T&S Manufacturing
09-04-2007, 04:54 PM
Labor day at one of my sportsmen clubs (okay..gun club, hunt club, and fishing club all rolled into one...and a place where I can unload a 400 rd Huey can thru my M60 in one barrel burning burst) found me liberating our club freezer of about 7 pounds of venison ribs and about 10 pounds of venison roast, circa fall, 2006.
I seasoned everything with copious amounts of dehydrated garlic and onion, fresh ground black pepper, fresh ground sea salt, and a touch of ground cumin (a/k/a "cumino"). I'd already started a charcoal fire (no lighter fluid used) and had had half dozen 4" square hickory chunks soaking for 15 hours by the time the charcoal was ready.
I was cooking in an old, rust covered, 50 gal drum that'd been cut in half lengthwise, fitted with large intake dampers on one end, and an exhaust pipe on the other end! First time cooking on this throwback to the '30's, and I have to say, everything came out pret' darned near perfect.
The roasts were rare to med rare. Reddish to pink in the middle. Pink closer to the perimeter of the roasts. Juicy, juicy, juicy. But the surprise was the darned ribs. After about 15 mins in heavy hickory smoke, I turned the racks...which were, to be sure, skimpy looking to say the least. And...there were so many racks that I had to pile them on top of each other on the far side (away from the fire but in the smoke path) of the grill/smoker.
Then...after about another 15 mins...I put the rib racks directly over the charcoal to crisp up, just a bit. Maybe 3-5 mins per side. Done. And man oh man! What a flavor. Now, these weren't juicy like slow smoked pork, but a tiny bit on the well done side and...with the spices...they were surprisingly, very, very good. I think a few less minutes...or maybe none at all...directly over the charcoal...and these would've been more rare and...to whatever extend venison ribs have fat (and there is some)..."juicy".
These ribs were the surprise hit of the day. Well, besides the half gallon size bottle of Bombay Blue Saphire someone dragged into the great room. But of course, the ribs and roasts were good even without the Blue stuff.
I seasoned everything with copious amounts of dehydrated garlic and onion, fresh ground black pepper, fresh ground sea salt, and a touch of ground cumin (a/k/a "cumino"). I'd already started a charcoal fire (no lighter fluid used) and had had half dozen 4" square hickory chunks soaking for 15 hours by the time the charcoal was ready.
I was cooking in an old, rust covered, 50 gal drum that'd been cut in half lengthwise, fitted with large intake dampers on one end, and an exhaust pipe on the other end! First time cooking on this throwback to the '30's, and I have to say, everything came out pret' darned near perfect.
The roasts were rare to med rare. Reddish to pink in the middle. Pink closer to the perimeter of the roasts. Juicy, juicy, juicy. But the surprise was the darned ribs. After about 15 mins in heavy hickory smoke, I turned the racks...which were, to be sure, skimpy looking to say the least. And...there were so many racks that I had to pile them on top of each other on the far side (away from the fire but in the smoke path) of the grill/smoker.
Then...after about another 15 mins...I put the rib racks directly over the charcoal to crisp up, just a bit. Maybe 3-5 mins per side. Done. And man oh man! What a flavor. Now, these weren't juicy like slow smoked pork, but a tiny bit on the well done side and...with the spices...they were surprisingly, very, very good. I think a few less minutes...or maybe none at all...directly over the charcoal...and these would've been more rare and...to whatever extend venison ribs have fat (and there is some)..."juicy".
These ribs were the surprise hit of the day. Well, besides the half gallon size bottle of Bombay Blue Saphire someone dragged into the great room. But of course, the ribs and roasts were good even without the Blue stuff.