# Boneless venison ham, with q-view



## snorkelinggirl (Dec 24, 2013)

There have been a number of great posts circulating recently on curing and smoking venison ham.  One I have referred to several times is from Woodcutter:http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/131711/cured-venison-ham-s.  Thanks Todd and many others for your great posts.

Anyway, here is my version of venison ham from My Husband's First Deer.

I processed My Husband's First Deer on our kitchen counter by way of you-tube videos and with some technical assistance from a neighbor who has done it before.  Most of it went in the freezer, but I left out a deboned hind leg to make venison ham using Pops brine recipe.

Here is deboned leg section....I used the shank end for stew meat, and just used the upper part of the leg for the ham.












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Nicely trimmed up and dehaired.  My gosh but those white tail deer have a lot of hair!












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In Pops brine which was fine-tuned for 2.4% salt and 200 ppm sodium nitrite.












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As the thickest muscle section was about 2 inches thick, I cured for 14 days including the equilibrium time from the cold smoking process.  After taking it out of the brine, I seasoned the inside with a little ground thyme, ground black pepper, and ground juniper berries.  Then I rolled it up and tied it into a roast.  If you close one eye and squint the other, it is a fairly uniform size. I let it rest overnight to form a pellicle.












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Then I cold smoked the ham for just a few hours using apple pellets.  I would personally like to have gone with more smoke, but I have to keep the smoke light for my husband's taste.  

I let it rest overnight to let the smoke mellow, then draped the top in bacon.












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And baked it in a 325 deg F oven in a casserole dish with about 1/4" of apple cider in the bottom.  I went to an IT of 140 deg F, then let it rest for 20 minutes.  The IT climbed to about 151 deg F.












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Here it is all sliced up.  Saltiness was perfect for our taste.  The flavor was great and very similar to ham, and quite juicy given how lean the venison was.  The light sprinkling of seasoning on the inside of the roast really complemented the flavor of the deer ham.  I'm pretty happy with how this came out.  I might try using a larding needle next time I make a venison roast, but the bacon cap really did help with keeping the outside from drying out.  












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Thanks for looking, and thanks especially to all you venison ham posters who provided inspiration and the know-how. 

Merry Christmas everyone!
Clarissa


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## pc farmer (Dec 24, 2013)

Very nice.  Does it taste like ham?


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 24, 2013)

c farmer said:


> Very nice.  Does it taste like ham?




Thanks, C!  

It tasted surprisingly similar to ham, with a mild venison undertone.  I used the same brine recipe I always use on my pork ham, so maybe that is why?


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## disco (Dec 24, 2013)

Excuse me but I believe it is cruel and unusual punishment to posts pictures of something that looks that good when we can't sample it. Just saying.

Disco


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## leah elisheva (Dec 24, 2013)

Oh Clarissa, you are the Sensei and Master of this stuff! (I'd call you one "sensational rustic cookery cookie," although I think people are puzzled beyond-beyond by now with me calling them COOKIES). Smiles.

But so beautiful!!! Just wonderful! As always with your posts!

How exciting that it was your husband's deer and how fantastic (what you have done with it) this all indeed surely is!

Merry Christmas!!!! I love your posts and your terrific and such professional looking food!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!!! - Leah


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 24, 2013)

Disco said:


> Excuse me but I believe it is cruel and unusual punishment to posts pictures of something that looks that good when we can't sample it. Just saying.
> 
> Disco



Hi Disco,

Thank you so much!  I feel the same way about your posts and delicious looking meals.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Clarissa




Leah Elisheva said:


> Oh Clarissa, you are the Sensei and Master of this stuff! (I'd call you one "sensational rustic cookery cookie," although I think people are puzzled beyond-beyond by now with me calling them COOKIES). Smiles.
> 
> But so beautiful!!! Just wonderful! As always with your posts!
> 
> ...



Hi Leah,

It is entirely appropriate to call me "Cookie", as I think I've eaten 10 lbs of Christmas cookies over the last few days!  :biggrin:  I need to start my New Year's diet today!

Thanks so much for your compliments!  I hope you have a festive and joyous Christmas and New Year filled with delicious food!
Clarissa


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## moikel (Dec 24, 2013)

Great stuff, looks like it stayed very moist.
Already Xmas day here, cold snap its only 23c!
I am getting ready to slice gravlax & head to friends to have lunch under marquee, it's seafood time & about 15 kids under 10 jacked up on sugar but that's Xmas.


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## daveomak (Dec 24, 2013)

The venison looks awesome.... cooked perfect... wish I was there.....    

Dave


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 24, 2013)

Moikel said:


> Great stuff, looks like it stayed very moist.
> Already Xmas day here, cold snap its only 23c!
> I am getting ready to slice gravlax & head to friends to have lunch under marquee, it's seafood time & about 15 kids under 10 jacked up on sugar but that's Xmas.



Thanks, Mick!!   Gravlax sounds great, and meals with friends/family (and sugared-up kids) is all part of the holiday fun!  Have an adult beverage or two, and enjoy the show!  

Merry Christmas!!
Clarissa


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## guruatbol (Dec 24, 2013)

Between your venison ham and Leah's conchs, I am now very hungry!

This looms awesome.  I have got to get out hunting more!

Mel

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2


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## tony111 (Dec 24, 2013)

VERY nice !!!!  I have done several venison hams and the turned out ok but not as juicy looking as yours. Never rapped in bacon but rubbed lard on the outside as they smoked. I use home made lard for just about everything and I think the lard needle would be the cats a$$ for them. I have to get one. If you try it please let us know how it works out .  Again nice job on the cook and dehairing!


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 24, 2013)

guruatbol said:


> Between your venison ham and Leah's conchs, I am now very hungry!
> 
> This looms awesome.  I have got to get out hunting more!
> 
> ...



Hi Mel,

Thank you!!  Yes, I love the variety of cooking projects on SMF.  Surf and turf, and everything in between!  

Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!
Clarissa




tony111 said:


> VERY nice !!!!  I have done several venison hams and the turned out ok but not as juicy looking as yours. Never rapped in bacon but rubbed lard on the outside as they smoked. I use home made lard for just about everything and I think the lard needle would be the cats a$$ for them. I have to get one. If you try it please let us know how it works out .  Again nice job on the cook and dehairing!



Hi Tony,

I'm a big fan of home-rendered lard too!  But I opted for using the bacon as I thought it might be a slower baste than using lard....there was definitely fat dripping off the bacon strips pretty much the whole time the ham was in the oven.  I guess to be compliant with USDA I should've cooked the ham to 150 deg IT so the carryover heat would get it up to 160 deg F, but heck we eat the backstrap and tenderloin rare-medium-rare and I wouldn't even consider cooking those to 160 deg IT.  I'll let you know how the needle works out.....I'm pretty excited to try it on the venison sirloin roasts too.  I am thinking maybe flavor brine or marinate a sirloin, lard it, wrap it in a bacon weave, then smoke it.....does that sound like a good plan?  

Thanks very much for stopping by and checking out my post.  Merry Christmas!
Clarissa


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## guruatbol (Dec 24, 2013)

I did a venison roast one time with garlic cloves stuffed inside and placed in a gallon size freezer bag with Dr. Pepper in it over night.  When we were ready to cook it we took it out rinsed it and seasoned it with garlic, onion, salt and pepper then to the grill on indirect heat until it was done.  It was awesome, but now that I have discovered the world of low and slow with smoke, I think I would like to try it with my favorite rub and good hickory smoke until IT is 150 and rest for 1/2 hour and serve. 

Of course Bacon makes everything better, so if it were to be rubbed and wrapped in a bacon weave then smoked......Drool!

That may be too many flavors though.  Um, the Dr Pepper is supposed to take any game flavor out. 

Mel


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## woodcutter (Dec 25, 2013)

Nice job! I bet that venison ham was really great the way you seasoned it. What impressed me when I cured venison was how the brine kept the meat tender and juicy. Bacon and apple cider, you took it to the next level.  Great post!


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## snorkelinggirl (Dec 25, 2013)

guruatbol said:


> I did a venison roast one time with garlic cloves stuffed inside and placed in a gallon size freezer bag with Dr. Pepper in it over night.  When we were ready to cook it we took it out rinsed it and seasoned it with garlic, onion, salt and pepper then to the grill on indirect heat until it was done.  It was awesome, but now that I have discovered the world of low and slow with smoke, I think I would like to try it with my favorite rub and good hickory smoke until IT is 150 and rest for 1/2 hour and serve.
> 
> Of course Bacon makes everything better, so if it were to be rubbed and wrapped in a bacon weave then smoked......Drool!
> 
> ...



Hi Mel,

I was wondering what the Dr. Pepper was for!  Our current deer is really mild, but I'll keep that trick in mind if we have a gamier deer next time.  Thanks for the cooking suggestions!!

Merry Christmas!
Clarissa




Woodcutter said:


> Nice job! I bet that venison ham was really great the way you seasoned it. What impressed me when I cured venison was how the brine kept the meat tender and juicy. Bacon and apple cider, you took it to the next level.  Great post!
> :first:



Hi Todd!

Thank you so much for stopping by and for the compliments!  I read through and referred back to your post a bunch of times when I was doing this project.   I can't believe how moist the venison stayed with the brine.  Definitely a keeper method for preparing the back legs.  Thanks again for the inspiration and the know-how!!   

Merry Christmas!
Clarissa


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## frankbe (Dec 25, 2013)

As Moikel said : looks really moist , so ...........







Happy New year to you all !!!!!!!!!!


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## lisa rhodes (Jan 1, 2017)

Your roast looks great but wha Iam looking for is a way to make deer ham like chipped beef


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## daveomak (Jan 1, 2017)

Lisa Rhodes said:


> Your roast looks great but wha Iam looking for is a way to make deer ham like chipped beef









  to the forum.....  check out Bearcarver's stuff....  I think he has made chipped beef......    

Would you mind stopping into "ROLL CALL" to introduce yourself.....

Enjoy the forum......

Dave


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