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

[wolfpup]

So everybody always raves about the tenderloin. Not the back strap but the tenderloin that sits on the bottom of the spine. I have tried grilling it within a few hours of the kill, letting it marinate for 2 days, let it sit for 4 days. And each time it is super tough. Am I missing something here or is this piece just tough? I have the same consensus with deer and antelope. Unless someone sheds some light, It will go in the grind pile. I always eat it and love the taste, but its just tough and not a coveted cut in my opinion. Do you guys slow cook these things or what?

 

[Wilderness_56587]

I slice and grill them, they are amazingly tender. This is from Whitetail

 

[MThuntr]

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

 

[2rocky]

What level of doneness are you cooking it to? Are you trimming the membrane around it?

Med rare seems to give me the best results.

 

[MT_elk]

Wow. Mine are always so tender that I have to be careful slicing it as it tends to tear easily. I agree with what's been said so far. Trim off all of the fat and silver membrane. I slice it thin, season it, and cook it in a tablespoon of coconut or olive oil.

 

[npaden]

I'm not sure how you are preparing or cooking them but it seems to me that maybe you are doing something wrong?

The reason they are named Tenderloin is because they are generally considered to be the most tender piece of meat in the entire animal. It's right in the name.

Don't overcook them, I like mine medium rare. I think it is easier to cook them if you have them cut into 1.5" thick pieces, I've tried cooking the entire tenderloin on the grill and it is hard to get it cooked correctly throughout.

They are very lean, but shouldn't be tough.

 

[6mm Remington]

It should be excellent eating and very tender. Everyone responding is correct. Since the tenderloins are pretty small I find that cutting them across the grain into small steaks about 3/4 - 1" thick makes them easier to get done perfectly to medium rare without overcooking them. I like to roll the steaks in flour before cooking. Since there is not hardly any fat in wild game it helps keep the steaks moist and they don't dry out.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Trim the silver and don't overcook.

 

[Irrelevant]

I struggle to enjoy them because they're too tender, almost no texture. I don't know what you're doing to yours to make them tough, I've never had a tough one.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I have had tough ones before too, usually if I eat them the day I kill the critter. But if I wait a few days or even freeze them they turn out great. Especially marinated in some soy sauce, Worcestersire sauce and olive oil for about 15 min and then grilled to rare.

 

[Dave N]

Trim off what isn't meat, wrap with bacon and grill just long enough to cook the bacon. Slice into medallions and eat!

 

[MTGomer]

The one from this 11 year old dall sheep was melt in your mouth good.

It was pretty much the same recipe that @Carl 9.3x62 said

 

[Talk2elk]

I also have had tough loins and have pondered this question, I will spend more time trimming them up, good thread.

 

[noharleyyet]

Trim off what isn't meat, wrap with bacon and grill just long enough to cook the bacon. Slice into medallions and eat!

That's too long...precook the bacon.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I've tried a ton to different methods of cooking steaks, grill, sous vide, etc.

Here's how a professional chef at a high end restaurant in Denver taught me to cook steaks, this is the best way... honestly it's made all the difference in getting friends and family to enjoy wild game.

1. Preheat over to 450, put a cast iron pan in the oven when you turn it on.
2. Trim your meat of silver skin.
3. Season with salt, pepper (I like a bit of onion powder as well, but keep it simple you want to enjoy the meat)
4. Apply a light layer of avocado oil to each side (you can use whatever, avocado oil just has the highest smoke point)
5. Pull the cast iron pan out of the oven put the burner on high, get it super hot, quickly sear every side of the steak (maybe 15-30 seconds a side) this traps the juices
6. Put the cast iron pan + steak back in the oven, cook time depends on how thick the meat is and your temp preference. I do elk medalions for 2-3 min and an elk tenderloin for 10. Use a meat thermometer or the touch test to tell if it's ready.
7. Pull the pan out of the oven, wrap the steak in foil and let it rest for 10 min (literally set the kitchen timer for 10min and go have a beer, no cheating, no cutting into the meat to check, put the damn thing in the foil and walk away)
8. Serve.

@wolfpup honestly I think your drying out your meat and that's making it tough, quick high heat and letting the meat rest are the most important factors for a great steak. I personally am a rare guy, but I've done medium to medium well steaks for folks using the above method that were very tender.

IMHO a grill is a poor tool for wild game, unless you really really know what your doing and understand the differences in cuts/species/etc. I do not and therefore I don't use it.

 

[ida homer]

OP you gotta be doing something wrong.

When cooked medium rare or rare, I've never had a tenderloin that wasn't "bomb."

 

[rideold]

You are cooking too long. Tenderloin gets tough if you overcook. Try sampling it as you cook it and you can see how it changes.

 

[WildWill]

Like others said probably cooking to long.

 

[JShane]

alright is it just me or does anyone else think Gomer grilled the wrong appendage off that Dall sheep. I'm kidding.

 

[Dave N]

That's too long...precook the bacon.

Guess it depends on your version of "done" for bacon is. I use pretty high heat on my charcoal grill, and the bacon is cooked but nowhere near crispy. I normally end up with a nice medium rare to medium depending on the size of my tenderloins. Whitetail here.