How Long to Cook Deer Tenderloin in The Oven

The tenderloin is one of the best cuts from a deer and is akin to some of the most expensive cuts of beef; think tri-tip, filet mignon, etc.

Knowing this, it’s easy to understand why you might want to nail the cook the first time around.

Sadly, being such a tender cut makes it easy to get it wrong. However, I will do my best to explain in detail the cooking times according to each method.

Cooking Times For Venison Tenderloin in Oven

If you want a fast answer, cooking deer tenderloin in the oven takes approximately 8-14minutes per pound.

However, I urge you to read on as this may vary in a few ways.

Rare 

I prefer my venison tenderloin rare and, in some cases, even raw, like for tartare.

Rare tenderloin needs very little cooking. If you are not searing the meat, it will take 8 – 10 minutes per pound in the oven at 400F.

• No sear: 8 – 10 minutes per pound
• Pre sear: 2 minute sear, 6 -8 minutes per pound
• Reverse sear: 8 minutes per pound, 1 minute sear

Medium Rare 

While I’m a fan of rare venison tenderloin, most people prefer medium rare, and this is actually an easier cook to achieve.

Medium rare venison takes approximately 10 – 12 minutes per pound in the oven. 

If you are searing the venison, the cooking time will need to be altered to the numbers below.

• No sear: 12 – 15 minutes per pound
• pre sear: 2 minute sear, 8 – 10 minutes per pound
• reverse sear: 10 – 12 minutes per pound, 1 minute sear

Medium

Cooking venison to medium is not something I only do on occasion when I have guests.

I find the taste of venison begins to change around medium and this is especially true for tenderloin.

However, aim for 15 to 18 minutes per pound to cook deer tenderloin to medium.

• No sear: 15 – 18 minutes per pound
• pre sear: 2 minute sear, 10 – 12 minutes per pound
• reverse sear: 12 – 14 minutes per pound, 1 minute sear

Searing

Most people like to sear their tenderloin to get a nice color and texture on the outside.

While this is not a requirement for oven-baked tenderloin, I highly recommend it, as the Maillard reaction adds a lot to the flavor.

There are two options for searing your tenderloin, pre-searing and reverse searing.

Pre-searing means you sear the meat before placing it in the oven; reverse searing means searing the meat after it has come out of the oven and rested.

Reverse searing is the better option for venison tenderloin as it’s easier to get an even cook and keeps the meat moister.

Cook the meat in the oven until almost done, then remove and let rest. 

After the meat has rested for the appropriate amount of time, place it on an extremely hot pan or grill for about thirty seconds to one minute per side.

Pre-searing produces similar results, except you sear the meat before placing it in the oven.

This approach works better for larger tough cuts of meat. To pre-sear a tenderloin, heat a pan or grill to high and cook the meat for about one minute per side.

The searing time is longer because you are working with colder meat; however, this also reduces the oven cooking time more than reverse searing.

Resting

Letting the meat rest is considered part of the overall cooking process.

While resting, the meat continues to cook, albeit at a much lower temperature.

The main reason for resting is to allow the meat to relax, making it tender. 

If you are reverse searing the tenderloin, you will need to sear the meat after resting; this is done at a really high temperature for a very short time to prevent the meat from contracting again.

Temperature

Cooking meat by time has many variables, such as the size of the cut, the degree of cook, is the meat marinated? Etc.

For this reason, I recommend that you take all of the abovementioned times as guidelines and use temperature for cooking your venison tenderloin.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, venison tenderloin is one of the harder cuts to cook. 

I recommend using a good meat thermometer to ensure you get the proper cook.