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Delicious Venison BBQ for the hearty appetite

Kelly’s Crockpot Venison Barbecue

One of the finest ways to utilize venison stew meat, Kelly’s Crockpot Barbecue is guaranteed to knock your taste buds for a loop
story by Soc and Wanda Clay
photography by Soc Clay

WARNING! Make sure you’re not hungry when you start cooking Kelly Pitman’s crockpot venison barbecue. When this stuff comes alive in its slow-simmering sauce, no hungry man or woman can resist the temptation to sneak a taste, or at least a sniff.

Wanda and I have eaten in a hundred barbecue joints across America—some were clean and high priced, some dirty yet pretty good—but we have never chomped down on any thing as delicious as Kelly’s East Tennessee recipe for venison barbecue, slow-cooked for hours in a crockpot.

Maybe it’s because the recipe contains everything we like—choice cuts of venison, onions, garlic, bacon… Did I say bacon? How about a pound of it fried crisp and crumpled into the other delectable ingredients, like catsup, molasses, brown sugar, and such? All we can say is, “Wow!”

Kelly’s venison comes from some of the most fantastic acreage in eastern America. Sandwiched in between Tellico Lake and the magnificent Sweetwater Valley, there’s scarcely a more exciting place to hunt deer in the East. You can bet half the folks on Hawkins Mill Road have heard of, and perhaps even been lucky enough to sample some of, Kelly’s fantastic culinary skills with venison taken from this region. Our bet is if Kelly’s got that venison crockpot barbecue simmering right now, there’s probably some hungry neighbors hanging around close by.

Venison Barbecue gets its flavor from just the right ingredients

Kelly’s Crockpot Venison Barbecue

3 lbs. venison stew meat, chopped course or fine
1⁄3 cup apple vinegar
1 cup onion, diced
4–5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup red wine vinegar
1⁄2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. Lawry’s Natural Choice seasoning for meat
2 tsp. salt
1 lb. good bacon, fried and crumbled
2 cups catsup
1⁄2 cup molasses
1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed

Place venison, garlic, vinegar, Wor­cestershire sauce and Lawry seasoning in a 4- to 6-quart crockpot. Cook on high setting for 1 to 2 hours, or until venison is tender.

Fry bacon crisp, cool and crumble.

Add bacon, catsup, molasses and brown sugar to venison.

Turn crockpot to low heat setting and simmer for 2 to 4 hours.

Serve over white rice.

Serves four.

Soc and Wanda Clay are a great recipe team. Wanda does the cooking, Soc does the…uh…tasting.