Venison (Axis)Pastrami

To watch the video version of this recipe on our YouTube channel, click here.

This is another one of the recipes that our FFTT Team put together during our filming in West Texas with both our Chef’s and our Wyld Gourmet. Chef Wutsch put this one together at my request. As much as I love pastrami, my wife loves it even and I wanted to learn how to prepare it for her.

Out of all the recipes that were prepared over our 4 days in Texas, this was a top 3 for sure! This one was prepared with Axis and was delicious but as I am writing this we have bottom round from a black bear hunt in Wyoming that we just returned from, soaking in the same brine and will use the same techniques that Chef Wutsch has us using with the Axis pastrami.

We will post the results of the black bear version here soon.

Thanks for checking this one out.

Greg Ray

Outdoor Solutions Founder

We use RecTec pellet smokers/grills for all of our outdoor cooking and all of our wild game is processed using Made With Meat equipment.

Recipe by Chef Albert Wutsch

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Ingredients: 

• 2 ea 2 lb Bottom Rounds (4 lbs total) 

Brine:

• 2 qts water 
• 8 oz/1 c Morton Tender Quick Salt 

• 2 T Sugar 
• 1 tsp Granulated Garlic 

• 1 tsp Onion Powder 
• 1 T Pickling Spice (optional) 

Rub:

• ¼ c Ground Black Pepper 

• ¼ c Ground Coriander 

• 2 lbs thin sliced bacon 
• Caul Fat  (Optional)

Method:

Clean and square bottom rounds. Prepare brine by dissolving salt and spices in half the water, bring to boil, allow to steep 5-10 minutes.

Add remaining cold water to chill, inject meat with brine, submerge meat in remaining brine, refrigerate for 24-48 hours.

Remove, wash, pat dry. Combine pepper and coriander, coat meat with spices, wrap with bacon, if you have caul fat, wrap with caul fat as well.

Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 24-48 hours.

Cold smoke on low for 1 hour, Wrap in foil turn up to 250 until internal temp is 140 for venison and 160 for bear. If the bacon has not browned, finish on high heat. Let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve hot or cold. 

Also makes a great Rueben Sandwich!