Louisville Restaurants Forum

I have two small pieces of deer tenderloin. Probably a serving each. I was thinking I'd sear them in a cast iron skillet and finish in the oven. I have seen this technique on cooking shows but I'm afraid I'll mess it up and ruin our dinner. Any advice? Temps? Times? Thanks.

Jessie, when I have done this with small but inch-thick steaks, I've gone about 2 minutes on a side over a very hot fire in a black iron skillet to sear, then 6 to 8 minutes in the same skillet in a 400 oven to finish, allowing a few minutes in a serving plate afterward before putting them in the table. No more for medium rare, and you should really check these to make sure you don't go over. Time will also vary with size, and for venison, you definitely don't want to cook until well done or even close to it, or they'll get tough.

The technique is great, though. In my opinion there's no better way to do steaks.

Thank you. I will be trying this out tonight since the meat hadn't fully thawed last night. I do have a meat thermometer. Is 140 correct for medium rare venison?

Jessie H wrote:Thank you. I will be trying this out tonight since the meat hadn't fully thawed last night. I do have a meat thermometer. Is 140 correct for medium rare venison?

Jessie, I hope some people with more game experience will jump in. Steve P? John H? Bueller? But I'd say 140 is already on the hot side. Remember, when you pull the meat out of that hot oven and let it rest, "carryover" cooking is going to take it up another 5 of 10 degrees. Unless you and your dining companions just hate rare meat, I'd say (depending on your tolerance for rareness), take it out around 130 and let it coast to hot pink. Of course there's no substitute for checking.

Medium rare is definitely ideal. So I will check until I reach 130 and then take it out to rest. Any idea if the drippings would make a decent pan sauce?

Jessie H wrote:Medium rare is definitely ideal. So I will check until I reach 130 and then take it out to rest. Any idea if the drippings would make a decent pan sauce?

I can't imagine why they wouldn't, Jessie! Just like beef. Well ... I suppose if you used olive oil or other oil with a low smoke point it might get a burned taste, but I wouldn't really worry too much about that.

I wish more people would jump in, though. I don't really have much experience with cooking game, so to some extent I'm extending general principles here.

Are there any local places that carry various deer cuts? I'm remember doing a search a year or two ago, but ended up finding only super overpriced frozen stuff at Whole Foods.