Fallow Deer, HELP!!

[twistertail]

Guy I work with brought in a big chunk of fallow deer and wants me to smoke it for him. I dont know what to do with it. Its a pretty big ham with the bone still in. Can you do it so you could pull it like a butt, thats what I would like to do. Any help at all or ideas would be great. Should I leave the bone in or take it out?

 

[fireguy]

I have never smoked fallow deer, but.... any other wild game or exotics ive smoked or cooked in any other fashion.... seemed to have a not so good taste to it when bones or fat where left in or on the meat. so if it where me I would remove the bone for sure... all the deer ive smoked have been so lean they would not pull the best, I have just sliced.my 2 cents, hope it helps

 

[richtee]

Pulling is gonna be next to impossible Twister. You MUST remove all fat and all the sinew you can reasonably do. I dunno about the bone thing... after I boned out a whitetail earlier this year, I made a BIG batch of venison stock with the bones. Dang good stuff.

My advice would be to treat it as a roast type cut. Inject if you can..I have used a butter onion garlic injection. Helps moisture content, and adds some "good" fat into the meat. Also don't overcook it. Assuming it's been frozen a while, it's safe to eat kinda rare. I like mine upwards of 150° but almost all pink is gone by then. Be sure to rest IN IT'S JUICE.

On Edit: Foil, of course to retain the juice...perhaps around I.T. of 130° or so

 

[twistertail]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I may just grind it up and add some prork and make summer sausage since that is something I have done before.

 

[fireguy]

twister, hope we didnt keep ya from smoking it.... you could just pull a few roast out of that hind end, inject rub and smoke... sure it would still be good. didnt mea for ya not to do it

 

[waysideranch]

Twister,

Deer Muscle Is Way Different Than Pig. Pulling Maybe A Tough One. We Debone And Makes Sure To Cut Off The Big Chunks Of Fat. Not Good Fat As Is Pork Fat. As Richtee Said Do Not Over Cook. I Would Leave A Little Rare. Once It Starts Drying Out Your In Trouble. Good Luck. Sounds Like A Good Smoke.

 

[erain]

hea twistertail, i dunno but i would take that hind and break it down, reason being the different muscles in the hind require different cooking. if you have ever had a round steak cut from a venison hind which is basically a cross section of the hind you will notice the different muscles and when cooked whether stove or grill some sections will be nice and tender and others tuff. never will the whole steak be consistant. my recomendation is follow the muscles and take it down inseparate the individual muscle sections. the more tender sections you can cut across grain into steaks. from a hind you will get bottom round which is the most tender-steaks or roast, attached to the bottom round is a tube shaped muscle called the eye of round, remove it and pot roast or grind, then is the top round which is not as tender as the bottom but is still too good for grinding imho-roast,sirloin tip on the front has a bit of connective tissue in it-pot roast or grind, on the top depending how the hind was cut you may also have a muscle from the rump which is pretty tender. every thing else you have left once all the fat and stuff removed is grind material. anything which you can use for steak or roast is awesome smoked or bbq. i hunt a bit so i have plenty so i dont mess around with pot roast material i just grind it. so you have the opportunity to a variety. i would say save the top and bottom rounds and the rump if you got it, if you wish grind the rest{if you want to save the sirloin tip or the eye for potroast or stewmeat you could, but that wouldnt leave much grind material} and you could make sausage out of the grind. i have never had fallow so dont know how it compares to whitetail but try making some chili with some grind. as far as roasts and steaks previous posters are correct-venison very delicate meat and anything past med rare will be overcooked. didnt mean to write a book but havent posted in a while (computer broke)and had to get my fix! lol
good luck whatever you decide isnt wrong everyyone has different ideas.

 

[twistertail]

Thanks a ton for all the info guys. i ended up putting it back in the feezer on Saturday and going to tackle it later this week, was in the fridge less than an hour so it should be fine. I have butchered several deer and have always seperated each piece of muscle and cut off all the tendons and stuff before doing anything with it so I'll just do the same with this. I guess after he got the deer they did what they call a rough butcher so he has several really large chuncks of meat with the bones still in. I would say the chunck as it is now is a good 8-10lbs so I should have enough meat to experiement a little. I just have never smoked deer before and only have done beef one time. I did a london broil a few weeks ago that I marinaded in a mesquite over night that turned out really good so maybe I'll do the same with a few pieces of the deer and grind up the rest and make a summer sausage. Thanks for all the help guys.