There is a gas station a few miles from the farm that has an awesome deli counter. Virginia ham, deviled eggs, fresh cookies and some seasonal offerings make it a perfect lunch stop after a goose hunt or when we are gassing up the boat or truck on our way further east. We mix it up, but usually both end up ordering the same thing- 2 BLTs on white bread with mayo. The bacon is crispy, like, “you have to dust yourself off when you get out of the truck”, crispy. It's smoky and super salty like most cheap bacon. And it's so, so good. 

Rachel and I have discussed it at length, but the one protein we miss not having around the house is pork. Virginia does have some feral hog populations, but they are generally isolated and between the landowners and the state agencies, they seem to get taken care of before they become problems. We have contemplated going out of state to hunt pigs, but there are so many other hunts we want to go on that the pigs always take a back seat.

This recipe is an attempt to get that salty, smoky, crispy eating experience out of a protein that is almost the opposite of pork. We both know that using a lean red meat instead of pork will not result in a direct replacement for bacon, but the goal isn't to replace it- it’s to replicate some of the characteristics that we love.

The end product is smoky, salty, and crispy, with a hint of sweetness. It’s almost bacon. It has everything but the silky fattiness that makes bacon such a unique ingredient. 

We have some ideas on how to make this more like pork bacon, but for now, this is our go to for BLTs and any other dish that requires crispy bacon. edit: check out our updated venison bacon for a little bit of chemistry magic.

Venison Bacon

This recipe uses percent by weight, not volumetric, measurements for the ingredients. Weigh the piece of meat you’re planning on using, and then calculate what amount of each ingredient you need based on the weight of the meat. Wild game is inherently so variable, and this method, while a little more work up front, will cut down on the chances that the recipe turns out poorly because your roast was bigger or smaller than ours.

Prep time: 10 minutes active, a week inactive

Cook time: 5-8 hours

Ingredients:

100% venison outside round

2.5% salt

1% sugar

1% maple syrup

.25% instacure #1

.25% black pepper, coarse

Method:

Mix ingredients and evenly coat venison. Place in a ziplock or vacuum bag, remove as much air as possible and refrigerate for 7 days. Rotate daily.

At the end of the curing period, rinse with cold water and pat dry (don't worry if some of the cure remains on the venison).

Smoke on low heat setting for 4-6 hours, then increase the temperature for a final 1-2 hours until the internal temperature hits 140-145F.

We used a Camp Chef pellet grill set at 160F for 5 hours, then increased the temperature to 250F for the final hour. Using the built in probes and wifi to monitor remotely made the process extremely hands off and pleasant. 

Once the target temperature is achieved, cool down under refrigeration. Slice ~⅛”-¼” thick length wise, cross grain. Fry the slices up in a pan over medium high heat, until crunchy.