Apocalyptic Prepping

Deer meat, or venison, is a versatile red meat with many applications. There are layers of muscle on the neck of a deer. I was processing one buck and I cut off one of the layers on the neck. The piece didn’t have any sinew, and it reminded me of the thin meat used in carne asada. Carne asada is usually grilled hot and fast, which is how I usually like to do my deer steaks, but I wanted to do an experiment with the Traeger to see if I could improve on the recipe.

What You’ll Need:

• Lime Juice
• Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Garlic Salt
• Black Pepper
• Chipotle Tabasco
• 1 Gallon Ziploc Bag
• Butter

The Marinade

I marinated it in lime juice, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Olive Oil, Garlic Salt, Black Pepper, and Chipotle Tabasco. How much of each? I don’t measure, but I’d reckon it was about a tablespoon of lime juice, a tablespoon of olive oil, a half tablespoon of Montreal steak seasoning, a teaspoon or two of garlic salt, a dozen shakes or so of black pepper, and 3 hits of the Tabasco. All of this was for about a 1.5 lb slab of meat. If that doesn’t look right when you’re putting it together, change it. That’s what I do. I put all that in a Ziploc, shake it up, and let it sit for 24 hours.

The Smoke

I let the meat come up to room temperature and then smoked it at 225 on the Traeger until it reached 135 internal temperature. I put slabs of butter on the top periodically as it cooked. Deer is a very lean meat and it needs added fat to make it cook like your domesticated meats. Butter makes meat happier. The smoke only took about 45 minutes to an hour. Like I said, it was a thin piece of meat, only about 1 inch thick. I added butter when it started, about halfway through, and while searing.

The Sear

I pulled the meat of the Traeger and cranked the smoker up to high. Once it was up to around 400 I threw it on for 60 seconds on each side, putting more butter on it with each flip. It wasn’t enough to put grill lines on it, but it crisped up the outside just a bit and helped it get to a full medium rare. The sear also helped to make it a little closer to a traditional hot and fast cooked carne asada. After it comes off the heat, It needs to rest. How long I rest meat depends on how thick it is and on how hungry I am. I don’t rest any red meat for less than 15 minutes, and that’s about all I needed here.

Serving It:

I sliced it thin and we threw it into our tacos. I like cheese, guac, beans, rice, cilantro, and salsa on my taco. I tell my wife its medium, even though its medium rare. She used to order steak well done and still mentally has issues with the concept of not burning your meat. We’re working on it. She puts on lettuce, salsa, rice, and ranch on her tacos.

The Result:

It was pretty good. Definitely a way I’m planning to do again. I was glad that flap of neck meat didn’t get added to the grind pile. It wasn’t as tender as good beef, but it wasn’t tough either. All the carne asada flavors came through and it was both light and hearty like only red meat from a deer can provide.

Keep Learning

Prepping is an ongoing venture. Because of this, we recommend that you subscribe to our bimonthly newsletter to keep prepping, emergency preparedness, and self reliance on your mind. We promise, we’re not spammy, which is why we only email you twice per month. We hope you think about being prepared more than twice per month, but our newsletter is a valuable resource to help you learn new things, and just to keep prepping on your mind. Right now you can also sign up for free. You can also follow our Facebook Page for regular articles and resources.

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you’re human: