Smoked Zebra Meat
Zebra meat is a strongly aromatic African game with a deep red color and intense, slightly sweet flavor. The meat is massaged with a spiced rub mixture and smoked at low temperature for many hours. The result is an incredibly tender and smoky piece of meat with a pronounced crust.
Ingredients(for 1 kg)
Instructions
Applying the rub
20 minutes + 12 hours chilling timeMix all rub ingredients and vigorously massage them into the zebra meat on all sides. Dry-cure uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
Smoking Phase 1
6–8 hoursSet the smoker to 107–115 °C and add mopane and cherry wood chips. Place the meat and smoke until a core temperature of 68–70 °C is reached.
Texas Crutch
3–5 hoursAt 70 °C core temperature, tightly wrap the meat in butcher paper and continue smoking at 107–115 °C until a core temperature of 88–92 °C is reached.
Resting
45–60 minutesRemove the wrapped meat from the smoker and allow it to rest in an insulated cooler for at least 45–60 minutes before slicing.
Pro Tip
Zebra meat has a particularly dense muscle fiber – a so-called 'Texas Crutch' (wrapping in butcher paper at 70 °C core temperature) helps overcome the temperature stall and keeps the meat juicy.
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