Smoked and Reverse Seared Venison Tenderloin

When you smoke and reverse sear venison tenderloin the result is a tender, flavorful fresh deer steak! Kissed by the flavor of smoke, with a delightful crust on the outside, and a perfect medium rare inside, this is truly one of my favorite venison recipes.

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It’s my goal in life to figure out every method to perfectly cook venison tenderloin. So far I’ve perfected searing it in a cast iron pan with garlic herb butter, simply grilling it, enjoying it on a sandwich and in a Philly cheesesteak.

And now, I’ve nailed the method for smoking venison tenderloin and finishing it with a quick reverse sear!

Ingredients for this recipe

• Fresh Venison Tenderloin
• Venison Dry Rub
• Avocado Oil (or another high smoke-point oil)
• Rosemary
• Salted Butter
• Flaky Salt

Seasoning and Prepping Venison for Cooking

This recipe starts the way all my venison recipes do – by patting the deer meat dry with paper towel.

This gets rid of any old blood and provides a cleaner flavor to the steaks.

Once the meat is dried it’s seasoned generously with my venison dry rub.

Tying the venison with butcher’s twine will help it keep its shape and ensure that the meat cooks evenly.

How to Smoke Venison Tenderloin

Begin by lighting your charcoal and letting it ash over in the drum of the smoker.

While the charcoal heats, soak a few handfuls of cherry wood chips or other fruit wood chips in water for 30ish minutes.

When the charcoal is ashed over and glowing red, add the soaked wood chips on top, assemble the smoker for use, and add the tenderloin to the smoker.

Using a digital thermometer means I know when to start preheating my cast iron pan for searing and exactly when to remove the venison from the smoker to avoid over-cooking!

What wood for smoking venison?

Venison is red meat similar to beef (but, in my opinion, better!) so woods that are complimentary to smoking beef work well with venison.

Personally, I love using fruit wood chunks, chips, or pellets when smoking venison. The slight sweet flavor of smoke really compliments the distinct venison taste.

Apple and cherry woods are going to be the most readily available to use and will both be delicious in this recipe!

What does “reverse sear” mean?

Once the tenderloin comes off the smoker, it gets reverse seared to finish the cooking process. But what exactly does that mean?

“Reverse sear” means to cook meat at a high temperature for a relatively short amount of time to brown the outside at the end of cooking, versus at the beginning of the cooking process like a traditional sear.

Keeping venison meat juicy and tender

Another reason I love the reverse sear method after smoking the venison is because it helps to keep the steaks tender and juicy.

Venison is an incredibly lean meat, with virtually no fat on it, and it can become dry and tough if overcooked.

By finishing the tenderloin in a screaming hot pan with some oil and butter, not only are we sealing those juices into the meat with a great brown crust, but we’re adding just a smidge of fat to provide more moisture and flavor.

Soaking the wood chips in water before adding to the smoker not only helps them to burn longer, but it also helps the meat to retain moisture during the smoking process.

Lastly, resting the meat before slicing keeps the juices sealed in! Make sure you do this with any and all meat you're cooking and thank me later!