Sweet Bacon Wrapped Venison Tenderloin
(from ksox’s recipe box)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves 6 people
Categories: venison
Ingredients
- 2 lbs venison tenderloins (a single deer loin or Moose or Elk or Pork or Beef)
- 1/2 lb bacon (Plain, thin-sliced Bacon is best)
- 3 cups dark brown sugar
- 2 cups soy sauce (Regular NOT low-sodium. You'll want the saltiness)
- 1/4 cup white sugar (Optional for added Sweetness)
Directions
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Mix brown Sugar and Soy sauce together in a bowl. They should combine nicely into a soupy soy liquid.
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Put Deer Loin in a cooking tray and pour Brown Sugar/Soy Sauce mixture over loin. Roll tenderloin over in mixture, completely covering it.
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Let meat marinate in mixture at least 3 hours or overnight in fridge. It’s best to marinate for 8 hours if you have the time. Also GREAT to use a Food Saver or other Vacuum device to Vacuum pack/seal the meat with Marinade. With this method, you can achieve Overnight-level marinade in just a couple hours!
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Remove loin from tray, and place on a slotted bake sheet with a drip pan or aluminum foil below to catch dripping. Don’t throw away marinade.
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Wrap a piece of bacon around the very end of the tenderloin, securing the bacon strip with a toothpick.
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Repeat this process until the entire loin is wrapped in ten or so bacon “loops.” The tenderloin should look like an arm with a bunch of wrist watches on it, the watches being the bacon strips.
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Drizzle remaining marinade over deer loin. You can continue to baste the loin with the marinade throughout the cooking process with either a brush or a turkey baster.
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Place on center rack in oven and bake at 350°F for 30-40* minutes. *This should cook the meat to about Medium. For those of you who prefer rare meat (like me), cut the time to 25-30 minutes and then follow with the “OPTION 2” step below regarding searing.
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OPTION 1 – with about 10 minutes of cooking time left, you can lightly dust the top of the loin with white sugar. This creates a sweet crust on top of the bacon. Might be too sweet for some. Try doing it on just HALF of the loin to see if you like it!
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OPTION 2 – For a crispier crust and crispier bacon, remove Loin from oven and place the Loin(s) directly on a Grill over medium-high heat to sear the bacon and outer loin. (Thanks to all of you reviewers who taught me this. It’s a great step for those of us who like a cooked crust and a pink center).
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Remove from oven and place on cutting board. Using a knife, cut the loin between each strip of bacon so that you have many pieces of meat, each with their own toothpick.
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You can eat these pieces directly from the toothpick or remove the toothpick and eat like steak. You can thank me later.
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The next day, try the leftovers on a wheat bun with spicy BBQ Saucefor an awesome leftover sandwich.