If you are looking to elevate your wild game cooking, look no further than this smoky venison meatloaf recipe featured by Jenn Yarbrough for Bass Pro Shops. Cooked on a vertical smoker, this recipe takes traditional comfort food and infuses it with a rich, wood-fired flavor that perfectly complements venison.
Here is how you can recreate this savory dish at home.
Venison is an incredibly lean, flavorful protein, but its lack of fat can sometimes cause wild game meatloaves to dry out or fall apart. To counter this, Jenn shares a crucial step: blending the venison with standard beef burger meat [00:16]. Combining the two ensures the meatloaf retains its moisture, holds its shape perfectly, and delivers a rich texture.
Ingredients Checklist
To make the meatloaf base, you will need:
- Wild venison [00:16]
- Beef burger meat [00:24]
- Oatmeal [00:33]
- 1 cup of milk [00:33]
- 2 eggs [00:33]
- Minced onion [00:46]
- Ground sage [00:46]
For the sweet and tangy glazed topping:
- Brown sugar [01:35]
- Ketchup [01:35]
- Mustard [01:35]
- Nutmeg [01:35]
- Salt, pepper, and garlic seasoning blend [02:00]
Step-by-Step Cooking Guide
1. Mix and Press Combine all of your meatloaf base ingredients into a large bowl. Because venison is noticeably darker than standard beef, you can easily tell when the mixture is evenly blended [01:03]. Once thoroughly mixed, press the meat evenly into a 9×13-inch baking pan [01:19].
2. Hit the Smoker Set your vertical smoker and place the pan inside. The total cook time will be exactly one hour, but you will need to pull it briefly at the halfway mark [01:25].
3. Whip Up the Glaze While the meatloaf begins to absorb that rich smoke, mix together the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, nutmeg, and garlic seasoning blend [01:35]. Be sure to break up any brown sugar clumps so the glaze is completely smooth [02:11].
4. Glaze and Finish After the meatloaf has smoked for 30 minutes, remove it from the heat and spread the glaze evenly across the top [02:18]. Place it back into the smoker for the final 30 minutes [02:45].
The Result
After a full hour on the smoker, the glaze transforms into a beautifully caramelized, sweet, and savory topping that balances the deep, earthy flavor of the smoked venison [02:59]. It is an easy-to-follow, foolproof recipe that turns standard weeknight fare into an outdoor-cooking masterpiece.