While visiting my Nephew I turned him to the "Dark Side"!! I helped him buy his Christmas present ... His first wood pellet smoke-grill ... a Green Mountain Grill Daniel Boone.
This led my Grand Niece to present me with the opportunity to smoke wild game for the first time. Since I've never cooked any type of wild game I jumped at the chance to help break in the Daniel Boone. My Grand Niece's husband bags an antelope yearly and she had some antelope backstraps in the freezer.
After a quick search I learned that antelope backstraps are such a tender and flavorful meat that it makes it easy to prepare with minimum ingredients and minimum cooking time as they are like pork and/or beef tenderloins. Rubbed the backstraps with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned them with Fagundes seasonings. Most recipes I found recommended using just salt and pepper.
Everything I read said you should not cook a backstrap past medium-rare (140ºF). Preheated the Daniel Boone with Hickory to 250ºF and smoked the backstraps for about 1 ½ hours till the IT reached 138ºF. Your time will vary depending on the size of the backstraps. Rested the backstraps loosely under a foil tent for 15 minutes.
Didn't know what to expect but they turned out fantastic!!!!!! Not gamy at all ... almost like roast beef and boy were they ever tender and moist. Success ... my Grand Niece's husband said it was the best he's ever eaten.
