Eye of Round Roast, The Mock Venison Tenderloin

Just about every hunter knows about the tenderloin of a deer. For any who don’t, they are two lightly used muscles that sit just under the spine, beneath the backstrap. If you field dress your deer, just go through the stomach cavity to remove them. If you do the western-style gutless method of breaking down a deer, you can reach in under the ribs after removing the backstrap and access the tenderloins.

While they look just like a tenderloin, the eye of round gets a lot more work as a deer moves, but, with the right marinade, you can make it tender. Images by author

They aren’t large, less than a foot long on even a large buck and a couple inches thick at the widest point. Since they don’t get a lot of work, they are some of the most tender cuts on a deer. The biggest problem with tenderloin is that there are only two per animal, and, like I said, they aren’t very big.

Now, if you break down your own venison, when you get to the hindquarter and start to separate the muscle groups, you will notice another cut that looks just like the tenderloin. The cut lies between the top and bottom round on the upper part of the hindquarter.

The eye of round, second from left on bottom row, lies between the top and bottom rounds in a deer’s hindquarters.

Like the other muscles in the quarter, there is a natural seam that makes it easy to follow to separate the muscles into individual roasts. Like the tenderloin, there will be two per deer, one on either side.

If you lay the tenderloin and the eye of round next to each other, they look very similar. But looks are where the similarities end. Because the eye is in the main part of the hind leg, the go power of a deer, it gets used a lot. That means that it will be tougher than the tenderloin. But fear not, they still make a danged good meal. It just takes a bit more work to make them nice and tender. That work starts with a marinade.

Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over the eye of rounds, then refrigerate.

Pineapple has an enzyme called bromelain that breaks down the connective tissue of meat. Besides making meat more tender, it adds a nice flavor, so that is where we’ll start this marinade. Just mix the marinade in a bowl or even directly in a zip-top bag if you don’t want an extra dish to clean. To the pineapple juice, add the Worcestershire and soy sauces, olive oil, honey, and garlic.

Once everything is mixed, add the eye of rounds and refrigerate for 4-6 hours. I don’t like to go much longer than 6 because the pineapple juice can actually break down the muscle enough to make it mushy if left in too long.

Don’t over-marinate or the enzymes in the pineapple juice will make the meat mushy.

That’s it. Once you have marinated the eye of rounds, you can do whatever you like with them. Slice thin and dredge in seasoned flour then fry, or cook whole on the grill, which is what I did with these. After the meat is out of the marinade, pat it dry and season with Realtree APX all-purpose seasoning blend (or your favorite meat rub) and place it directly on the hot grill.

Don’t overcook the cut or it will be tough and chewy.

Don’t overcook, or no amount of marinating will keep these tender. I shoot for about 115 to 120 internal temperature for a nice medium rare. On these, that took about 6-7 minutes per side.

Rest the meat before slicing.

Once they came off the grill, I let the cuts rest for about 10 minutes, then sliced across the grain. Serve these over rice, potatoes, or buttered noodles.

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