Venison emergency!

A friend of mine asked me to smoke a few smallish hind quarters the other day. He gave them to me frozen solid, and given all the really cold weather I had it in a cooler and they were staying frozen just fine.

Over the past few days, the drain plug in my cooler loosened up and today's warm weather drained out the cold water. The meat is still fridge temp (38) but thawed out and I don't have the fridge or freezer space to store it. So I'm going to go ahead and smoke it tonight in the UDS with the picnic shoulder I was planning to do on new year's day.

Being short on research time, I'm hoping that you guys can give me an assist with my situation vs. digging through the forums as much as I normally would. In return, I will give you pr0n to look at. Sound like a deal?

Here's what I've got to work with:

2 hind quarters (bone in, est 8 lbs each)
2 layer UDS
Plenty of good lump (wicked good)
Hickory, cherry, and mesquite woods
A jar of Awesome Antler Rub from Sportsman's Table
Just about anything else in a standard kitchen
I also have some cool mustards from my wife's collection

I had originally planned to get some bacon and make a blanket for the venison, but I don't have any and the stores are closed. I hear that I could lard the meat with butter, but I am wondering if I could simulate bacon goodness by letting the fat from the picnic shoulder drip all over the venison? How about a water pan? I am worried about the venison drying out, especially when we're talking direct flame from the UDS.

I'm at a loss as to how long this might take to cook. What temp am I looking to hit, and about how long will it take?

Any other prep/cooking suggestions would be appreciated, as well.

Thanks for any help that you guys (and gals) can offer. I've never cooked venison before and I'm feeling a bit stressed about the situation.

I'd like to thank everybody who offered a suggestion or sent me a PM on the matter. I just pulled the venison off the grill, so with the exception of cutting into the meat (it's resting), here's some pr0n for you...

______________________

Last night I started my picnic shoulder. With that out of the way, I could worry about the venison. I rubbed the non-skin side down with Butt Rub, while I prepared my pallet for today by drinking a big bottle of Chimay Cinq Cents. BTW - the floralness of the Chimay would compliment any chicken or turkey.


Pork Picnic Shoulder by trzarocks, on Flickr


This is the 2nd hind quarter that I had to deal with. I cut off all the skin, fat, and other gross stuff until I was as close to the meat as I could get without taking the meat off. I read that this will help to prevent gameyness.


Here's what they basically looked like once they were cleaned up. Sorry for the mess and blood in the pic.


Venison hind quarter trimmed up by trzarocks, on Flickr

I rubbed the deer meat down with the Sportsman's Paradise Awesome Antler Rub. It's got rosemary, lemon, salt, pepper, and garlic as the base flavors.

Given the mixed results on the butter question, I decided to go with injection. The basic mix was:

* About 1/2 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
* About 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 shot of Jim Beam Black

I prepped the UDS by using a drip pan full of water and a pale ale on the bottom rack. The top rack got the venison. Here they are, as they entered the drum:


Venison hind quarter goes in the smoker by trzarocks, on Flickr


Here is the meat as it was pulled off the UDS. Looks plenty moist to me, so the water pan/injection seem like a suitable way to keep your venison from drying out.


Venison hind quarters just off the smoker by trzarocks, on Flickr

I've got to roll out of the house, but wanted to give an assessment of how I did...

Overall,the flavor is really good. It's not gamey at all, but is a little stronger than say beef.

Some of the meat came out really mushy. It's definitely not over cooked, and it didn't look raw, either. Do you think that came as a result of the Jim Beam? I've never seen that in a venison injection so straying too far off others suggestions might have been the weak link in the equation.

I ended up with three gallon bags of product. One with bones, one with choice pieces,and then one of the mushier stuff. That way they can decide to use it for something else (chili or soup, perhaps?).