Sweet Bacon-Wrapped Venison Tenderloin

"The #1 rated deer recipe on RecipeZaar since 2005! It's deer season again, and you know what that means - a lot of 'Zaar chefs trying out THE venison recipe again or for the first time. Thanks for all the reviews. Hands-down, this is the BEST deer meat recipe in America. Even those who don't like wild game meat will fight for a piece of this. **I will warn you, that this creates almost a "candy tenderloin." You can see from the reviews how many people love it, but if you're looking for a gamey dish that brings out the purely meaty taste of your venison, this is not for you."
 
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photo by Mamas Kitchen Hope photo by Mamas Kitchen Hope
photo by Mamas Kitchen Hope
photo by Brian M. photo by Brian M.
photo by djcar2011 photo by djcar2011
photo by kaylasedovic1234 photo by kaylasedovic1234
photo by Diana M. photo by Diana M.
Ready In:
1hr 20mins
Ingredients:
5
Serves:
2-3
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ingredients

  • 2 lbs venison tenderloins (a single deer loin or Moose or Elk or Pork or Beef)
  • 12 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)
  • 14 cup white sugar (Optional for added Sweetness)
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directions

  • Mix brown Sugar and Soy sauce together in a bowl. They should combine nicely into a soupy soy liquid.
  • Put Deer Loin in a cooking tray and pour Brown Sugar/Soy Sauce mixture over loin. Roll tenderloin over in mixture, completely covering it.
  • 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!
  • 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.
  • Wrap a piece of bacon around the very end of the tenderloin, securing the bacon strip with a toothpick.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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!
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • You can eat these pieces directly from the toothpick or remove the toothpick and eat like steak. You can thank me later.
  • The next day, try the leftovers on a wheat bun with spicy BBQ Saucefor an awesome leftover sandwich.

Questions & Replies

  1. Who know how to keep the brown sugar and soy sauce mixed. My brown sugar just sunk to the bottom of the dish
     
  2. Would this work with backstrap?
     
  3. Will this be as tasty if I modify for my diabetic hubby. Using honey as sugar substitute. And low sodium soy sauce
     
  4. I cook for 2 so any meats I have is in small portion packs. I have a backstrap loin that was cut in half so the weight is 8.2oz. I figured since recipe calls for 2 lbs mine would be 1/4 of that so I'd just use a 1/4 of the ingredients. Wasn't sure about the cooking time though and if this would turn out ok. Backstrap is great, sweet, meat and I wouldn't want to waste it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
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Reviews

  1. Definitely a must try dish, very tender, easy to make and only requires a few ingredients. I also turned the stove on broil for the last 5 minutes to get the crispy edge of the bacon.
     
  2. Perfect! I can't eat soy so I sbstituted 3/4 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce instead. Also added sweet paprika, powdered garlic, 2 tsps. powdered curry, etc. to the sauce. Baked 20 min. (tenderloid pieces)--perfect, medium rare.
     
  3. I join the multitudes in giving this recipe 5 stars. The marinade can be reduced by 1/2 without a problem. I marinated it overnight in a gallon ziplock bag and found that there was too much marinade to put into my slotted roaster. The trick with this recipe is two-fold. First, determine how well done you want the finished meat to be. (Med. rare is 140 degrees). Then, when the meat is 15 degrees below the that temp, turn on the broiler to crisp the bacon. Flip once. This should only take a few moment. Then take the meat out when it is app. 5-10 degrees less than the desired final temp. *Let the meat rest 10 minutes*! Letting your meat rest assures that juices, which have congregated to the4 center during roasting, have time to work their way out toward the edges. If you don't rest, you'll end up with dry meat, every time! Trust me! This recipe rocks! Peeople who don't ordinarily like game meat will rave. I wouldn't do it with beef or pork, because those meats are too mild to stand up to the marinade. Grea! Thank you!!!
     
  4. This is a family favorite! Something I make AT LEAST a couple times a month. I am now on a low-sodium diet for health reasons. So I sub the Mrs. Dash Spicy Teriyaki marinade for soy sauce now. Still turns out great!
     
  5. This was so delicious! I used this receipe on elk sirloins and my family just raved about how nice and tender, juicy, sweet and tasty dinner was. I was very proud to say that I got the receipe from recipe Zaar and will definately be back to try others. Thanks for your recipe and the additional step that was included from your users feedback. Very satisfied!!!!!! *****
     
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Tweaks

  1. I cut the marinade in half, just because it is plentiful enough to marinate with less sauce waste. Also, I use my torch to finish the bacon quickly without overcookimg that perfect loin.
     
  2. Used red pepper flake, olive oil, granulated garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, sliced into medallions wrapped in bacon used the brown sugar sprinkled not soupy paste...and covered with sliced red onions and foil...baked in glass baking dish and foil at 200 degrees for 6 1/2 hours...OMG sooooo tender and well seasoned delicious
     
  3. We cut the loin up into individual steaks and then marinated it.
     
  4. Used a lot less sugar, but did add some raw local honey, cracked pepper, and EVOO.
     
  5. I loved the bacon, I was pinched for time, did not marinade. I did bring venison to room temp, then wrapped with bacon and added soon so sauce. Then I put light coating of ketchup on bacon. Cooked in my pre heated cast iron grill pan till internal temp 130. Will crisp bacon under broiler or on grill next time. Let it rest @ 7 min. Yumm
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I've had the top rated venison recipe on this website since 2005, and it has lasted through 3 different domain changes- RecipeZaar, Food.com, and now genius kitchen.
 
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