# Deer hams - information needed



## archeryrob (Apr 28, 2016)

I posted in the General smoking forum and didn't know this section existed and was told to post here. Anyways, below is what I have questions with.



> I just finished building a wood smokehouse with detached masonry fire box. I want to be able to make deer hams and need information on exactly how to do this. I was not sure which forum to post this in as most people are using hot smokers and not smokehouses.
> 
> I am possibly interested in making green smoked hams and VA country smoked dried hams or dry cured hams. I want to make both as I am sure when I first do it green ham is the way as its not going to last long. After I am doing a while and people get used to it I will want to dry them more to hang over time.
> 
> Anyone have any good tutorials and recipe instruction on preparing venison hams, bone in and/or bone out tied, to be made into green or cured hams?


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## daveomak (Apr 28, 2016)

I have made hams using my injection technique....   It's very similar to what the commercial processors do...  weighing the leg and adding appropriate amounts of sugar, salt and cure #1 is very important...   If you have questions, we are here to help.....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/236375/ham-from-fresh-picnics-update-10-21-money

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/233988/picnic-shoulder-into-a-ham-9-13-update-money

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/237094/curing-meat-by-injection#post_1480101


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## archeryrob (Apr 29, 2016)

Thanks Dave, you are doing injection curing, which is what  called brine cured hams, correct?

 - How does the cure help? Does it store longer? Do you store yours or just eat it right away?

 - What is the difference between injection and dry cure in dry salt?

 - I would prefer to use injection over buying 50#'s of salt.

I am interested in dry cured and wondering how to best do this. Is there an explanation on the differences? I have seen farmers that just kept ham hanging in the smoke house. Those guys are dead and gone now and I don't have them to ask any longer.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 29, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> I posted in the General smoking forum and didn't know this section existed and was told to post here. Anyways, below is what I have questions with.


I have smoked Venison Hams (Hind Quarters), but I take them apart & Dry cure & smoke the pieces, so there are no places where the cure can't get to.

Just so you know----> Curing and Smoking Venison makes it taste like Dried Beef---Not Ham.

Link to Step by Step:

*Smoked Venison Dried Beef  *

Bear


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## HalfSmoked (Apr 29, 2016)

I have a cure recipe that my grandparents used to cure pork hams, shoulders and side meat which they hung in a meat house (they did not smoke it) and it would hang up to a year. Not sure this would work on deer meat and this was done in cold weather like Nov. or Dec. and hung a minimum of 6 months before eating. I will post recipe if anyone's interested the recipe is for 100 lbs. of meat and can be adjusted to more or less. Known in our area as sugar cured .


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## archeryrob (Apr 29, 2016)

I guess I'll separate the muscle groups from the rump like I always do. Treat them and then hang on hooks to smoke them. My daughter shot a deer when it was warm in late September last year. It sat over night in 50° weather and my wife forced me to take it to the butcher to verify it was safe. They slices the rump through the bone to make steaks and the venison rump muscle groups just will not stick together very well. The steaks fall apart when cooking.

Bearcarver, I read that, but I have a few questions. Why add the cure if it is to be frozen? I am learning here, so no offense is meant. I want to learn to be able to prepare the meat for the table, as a brined, wet ham and to make cured, dried meat like the old timers did. This last one I am unsure about.

Halfsmoked, I am very interested in hearing about the recipe/process. So was this salt dried and no heat was used?

I am interested in trying a low heat smoke to dry out and preserve meat without freezing. I an guessing 85 to 100°, but I am still looking for advice. I am old school and do everything the old way if I can. On a side note, I made all my own archery gear with bows from Osage or Hickory and arrows from arrowwood or Multiflora rose.


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## daveomak (Apr 29, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> Thanks Dave, you are doing injection curing, which is what  called brine cured hams, correct?  Yes...
> 
> - How does the cure help? Does it store longer? Do you store yours or just eat it right away?   You need cure when smoking meats...  The smoke consumes oxygen and botulism loves growing in an oxygen depleted atmosphere...  ALSO, it won't be "HAM" without cure....  it will be smoked pork leg.... The finished product needs refrigeration... I cut it up, slice some, some in chunks... vac pack and freeze for future use...
> 
> ...


https://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/instruction/asc300/Hams.pdf

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2055/ANSI-3994web.pdf


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## Bearcarver (Apr 29, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> Bearcarver, I read that, but I have a few questions. Why add the cure if it is to be frozen? I am learning here, so no offense is meant. I want to learn to be able to prepare the meat for the table, as a brined, wet ham and to make cured, dried meat like the old timers did. This last one I am unsure about.
> 
> I am interested in trying a low heat smoke to dry out and preserve meat without freezing. I an guessing 85 to 100°, but I am still looking for advice. I am old school and do everything the old way if I can. On a side note, I made all my own archery gear with bows from Osage or Hickory and arrows from arrowwood or Multiflora rose.


You have to add the proper amount of cure to cure the meat, and you can't Smoke Meat low & slow without curing the meat first.

Without curing it first, you would have to use temps high enough to get it from 40° Internal Temp to 140° Internal Temp within 4 Hours, and 4 hours wouldn't give you very much time to get a good smoke flavor in the meat.

If all you use is Salt, instead of adding cure, you won't get Ham flavor in Ham, and you won't get the Dried Beef flavor in Beef or Deer. 

All you'll get is cooked meat if you use high enough temp, and if you use low temps without curing, all you'll get is spoiled meat.

Any Old ways of doing these things without using cure, I can't help you with.

Hope that helps,

Bear


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## archeryrob (May 22, 2016)

I am still struggling on what do do with this. I want to be able to dry (cure) deer roast to that can be preserved, hopefully without refrigeration or freezing. My daughter and I will both be hunting deer this year and the freezer is not going to hold it all. I would rather learn proper curing methods than buy another freezer. Plus I am old school and make all my own archery equipment, primitive, It just fits my style better.

I watched bear carvers threads on curing and drying. I was planning on drying longer and lower heat. Can you leave yours sealed and non-refrigerated?

I have watch video on salting and old school pig processing and the farmer in it made a comment about having a ham hanging for almost 6 years. I have no intention of storing things that long, just year by year. I want to find better how to information on curing and smoke drying meat for dry storage. I am probably not going to dry cure as my basement is not cold enough and I don't want the basement fridge full for months. I was more interested in injection cure and smoking it dry. Then maybe storing whole or slicing and sealing for shelf storage. I have searched the internet most of the day and can't find a good old school way of doing it. Just a bunch of prepper sites that talk about it but don't explain the how to of all of it.

So, Any good tutorials or threads or words of wisdom for me? I have a deer front shoulder in the freezer I want to thaw and debone as a trial run.


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## daveomak (May 22, 2016)

Get Marianski's books....   build a home drying chamber with temp and humidity controls...   DO NOT USE HEAT to dry meat...  

Check out stuff Evan has done....    http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/u/97284/evan-m-brady


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## archeryrob (May 23, 2016)

You have to have some heat, right? I mean under 120 or under 100 for days.

I just ordered "Meat Smoking And Smokehouse Design" although design section might be a little late now.


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## daveomak (May 23, 2016)

The reference to "no heat" is because you do not want to cook the meat...  cooked meat doesn't keep...   you want to slowly dry the meat using bacterial cultures, humidity, and a temperature that coincides with the culture you are using...  Cultures were "native" to areas that made fermented meats...  thus their distinctive flavors...   today we can use those specific cultures to replicate meats from different parts of the world...

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/dry-curing-and-fermentation

http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai407e/ai407e11.htm

http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai407e/AI407E18.htm

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-types/fermented-sausage/cultures

Some folks will have differing opinions on these books....   You need somewhere to start...


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## daveomak (May 23, 2016)

A member just pointed out this humidity / temperature combination unit he used for the last 2 years and said it is still working...   It's on my list of stuff to get....    perfect for fermenting meats ....


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## archeryrob (Jun 5, 2016)

Ok, I plan to do like bearcarver, but I have Prague powder and would prefer to use it. I do have tender quick and could use it, but would prefer to use the Prague powder But I could use tender quick, if i have too. I have a deer front shoulder thawed and two goose breast thawing also. The deer is bone in and I will probably open it up and debone the scapula and front leg from it. That will make it thinner and be like a tried roast when smoked. The goose breast are probably 1 1/4" think to 1 1/2" at the most. Will these dry cure fine, require more time or need an injection?

I saw that it is tsp per 5 pounds of meat for Prague powder.Obviously 1 tsp is not going to effectively cover a  5 lbs roast. So is there a recipe people have that used brown sugar and other things to stretch it all over the meat? These will be salted (mixture with sugar) and in the fridge tonight for a week rest to start smoking next week.


> EDIT, I found this in another thread. Looks like I will have to use the Tenderquicj this time and aquire the kosher salt later. Then you would mix like tenderquick with and 1sp or 1.5 tsp per pound. Correct?
> 
> *2 ounces of cure #1, 8 ounces of granulated sugar, and 16 ounces of kosher salt is the equivalent of TQ without sodium nitrate.*


Can the goose breast go in one bag together, or do each have to have their own bag also?


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## Bearcarver (Jun 5, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> Ok, I plan to do like bearcarver, but I have Prague powder and would prefer to use it. I do have tender quick and could use it, but would prefer to use the Prague powder But I could use tender quick, if i have too. I have a deer front shoulder thawed and two goose breast thawing also. The deer is bone in and I will probably open it up and debone the scapula and front leg from it. That will make it thinner and be like a tried roast when smoked. The goose breast are probably 1 1/4" think to 1 1/2" at the most. Will these dry cure fine, require more time or need an injection?
> 
> I saw that it is tsp per 5 pounds of meat for Prague powder.Obviously 1 tsp is not going to effectively cover a  5 lbs roast. So is there a recipe people have that used brown sugar and other things to stretch it all over the meat? These will be salted (mixture with sugar) and in the fridge tonight for a week rest to start smoking next week.
> 
> Can the goose breast go in one bag together, or do each have to have their own bag also?


Personally I would go with TQ, and use my Link I gave earlier. I like the taste much better.

I would put each goose breast in it's own bag, to make sure they each get their share of TQ.

If you must use the Prague powder, I would use the "POPS" Method, and wet brine cure it. That way you don't have to worry about 1tsp covering 5 pounds.

You can find Pops' method many places on this forum.

Hope this helps,

Bear


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## archeryrob (Jun 5, 2016)

I thawed then out and they both seemed "wet". The deer was just processed and I boned it out and tried to remove what membrane I could. The goose was pretty clean but seemed to ooze water. It kind of turned the tenderquick and brown sugar into a paste as I finally got it into the bag. I threw both goose breast into one bag with enough cure for both.

Deer front shoulder, without bone, was 3.8# and I used 4Tbsp tendquick and 4 tbsp of brown sugar and it covered well

Booth goose breasts were 1.2# and I used 2.5 Tbsp Tenderquick and brown sugar and the mixture got sticky quick. The breast were packed in water when frozen. Maybe that is part of the problem, but Idrained them well first and sat on racks for two hours. 

The main reason for posting this was I really felt like I should add more to adsorb the liquid, but don't want to make it too salty. I let them air dry on a rack for two hours before putting them in the bags and they felt dry in some spots but wet in other areas. So, is it too wet, or is it just a brine in the bag?


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## LanceR (Jun 5, 2016)

Hello Rob

Your profile doesn't show where you are.  If you are close enough to visit with one of us for a while I suspect you would be a lot more comfortable.  The "wet" defrosted meat you refer to likely has to do with the freezing process and how the meat was handled before it hit the freezer.  Faster freezing means smaller ice crystals and less moisture loss on defrosting as it's the ice crystals that cut the cell walls and release the moisture.  Faster freezing makes for smaller ice crystals.  A good practice is to get the meat as cold as possible before putting it in the freezer and to not put so much in the freezer at once that the air temperature rises enough that things take forever to freeze.

You mention Prague powder but didn't mention whether it's #1 or #2 (unless I missed that).  You want #2 for anything you are going to air dry or cold smoke for a long while.  The type of air drying you want to do generally needs to be at a lot cooler temps than the daytime ambient temps in much of the US this time of year (that's why I'm curious where you live).

Marianski's books are a great reference but they also have been gracious enough to put all the same in formation on their website:   http://www.meatsandsausages.com/

Whatever you do, keep a detailed journal of everything you do as you go along.  Without that journal next year you are going to be pretty much right back where you are today since darn few of us do this stuff so frequently that we can remember what we did 10-12 months ago.

I'm glad to see you expanding your horizons.  As others have written, keep the questions coming.

Lance


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## archeryrob (Jun 5, 2016)

Thanks, i updated the profile for just near Hagerstown Maryland. I read #1 for dry cure and #2 was for injection, or something like that. I went all Tenderquick this time as I had it and wanted to go simple as crap just went wrong with the kids, if you know what i mean. $3k gone.

I always froze meat as it seemed to drain better and made better jerky with absorbing the marinade. I'll check you link later but work is very busy and I have to travel most of next week. .


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## daveomak (Jun 6, 2016)

Prague Powder #1 vs Prague Powder #2





By: *SmokinHusker*

Posted 1/2/13  • Last updated 1/2/13  • 20,238 views  • 3 comments

Rick (NEPAS) posted this recently in another thread here. 

CURES - Cures are used in sausage products for color and flavor development as well as retarding the development of bacteria in
the low temperature environment of smoked meats.
Salt and sugar both cure meat by osmosis. In addition to drawing the water from the food, they dehydrate and kill the bacteria that make food spoil. In general, though, use of the word "cure" refers to processing the meat with either sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.
The primary and most important reason to use cures is to prevent BOTULISM POISONING (Food poisoning). It is very important that any kind of meat or sausage that will be cooked and smoked at low temperature be cured. To trigger botulism poisoning, the requirements are quite simple - lack of oxygen, the presence of moisture, and temperatures in range of 40-140° F. When smoking meats, the heat and smoke eliminates the oxygen. The meats have moisture and are traditionally smoked and cooked in the low ranges of 90 to 185° F. As you can see, these are ideal conditions for food poisoning if you don't use cures. There are two types of commercially used cures.

Prague Powder #1
Also called Insta-Cure and Modern Cure. Cures are used to prevent meats from spoiling when being cooked or smoked at low temperatures (under 200 degrees F). This cure is 1 part sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 16 parts salt (93.75%) and are combined and crystallized to assure even distribution. As the meat temperate rises during processing, the sodium nitrite changes to nitric oxide and starts to ‘gas out’ at about 130 degrees F. After the smoking /cooking process is complete only about 10-20% of the original nitrite remains. As the product is stored and later reheated for consumption, the decline of nitrite continues. 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A more typical measurement for home use is 1 level tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Mix with cold water, then mix into meat like you would mix seasonings into meat.

Prague Powder #2
Used to dry-cure products. Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium nitrate and 16 parts salt.

(1 oz. of sodium nitrite with .64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt.)

It is primarily used in dry-curing Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowly breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly.
Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat when mixing with meat.
When using a cure in a brine solution, follow a recipe.

DO NOT MIX EITHER CURE #1 OR CURE #2 WITH MTQ


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## Bearcarver (Jun 6, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> I thawed then out and they both seemed "wet". The deer was just processed and I boned it out and tried to remove what membrane I could. The goose was pretty clean but seemed to ooze water. It kind of turned the tenderquick and brown sugar into a paste as I finally got it into the bag. I threw both goose breast into one bag with enough cure for both.
> 
> Deer front shoulder, without bone, was 3.8# and I used 4Tbsp tendquick and 4 tbsp of brown sugar and it covered well
> 
> ...


Hopefully you'll be fine, but you didn't follow what I said.

I said I'd put the Breasts in separate bags, so one doesn't absorb more TQ than the other.

I also think you Deboned the Deer front shoulder out, but left it together in one piece. If you look at the  *Smoked Venison Dried Beef  **I gave you earlier, **you will see I took 2 Hind Quarters apart & cured the 6 pieces separately. I did that for much the same reason as the Goose Breasts (to keep one from absorbing all the TQ). I also separated each Hind Quarter into 3 pieces, because one time I took a Hind quarter to a Processor to get Dried Beef, and the guy removed the bone, but left it in one piece, and it got spoiled because the cure didn't get into the holes properly where the bones had been removed.*

When you first add TQ & Brown Sugar to meat, it turns into a Paste type substance (like you said), but shortly after, that turns into a liquid. Then when it gets flipped daily, both sides get to absorb the liquid. If you have a big hunk of meat in there it doesn't have a good chance of getting into the center, and all the little nooks & crannies where bones have been removed. So when dry curing with TQ, the pieces should be less than 3" thick, and each smaller piece should be cured separately.

Hope this helps,

Bear


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## archeryrob (Jun 6, 2016)

bearcarver, I brought the two goose breast up and washed them off and resugered and cured them, in seperate bags. Hopefully they didn't take much over night or I'll be eating some salty stuff. We will find out ina week or so. :) The deer had drawn more water out also.

Thanks Dave


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## Bearcarver (Jun 6, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> bearcarver, I brought the two goose breast up and washed them off and resugered and cured them, in seperate bags. Hopefully they didn't take much over night or I'll be eating some salty stuff. We will find out ina week or so. :) The deer had drawn more water out also.
> 
> Thanks Dave


That could easily give it more salt & cure than needed, because it was Full strength for a Day---Twice, so after you cure it for the right time length, cut a couple slices & give them a Salt-Fry-Test in the frying pan. If it tastes too salty, soak it in cold water for a couple hours, changing cold water every half hour. Then try testing it again. Do that until it's not too salty. Then get your pellicle on it & Smoke it.

Bear


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## archeryrob (Jun 10, 2016)

These went in Sunday night to the basement fridge. All noticeable change pretty much happened in the first 24 hours. The salt and sugar disappeared and water extruded from the meat. All meat got thicker, or less flexible quickly. How are you sure when its done ready for smoking? I have no problem waiting until Monday to smoke it, but why wait 6 or 7 days when tenderquick says right on the bag it its ready in a day? It says 4 - 6 hours to full cure?

So why does everyone on forums like this say to wait 6 days or so and Morton's says it can be ready the same day? Does it just cure from Botulism in 4 - 6 hours and not penetrate into the meat fully?


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## Bearcarver (Jun 10, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> These went in Sunday night to the basement fridge. All noticeable change pretty much happened in the first 24 hours. The salt and sugar disappeared and water extruded from the meat. All meat got thicker, or less flexible quickly. How are you sure when its done ready for smoking? I have no problem waiting until Monday to smoke it, but why wait 6 or 7 days when tenderquick says right on the bag it its ready in a day? It says 4 - 6 hours to full cure?
> 
> So why does everyone on forums like this say to wait 6 days or so and Morton's says it can be ready the same day? Does it just cure from Botulism in 4 - 6 hours and not penetrate into the meat fully?


Morton's doesn't give proper directions for curing things for smoking, on the package.

Even in their book, they end up cooking the meat at 350°.

I include how I calculate my curing in all of my Step by Steps (including the one I gave you above).

I go by a formula I learned here 7 years ago:

2 Days for every 1/2" (thickness), Plus 2 Days.

Then I add another 2 or 3 days to that. (whichever suits my schedule best)

Others go by 7 Days per Inch.

Both are fine. IMHO

Bear


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## archeryrob (Jun 13, 2016)

I just went down and measured the deer shoulder and it is 1 3/4" thick.

So by your timing 7 or 8 days + 2 days to 9 or 10 days Or 1 3/4 weeks for the other way.

Wednesday evening will be 10 days and a week and half for the deer roast. The goose is done, I am sure, and maybe overly salty just bathing waiting for the smokehouse to warm up.


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## Bearcarver (Jun 13, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> I just went down and measured the deer shoulder and it is 1 3/4" thick.
> 
> So by your timing 7 or 8 days + 2 days to 9 or 10 days Or 1 3/4 weeks for the other way.
> 
> Wednesday evening will be 10 days and a week and half for the deer roast. The goose is done, I am sure, and maybe overly salty just bathing waiting for the smokehouse to warm up.


Yup---As long as you had the proper amount of cure in there, 9 or 10 days should be fine. Or as long as 14 would be OK, but I wouldn't go any longer.

Bear


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## archeryrob (Jun 16, 2016)

Well they are out in in the smokehouse, but I am having trouble keeping the temperature low. It easily hopped to 135° with just coals now in the fire box. I have the damper on the intake closed fairly tight and its still hot. I assume I need to have a lot of practice fires to get used to this thing and trying to get low temps. Maybe I need a dampers into the smokehouse from the fire box??

Deer is at 124 and the smokehouse slowly dropping to 133. I will probably start to warm it now slowly to cook by days end. Looks like to am going for cooked like you did Bearcarver. I think 135° is a bit high for died venison. What do you think? Curign and dried food might need to wait for the next try.

This was it going in. This little goose fish are probably going to be jerky.













In the smoker.jpg



__ archeryrob
__ Jun 16, 2016


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## Bearcarver (Jun 16, 2016)

archeryrob said:


> Well they are out in in the smokehouse, but I am having trouble keeping the temperature low. It easily hopped to 135° with just coals now in the fire box. I have the damper on the intake closed fairly tight and its still hot. I assume I need to have a lot of practice fires to get used to this thing and trying to get low temps. Maybe I need a dampers into the smokehouse from the fire box??
> 
> Deer is at 124 and the smokehouse slowly dropping to 133. I will probably start to warm it now slowly to cook by days end. Looks like to am going for cooked like you did Bearcarver. I think 135° is a bit high for died venison. What do you think? Curign and dried food might need to wait for the next try.
> 
> This was it going in. This little goose fish are probably going to be jerky.


If you're talking about the kind of Dried Beef I make, I try to get it into the area of 160° Internal Temp, but mine gets sliced paper thin, because it is actually Venison Dried Beef.

Bear


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## daveomak (Jun 16, 2016)

Old time smoke houses like yours had a way to let heat out of the FB or the duct work leading to the smoke house....    A "TEE" with an adjustable damper in the smoke pipe was one way...   A duct on top of the FB where it connects to the smoke pipe.....    Or they opened the door to the FB wide open to let heat out...    If you open the door, which I would try, place some bricks in front of the fire, if needed, to reduce the chance of inrushing cold air to fuel the fire.... 

Your smoker will work very well after a few smokes and some tinkering with temp control....

You could also add some adjustable fresh air inlets to the smoke house...  That would do about the same as the upper air inlets on a RF smoker... 

  













Smoker Exh and Intakes 2.jpg



__ daveomak
__ Apr 16, 2016


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## archeryrob (Jun 16, 2016)

It worked and did a hot smoke, but cold smoking was not an option. More experimenting and learning to do. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I got it up to 180 in the house and decided to heat it up on. The fire box got hot!! The plastic anchors gave way and the door fell off. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 Now I need to research lead anchors or masonry screws as a substitute. I had to pop a 12" square walking stone against to door to hold it in place. LOL

but its done and I'll post pics tomorrow.

We ate the goose fish already and DAAAMN it was good. Very dry but didn't even taste like goose. It was a dark red probably darker than ham.  I can't wait to slice this tomorrow.


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## archeryrob (Jun 17, 2016)

My wife likes this stuff, and she doesn't like deer and hates goose unless marinated to cover it. I had to almost slap my daughter as she was eating the goose like candy. I think I lost maybe an ounce to her and other taste testers.

The goose was salty as I cured it twice. The second batch was only half the cure but the same amount of sugar. My wife actually like it better than the deer. She thought the deer needed more cure/salt. The deer had a light salt taste but still very nice. I think I am going to do an entire deer later this year all at once.this is Awesome. Great recipe Bearcarver!

This was it coming out of the smokehouse. One fish is missing as it was tasted tested before I could get my phone out.













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__ archeryrob
__ Jun 17, 2016






The goose goose breast sliced













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__ archeryrob
__ Jun 17, 2016






The deer shoulder













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__ archeryrob
__ Jun 17, 2016






Deer being weighed, 25oz













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__ archeryrob
__ Jun 17, 2016






Goose sliced weight













IMG_0963 (Large).JPG



__ archeryrob
__ Jun 17, 2016


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## Bearcarver (Jun 17, 2016)

That's Great, Rob!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





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Glad you all like it !
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Nice Job of sticking with it.

The Bear would never steer you wrong! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


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## archeryrob (Sep 6, 2016)

OK, the heat bypass has been made. I posted on Masonry fire boxes in the smokehouse forum.

Now its deer killing time and my buddy wants me to do some full deer hams. His FiL used to make deer hams and said coat in salt and so many days its done. So, I am back to beating this horse again. I tried reading on here, but just am not seeing the country hams being made and not from venison.

I want to bone out the hams and coat them in a sugar cure of 1tsp cure and brown sugar per pound and rest in the fridge and then slow smoke in the smoke house at maybe 85 - 90°. Thoughts? Yes Bear, the whole leg bone out cured cut open then bound when smoked. Some will be for the freezer and eating and I want to learn to leave a few dry hanging like cured country hams. 

I am also thinking about trying the kosher salt with inst-cure (#1 powder) and using that for the cure.


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