Tenderloin - Not Backstrap.... It is always tough!

It's the silver skin that is laced throughout...you need to trim as much of that off as possible. When working with deer and antelope, it's often too hard to trim it all. On an elk or moose, time well spent trimming it.

I trim as much silver skin as possible, let rest at room temp for 30 min, season then cook on rocket hot grill until rare. This year I did carne asada tacos with my antelope by slicing super thin

Do you have a carne asada marinade that you use? Your own blend? Sounds awesome!
 
Do you have a carne asada marinade that you use? Your own blend? Sounds awesome!

1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbls olive or avacado oil
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (I have chipotle)
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
salt and pepper to taste
marinate for 3-4 hrs
pat dry and allow to come to room temp, cook on super hot grill until done...grill marks are essential. Let rest at least 20 minutes then slice super thin. I've not done it but you can cook the marinade for a bit to add as a sauce.
 
I go really simple with mine. I trim off any silver skin, slice across the grain about 3/4" thick into medallions and fry in real butter on high heat and throw a little garlic powder and Lawry's seasoning salt until medium / medium rare and chow down. Literally never had a tough one. My favorite cut of meat, hands down.
 
I always grill them whole (deer) until rare inside, but trimming the silver off will most likely fix the toughness. My best ones have been frozen and thawed. My worst was only hours after the kill.
Dont you dare grind it. Thats just blaspheme! 😁
 
I think a good wireless meat thermometer really makes or breaks the BBQ use on wild game.

I have one of the Meater+ probes. Meater.com. It works very, very well. I never use to use thermometers, my theory is a sear on the outside kills enough bacteria I won't get sick. But with dinner parties and squeamish guests.... I was informed I needed to cook it a bit more. I mean, eating while field butchering does not bother me, and a good sear gives great flavor to the pan sauce. So any more cooking is a waste of time.

I have used it on a propane grill, wood side-by-side smoker and reverse sear in the oven. They work great. They give a temp gradient chart that has both internal and ambient Temps charted over the cook, which is pretty sweet. The pre-set cooking gradients don't work perfectly for wild game, but it is closer than I have found other thermometers.

Or you go America-f$:)-Ya and do like @Randy11 suggests.
 
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbls olive or avacado oil
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (I have chipotle)
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
salt and pepper to taste
marinate for 3-4 hrs
pat dry and allow to come to room temp, cook on super hot grill until done...grill marks are essential. Let rest at least 20 minutes then slice super thin. I've not done it but you can cook the marinade for a bit to add as a sauce.

Thanks for sharing! I'm definitely going to try it...
 
This thread has to be a troll job...

Ha Ha.... sounds ridiculous right! Can't cook a tenderloin! I just cant get it right man!


If I attached it right, the link to the deer hunt.
 
I always give the tenderloin away if I can. I'm not a fan of the flavor or texture unless its out of a freshly killed dall sheep. Whenever I give it to people they are always amazed I'd do such a thing. I'm always laughing on the inside...

I've eaten a lot of tough tenderloin as well, never cook wild game past medium rare (on purpose), and have eaten a lot of tough TL. Its very inconsistent for me. I choked down a few pieces off a moose a couple weeks back off a 3yo bull. I needed a chainsaw to cut through it, and a meat grinder to get it soft enough to eat. Gave the rest to the dogs. The round steaks will be more tender, guaranteed.
 
people tend to overcook wild game.

heat to 500
season meat to preference, throw on meat , count to ten,(one Mississippi, two Mississippi) flip, count to ten and serve.


THE REDDER THE BETTER!
 
Just ate the tenderloin off my Wyoming pronghorn from this year tonight. Cooked on the grill even. Did the 1 hour warm up to room temperature, grilled them bacon wrapped, heard the couple we had over for dinner say the dreaded words “well done” when I asked them how they like their steak....

I couldn’t bring myself to cook it well done but I burned it to a medium to medium well for them. Pulled most off at medium rare.

Everyone said it was really good and I think everyone ended up eating seconds. Cooked some blackstrap too and only had 2 tiny pieces left.

Took a picture before cooking but forgot to take one after.

105AA651-3A79-4054-AD08-02992B7CF663.jpeg

The bacon is kind of cheating to me but I knew the folks we were having over weren’t big wild game eaters so thought it would seem a little more tame that way.

Pronghorn meat sure is dark!
 
I have never had a tough tenderloin from any animal, however I have had some soft and bland tasting tenderloins. Even in beef is not even close to being my favorite cut of meat.
 

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