Smoked Pulled Elk
Elk meat is lean and aromatic and is excellent for slow-smoking as a pulled variant. Long cooking at low temperature breaks down the connective tissue and makes the meat butter-tender. A robust spice crust gives the elk a characteristic smoky flavour.
Ingredients(for 1 kg)
Instructions
Rubbing and Marinating
12-24 hoursMix all ingredients and rub the elk meat generously on all sides. Allow the seasoned meat to rest on a rack over a tray, covered, in the refrigerator.
Initial Smoking
4-5 hoursPreheat smoker to 110-125 °C, add oak and beech wood. Place the elk directly on the rack and smoke uncovered until a core temperature of approximately 70 °C is reached.
Wrapping and Continuing
4-6 hoursWrap the meat tightly in butcher paper and continue smoking at the same temperature until a core temperature of 93-96 °C is reached. The connective tissue must be fully broken down.
Resting and Pulling
60-90 minutesAllow the finished meat to rest in the butcher paper for 60-90 minutes in a warming box or switched-off oven. Then pull with two forks to create pulled elk.
Pro Tip
When reaching approximately 70-75 °C core temperature, a so-called 'stall' may occur where the temperature stagnates. During this phase, wrap the meat tightly in butcher paper and continue smoking to overcome the plateau.
Save this recipe to your smoking journal?
With Curination you can scale recipes, track projects, document by voice and browse over 1,269 recipes.