Camp Venison Ribs with Garlic and Cinnamon
Trimmed deer ribs, a two-spice rub, and a slow fire. Cut them small before you leave home.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 12 oz
- cal / oz
- 43
- protein
- 45 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 150 min
- total time
- 180 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Venison ribs | 1 rack, about 4 lb | cut into 3-4 rib sections at home with a saw |
|---|---|---|
| Garlic powder | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 2 tsp | |
| Coarse salt | 1 tbsp | |
| Black pepper | 2 tsp | |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | the ribs bring almost no usable fat of their own |
Method
- At home: saw the rack into sections you can hold in one hand, then trim the fat off hard. Deer fat is waxy and it coats your mouth. Pull the membrane off the inside of the rack with your fingers.
- Rub the trimmed sections with oil, then the garlic powder, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Bag them and pack them in the cooler.
- In camp, build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want a low, steady bed, not flames.
- Wrap the sections in doubled foil, sealed tight, and set them at the edge of the coals. Cook about two hours, turning the packets every 20 minutes and moving them if the coals run hot.
- Open a packet and check. The meat should pull back off the bone ends and give when you push it. If it fights you, seal it back up and give it another 30 minutes.
- Open the packets, set the sections straight on the grate over the coals, and give them five minutes a side to dry out and crust.
Venison ribs get left in the field more than any other cut, and the reason is fat. Deer fat is hard and waxy and does not render the way pork fat does, so a rack cooked untrimmed tastes like candle. Trim it off at home and what is left looks thin, but it is meat worth the work. Cut the rack into hand-sized sections while you have a saw on the counter, because doing it at a campsite with a folding knife is a bad evening.
The foil does the job an oven would. Sealed against low coals, the sections steam in their own juices long enough for the connective tissue to give up, which is the only thing that makes a lean rib tender. The last five minutes on the open grate is what gets you a crust instead of a wet packet of meat. Garlic and cinnamon is a small rub, but cinnamon on game reads as warmth rather than dessert, and it covers the liver note that puts some people off deer.
Packing
Trim and cut at home. Ribs go in a zip bag in the bottom of the cooler, rub already on. Carry the extra spices in one small tin in case you want to hit them again at the fire.
Variations
- A splash of cider vinegar in the foil before sealing helps the lean meat along.
- Swap the cinnamon for smoked paprika if the sweet-spice angle is not for you.
https://foragerchef.com/how-to-cook-venison-ribs