Ribs and Deer Balls

Last Saturday we went over to my wife's parents house for a an afternoon of hanging out and eventually eating dinner. What a great time to try out a new style of ribs. I have cooked the same ribs since I was in college, no better guinea pigs than the so called "in laws". Here we have 2 slabs of baby back ribs. The back ribs are lightly dusted in Rut's Rub(I'll talk more about the rub another time) the front ribs are heavily coated in the same. This is one of my wife's family recipes. I have heard about them since I met her and now 3 years later I have been allowed to have them. I guess I finally made the cut. Here is the venison tenderloin before. We took this sliced it into 1 inch steaks. Then, using a meat cleaver, pounded them down to almost see through. Placed diced onions and bellbeppers, a dash of Dale's marinade, then wrapped them in bacon. Secured with toothpicks.

The deer balls after being prepared.

I did the front slab the way I always do which is an indirect cook at 225 degrees for almost 4 hours. The back slab I misted every 30 minutes with a mixture of Apple Cider Vinegar, Apple Juice, and Saw's Sauce(a great new BBQ place in Homewood, AL) for the first 2 hours. Then I wrapped them in foil with some of the liquid in the bottom. I kept them on for another hour and 30 minutes, removed them from the foil and basted them with the Saw's Sauce for the last 30 minutes. As much as I love dry ribs I have to say the wet one's were delicious.

The "deer balls" we cooked directly over the heat until the bacon was crisp. This will depend on the thickness of the bacon. I wouldn't over cook when using venison because it will dry out, even when wrapped in bacon. The deer balls are on the right. The left is some venison sausage we smoked because the 4 of us didn't think we had enough meat for 1 dinner.

I will say that all of this plus some great potato salad, baked beans, and deviled eggs it was a great Saturday. I still stand by my dry ribs, but with the family approval of the new ones, I will continue to try new ways.