Baked Venison Loin Chops

I posted earlier that the guys had a successful hunt so were able to split the meat of one deer between those who wanted venison. This is done traditionally for the members attending hunt camp. Also traditional is bringing a dish made with the previous kill to the next hunt camp for good luck. We ended up with about 16 lb of venison, most of it ground. That doesn't sound like a lot of meat but everyone got a bit to keep the tradition going. I'm just happy they had a successful hunt! I'll use the ground venison for venison chili and venison burgers. I'm planning on making venison meatloaf as well.

Baked Venison Loin Chops

There was a package of 4 venison loin chops so I decided to bake them for Sunday's dinner. Venison chops are generally not cut very thick and they are not all that big but 2 each per person is a nice serving size. Bacon or pork is generally added to venison when cooking. Venison is a very lean meat and in some cases can have a strong gamey taste The gamey taste can be solved by removing any fat and soaking the venison in a solution of water, vinegar and salt or use a vinegar based marinade. Then use a longer, slow cook method. Venison fat has a low mouth feel as it begins to cool. Replace the venison fat using pork fat which has a a nicer mouth feel and ads to the overall flavour of the venison. I think that maple syrup pairs nicely with venison too so like to use that as an ingredient when cooking venison. I served the baked venison loin chops with home canned herb glazed carrots and baked potatoes. The aromatic rosemary overtones in the carrots were quite pleasant with the baked venison loin chops.

Method: I lined the bottom of a 9" x 9" baking pan with bacon then placed the 4 loin chops on the bacon. I poured about a cup of 100% pure maple syrup over the chops then topped each chop with a piece of bacon. I baked at 350ºF until the chops were cooked through.