Today, I completed the cook for my first venison ham ever. (Don't ask me why I decided to do this -- it just seemed like it was high time to attempt it!)
When I took my deer to the processor last fall, I asked that they keep one hindquarter whole and with the bone in, so that I could try a venison ham. Once we got past Easter, I decided it was time to start playing with that hindquarter. The doe I harvested wasn't a huge honking mama, but she wasn't tiny, either. After doing a bit of research, I went with the following brine recipe:
I put this in a 2.5 gallon zippy bag, and put it into the fridge for 11 days. The brine filled the bag nearly to the top, so I didn't really turn it over every day, but I checked on it every day or so, and shifted it in the Cambro that I'd placed the zippy bag into.
After 11 days, I pulled the venison out of the bag, dried it off, and put it back into the fridge to form a pellicle.
The next morning, I pulled it out and took a look at it. There was still a bit of fat and silverskin on it, so I trimmed it off. (In retrospect, I should have done that the night before, so I could get a better pellicle. Still, things turned out ok, so...)
This morning, I put it on my Weber Smokey Mountain. I used apple wood chunks, and tried my best to keep the lid thermometer at 200.
In my "YouTube research", I found quite a bit of conflicting advice. Final temp instructions ranged from 150 to 180 or more. To my mind, "well done" venison is shoe leather, so I was a little worried. Another poster here at TWVBB noted that a smoked venison roast he made, and cooked to 140-ish, was chewy. So, I decided to roll the dice and try for 150.
By five hours, I was holding at 145, and not moving. I was concerned that I'd hit a stall. I managed to stay patient, and got up to around 147 or so in 5.5 hours. I pulled it at that point, and loosely tented it with foil.
Having some family obligations, I turned to making dinner for my folks. I absolutely can not tell you the amount of self-control it took to not dig in to the ham! It filled the kitchen with siren-song-level aromas! But, I cooked dinner, took it to my folks, and came back a couple hours later.
The ham had cooled down completely. I started to cut into it, and realized that I could still distinguish the various seams of the muscle groups, so I cut the ham down along those lines. (OK... I also sneaked a bite or two, while I was cutting...!)
Wow! WOW! How have I never made this before?!? I'm soaking some northern white beans tonight, so that I can take that femur bone and make some amazing soup tomorrow. The meat itself, I'm gonna slice or chunk, and I can't wait to share it with hunting-friendly family and friends.
I'm **DEFINITELY** going to do this again, this fall. This recipe was a massive win!
BTW -- my initial attempt to upload photos didn't work on my Chromebook. I'm gonna try again on my PC. Hopefully, I'll have the whole series of photos up on the site, soon!
When I took my deer to the processor last fall, I asked that they keep one hindquarter whole and with the bone in, so that I could try a venison ham. Once we got past Easter, I decided it was time to start playing with that hindquarter. The doe I harvested wasn't a huge honking mama, but she wasn't tiny, either. After doing a bit of research, I went with the following brine recipe:
- 1 gallon water
- 1.5 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2.5 tbsp pink curing salt
- 2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp mustard seeds
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1tbsp juniper berries
- 3 bay leaves
I put this in a 2.5 gallon zippy bag, and put it into the fridge for 11 days. The brine filled the bag nearly to the top, so I didn't really turn it over every day, but I checked on it every day or so, and shifted it in the Cambro that I'd placed the zippy bag into.
After 11 days, I pulled the venison out of the bag, dried it off, and put it back into the fridge to form a pellicle.
The next morning, I pulled it out and took a look at it. There was still a bit of fat and silverskin on it, so I trimmed it off. (In retrospect, I should have done that the night before, so I could get a better pellicle. Still, things turned out ok, so...)
This morning, I put it on my Weber Smokey Mountain. I used apple wood chunks, and tried my best to keep the lid thermometer at 200.
In my "YouTube research", I found quite a bit of conflicting advice. Final temp instructions ranged from 150 to 180 or more. To my mind, "well done" venison is shoe leather, so I was a little worried. Another poster here at TWVBB noted that a smoked venison roast he made, and cooked to 140-ish, was chewy. So, I decided to roll the dice and try for 150.
By five hours, I was holding at 145, and not moving. I was concerned that I'd hit a stall. I managed to stay patient, and got up to around 147 or so in 5.5 hours. I pulled it at that point, and loosely tented it with foil.
Having some family obligations, I turned to making dinner for my folks. I absolutely can not tell you the amount of self-control it took to not dig in to the ham! It filled the kitchen with siren-song-level aromas! But, I cooked dinner, took it to my folks, and came back a couple hours later.
The ham had cooled down completely. I started to cut into it, and realized that I could still distinguish the various seams of the muscle groups, so I cut the ham down along those lines. (OK... I also sneaked a bite or two, while I was cutting...!)
Wow! WOW! How have I never made this before?!? I'm soaking some northern white beans tonight, so that I can take that femur bone and make some amazing soup tomorrow. The meat itself, I'm gonna slice or chunk, and I can't wait to share it with hunting-friendly family and friends.
I'm **DEFINITELY** going to do this again, this fall. This recipe was a massive win!
BTW -- my initial attempt to upload photos didn't work on my Chromebook. I'm gonna try again on my PC. Hopefully, I'll have the whole series of photos up on the site, soon!
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