Grilled Venison Tenderloin

[Imp81318]

I’m going to grill venison tenderloin for dinner tonight. I have it marinating in buttermilk now. My plan is to season it with salt & pepper, wrap in thick cut bacon, and cook on my Weber kettle. My question is, will it get enough fat from the bacon to tolerate cooking indirect without drying out, or should I grill it directly over high heat? I prefer indirect simply because it gives me more lee-way before overcooking and turning it into shoe leather. Thoughts? Advice?

[Harmony BBQ]

I'd skip the bacon wrap and just grill the steak with the seasonings on it to medium rare at the most. If you cook it wapped in bacon until the bacon is done, the venison will be over cooked. Better to have venison a little on the rare side vs over done. It will be fantastic!

[Big George's BBQ]

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[Imp81318]

I'd skip the bacon wrap and just grill the steak with the seasonings on it to medium rare at the most. If you cook it wapped in bacon until the bacon is done, the venison will be over cooked. Better to have venison a little on the rare side vs over done. It will be fantastic!

I was planning to smoke it with bacon wrap out of fear that I'd overcook it and turn it to shoe leather, but ultimately I ended up taking your advice since I only had thick cut bacon. Seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder and grilled it over charcoal hot and fast with the lid open. Started checking the temperature after about 7 minutes and pulled it when I got a few readings in the 140's. The thicker end was very rare in the middle, which I cannot eat with beef but the venison did not have that chewy texture that raw/super rare beef has to me. It was super tender and delicious. The thinner end was closer to medium which was great for the kids and still cut very easily. My wife's piece came from closer to the middle and was a near perfect medium rare. She said it could have been done just a tad longer, but all told everyone in the family cleaned their plate.

I intentionally erred on the side of more rare, and I think that tip paid off. It was absolutely delicious and I'm looking forward to slicing the leftovers to make into wraps and sammiches this week at work.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.