for salmon. I promise you one thing after learning a few things cooking this type of salmon and they are very good, I aim for a little lower finish temp. My brother in law says they don't taste very good and are dry, I now understand because he probably way way overcooks them. I have been experimenting over the winter using the oven and had myself a pretty good plan.
Feeling a little Cajun flair and beings I was doing two pieces I tried two rubs, seasoned up and let sit for about 1.5hr. Both were very good.
Onto the OKJ Rider at about 160F for about 1hr.
After 1hr I turned the heat up and open the deflector to sear leaving the salmon on the higher rack. Decided to brush on a light glaze of Big Wicks on the Holy Vodoo, this stuff has been yummy on the few pieces of salmon I have been experimenting on (Texas Sugar is another good match), the Cajun Creole go a couple pats of butter on it. Pulled them around 140-145F and let rest for about 5min as I cleaned a few things up.
I was not mad an this, outside of I could have had one more piece :)
Thanks for looking and hopefully I will be contributing a little more here and there, especially in the wild game side. There have been some personal struggles the last few years and over the last 1-2yrs most things just keep getting better and I am slowly getting back to one of my favorite hobbies which was cooking and BBQ'ing.
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