# Cured Venison Ham(s)



## woodcutter (Dec 6, 2012)

Tried something different with some of my venison this year. I put 1 hind quarter into Pop's brine + 1/4 cup garlic powder. It sat in the refrigerator for 14 days. I test fried a piece last night and was worried the garlic was a little too strong. I PM-ed Chef Jimmy and he told me the garlic would sweeten and mellow while it smoked. That is exactly what it did and it turned out great.

I smoked it at 150 then slowly raised it to 200. It took 7 1/2 hours to get to 158. Here is what it looked like when it came out of the smoker.













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I let it cool and it wrinkled while cooling.













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I sliced up one piece for sampling.













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It has the texture of roast beef but tastes like a cross between pastrami and ham? It is very good and juicy not dry at all. Thanks TasunkaWitko for your thread and your advice on smoking. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/114930/making-dried-beef-not-jerky-from-venison#post_894751. Thanks to Chef Jimmy and Pop for his brine. (first time I used his brine)


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## pike2 (Dec 6, 2012)

thats a job well done there

ive been doing the same with the center piece of meat from the rump, looks like a nerf foot ball,  soak the blood out of it then brine for a few days and smoke at low temps,  turns out really good  cross between roast beef and ham.

pic of it













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## tasunkawitko (Dec 6, 2012)

looks great, woodcutter! i'm glad it turned out so well and am honoured that you mentioned me.

of course, i can't take all the credit for it - i elarned the method from our buddy, bearcarver!


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## woodcutter (Dec 6, 2012)

pike2 said:


> thats a job well done there
> 
> ive been doing the same with the center piece of meat from the rump, looks like a nerf foot ball,  soak the blood out of it then brine for a few days and smoke at low temps,  turns out really good  cross between roast beef and ham.
> 
> ...


I love the sirloin. Normally make small steaks out of it and in the frying pan with onions and bell peppers.


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## woodcutter (Dec 6, 2012)

TasunkaWitko said:


> looks great, woodcutter! i'm glad it turned out so well and am honoured that you mentioned me.
> 
> of course, i can't take all the credit for it - i elarned the method from our buddy, bearcarver!


That is funny you said that about Bearcarver. It is his recipe that I use for Canadian Bacon and I mentioned to you how similar this was.


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## diggingdogfarm (Dec 6, 2012)

Looks real good!




~Martin


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## diesel (Dec 6, 2012)

Great info and nice work.  

Thanks,

Aaron.


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## woodcutter (Dec 6, 2012)

Thanks everyone. I can't believe how juicy this turned out. I read how other people are making jerky in their smoker and don't understand how anything dries in there. I have never dried anything out in my smoker even sausage.


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## thoseguys26 (Dec 10, 2012)

Nice! I'm in the process of doing something similar to this right now. day 15 for me, whole mule deer leg.


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## archernut (Dec 11, 2012)

Damn, that looks great.


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## uncle_lar (Dec 11, 2012)

do that all the time too with the football roast cure them smoke into pastrami

love it , cant really tell that its not corn beef


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## cfoxtrot (Dec 30, 2012)

Ok, add another one to the "must do" list! Looks great, I can not wait to try it.


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## palmerspit (Sep 12, 2013)

I have always been scared to death of smokin deer meat cause everyone i know that has tried it has failed as far as it being too dry, but im willing to give it another try by using a brine & very low heat..... I think the higher temp. May be the problem


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## woodcutter (Sep 12, 2013)

These hams were not even thinking of getting dry. It was a hit here at my house especially with my daughter. It tasted like Pastrami.


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## palmerspit (Sep 12, 2013)

Ok now im lookin more forward to deer season now.... Thanks Woodcutter !!!!!


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## sapper299 (Sep 15, 2013)

Thats a great piece of venison, gonna have to give it a shot.


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## novafire (Dec 2, 2013)

It looks like you boned out the leg prior to brining?  Is there any benefit to this?  I still have several venison legs that are completely intact.  Would it be better to cut out the roasts / de-bone before I brine and smoke?  I have room to brine / smoke the entire leg if it doesn't make a difference. 

Thanks!


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## woodcutter (Dec 2, 2013)

I boned them because of brine space and it is a big hunk of meat to inject. You need to inject brine especially along the bones to prevent bone sour. Also I wanted to slice for sandwiches.


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## Bearcarver (Dec 2, 2013)

Looks Great Todd!!! Great tasting stuff, eh???

Not to horn in here, but like you said, if you de-bone the hams you don't need to inject it.

Around here all the PA Dutch butcher shops call it "Venison Dried Beef".

Link to smoked hindquarter Venison Dried Beef:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/101317/smoked-venison-dried-beef

My next ones will be from the backstraps.

Bear


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## leah elisheva (Dec 2, 2013)

That looks fantastic!!! Cheers! - Leah


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## woodcutter (Dec 2, 2013)

It was very good! Sadly this was from last year and I didn't get one to replace it this year. I'll using a lot of pork butts this year.


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## Bearcarver (Dec 2, 2013)

novafire said:


> It looks like you boned out the leg prior to brining?  Is there any benefit to this?  I still have several venison legs that are completely intact.  Would it be better to cut out the roasts / de-bone before I brine and smoke?  I have room to brine / smoke the entire leg if it doesn't make a difference.
> 
> Thanks!


Just to add to what Todd said:

For many years, before I had a smoker, we used to get at least one hindquarter from each Deer made into "Venison Dried Beef". The butcher used to debone the hindquarter, but leave it in one piece. Then we'd pick them up & take them to a processor (smokehouse). Then one time we got a bad one. The guy said the brine didn't get into the inside areas, where the bones had been. From that day forward, we got the hindquarters deboned, and then I took them apart in two pieces, before taking them to the processor. He bitched about it every year, because he didn't like so many small pieces. I didn't care what he liked, I didn't want another one spoiled. You can see how I cut mine into even more pieces in the link I provided above. The smaller pieces are easier for me to handle them while I cure & smoke them too.

Bear


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## andy riley (Dec 7, 2013)

I used to take mine to a butcher to have dried too, but they were way too salty. I could handle it but my wife hated it, and you know what happens if the wife hates it. Plus, this was several years ago before I did my own de boning. The processor would charge $10 to de bone a hind quarter, but the last time I went to a friends butcher and he showed me how to do it and it was in pieces like yours, so that's how I've been doing mine, but I've just been making roasts. Now I have a smoker and I had a very good year hunting this year.

This recipe is why I got a smoker, but I plan on doing much more now.


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## Bearcarver (Dec 7, 2013)

Andy Riley said:


> I used to take mine to a butcher to have dried too, but they were way too salty. I could handle it but my wife hated it, and you know what happens if the wife hates it. Plus, this was several years ago before I did my own de boning. The processor would charge $10 to de bone a hind quarter, but the last time I went to a friends butcher and he showed me how to do it and it was in pieces like yours, so that's how I've been doing mine, but I've just been making roasts. Now I have a smoker and I had a very good year hunting this year.
> 
> This recipe is why I got a smoker, but I plan on doing much more now.


All of the butchers Dried Beef comes out too salty. In fact a good friend of mine was the third generation owner of the biggest Dried Beef processing company on the East Coast "Knauss' Dried Beef", and theirs was even too salty. I think it had to do with commercial regulations. Plus they dry theirs more than I do, and the drier you make it the more salt flavor you get, because the water leaves, but the salt stays.

Bear


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## daveomak (Dec 7, 2013)

novafire said:


> It looks like you boned out the leg prior to brining?  Is there any benefit to this?  I still have several venison legs that are completely intact.  Would it be better to cut out the roasts / de-bone before I brine and smoke?  I have room to brine / smoke the entire leg if it doesn't make a difference.
> 
> Thanks!



Boning the leg can save the meat from incomplete curing...  bone sour if you don't inject correctly... and the meat comes out exactly the same... just not a presentation piece....  AND it takes a lot less time to cure due to the thickness of the pieces....   Dave


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## woodz (Dec 13, 2013)

This post is the reason I joined this forum. I was researching this very process when I stumbled upon SMF.... Congrats on your success and thanks for a great post! I am actually sitting here now waiting to put the hams in the brine to start the process. 

I have all my brine in a 5 gallon bucket and was thinking of just adding all the meat to the bucket, covering it with wrap and sticking it in the fridge. Is this acceptable? Are there certain ways that the curing vets use to store their brining meats in the fridge? Ziplock bags, Tupperware bowls or stainless pans? 

I'm downright excited to get this thing going!


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## Bearcarver (Dec 13, 2013)

woodz said:


> This post is the reason I joined this forum. I was researching this very process when I stumbled upon SMF.... Congrats on your success and thanks for a great post! I am actually sitting here now waiting to put the hams in the brine to start the process.
> 
> I have all my brine in a 5 gallon bucket and was thinking of just adding all the meat to the bucket, covering it with wrap and sticking it in the fridge. Is this acceptable? Are there certain ways that the curing vets use to store their brining meats in the fridge? Ziplock bags, Tupperware bowls or stainless pans?
> 
> I'm downright excited to get this thing going!


Depends on which method you use----If you Dry cure in pieces, you can keep it in ziplocks, like this:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/101317/smoked-venison-dried-beef

However if you brine cure it, you'll need room in a fridge for whatever container you're using.

Bear


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## woodz (Dec 13, 2013)

Thanks Bear, after doing some searching, I found this:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/75411/brine

It pretty much answered my question... 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





This place is loaded with info!


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## daveomak (Dec 13, 2013)

woodz said:


> This post is the reason I joined this forum. I was researching this very process when I stumbled upon SMF.... Congrats on your success and thanks for a great post! I am actually sitting here now waiting to put the hams in the brine to start the process.
> 
> I have all my brine in a 5 gallon bucket and was thinking of just adding all the meat to the bucket, covering it with wrap and sticking it in the fridge. Is this acceptable? Are there certain ways that the curing vets use to store their brining meats in the fridge? Ziplock bags, Tupperware bowls or stainless pans?
> 
> I'm downright excited to get this thing going!


woodz, ,,,,Is the bone in the ham leg......  did you inject, if it is.....   If it's over 2" thick inject 10% of the weight of the piece of meat...


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## woodz (Dec 13, 2013)

Bearcarver said:


> Depends on which method you use----If you Dry cure in pieces, you can keep it in ziplocks, like this:
> 
> http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/101317/smoked-venison-dried-beef


I subscribed to your post as well. Thanks! Do you prefer dry over wet curing overall or does it depend on what meat your working with?


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## Bearcarver (Dec 13, 2013)

woodz said:


> I subscribed to your post as well. Thanks! Do you prefer dry over wet curing overall or does it depend on what meat your working with?


That's a personal preference. Probably more guys on this forum use a brine cure, but I find I get better flavor dry curing with TQ. I think the other gets washed out soaking in water, but that's me.

Bear


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## woodz (Dec 13, 2013)

Thanks Bear, I am gonna try both methods. I'm brining 2 deer hams now, getting them ready for smoke in about 16 days. After this, I will try a dry cure..


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## woodcutter (Dec 13, 2013)

woodz said:


> This post is the reason I joined this forum. I was researching this very process when I stumbled upon SMF.... Congrats on your success and thanks for a great post! I am actually sitting here now waiting to put the hams in the brine to start the process.
> 
> I have all my brine in a 5 gallon bucket and was thinking of just adding all the meat to the bucket, covering it with wrap and sticking it in the fridge. Is this acceptable? Are there certain ways that the curing vets use to store their brining meats in the fridge? Ziplock bags, Tupperware bowls or stainless pans?
> 
> I'm downright excited to get this thing going!


Thanks! Good luck with your project. My brother is going to try curing for the first time and he is using moose, another first.


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## woodz (Dec 26, 2013)

DaveOmak said:


> woodz, ,,,,Is the bone in the ham leg......  did you inject, if it is.....   If it's over 2" thick inject 10% of the weight of the piece of meat...


Hey Dave, I was just reading back through this post and noticed your question...sorry I overlooked it. The hams were deboned and quartered up. I did not inject any of the meat because they are smaller pieces.

Woodcutter, I will be pulling my meat out of the brine tomorrow evening, 12/27/13. What did you do to prep the meat for smoke? Rinse? Soak? Any rubs or seasonings? Should I leave them uncovered back in the fridge overnight to dry? What type of wood did you use to smoke with? I'm thinking pecan, a little milder than hickory or mesquite..

Thanks again for a great post


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## woodcutter (Dec 27, 2013)

woodz said:


> DaveOmak said:
> 
> 
> > woodz, ,,,,Is the bone in the ham leg......  did you inject, if it is.....   If it's over 2" thick inject 10% of the weight of the piece of meat...
> ...


I rinsed them and put them in front of a fan for a few hours to form the pellicle. I did not put anything on the hams but you could add a rub or black pepper right after rinsing. I think I used oak. Pecan would be good.


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## woodz (Dec 27, 2013)

Thanks, meat will be on the smoker tomorrow AM..

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk


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## woodcutter (Dec 27, 2013)

woodz said:


> Thanks, meat will be on the smoker tomorrow AM..
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk


Take lots of pictures!


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## chew2475 (Dec 28, 2014)

Looks great.  Was thinking of taking some of mine and smoking.  Did you use a water pan while smoking it?


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## woodcutter (Dec 28, 2014)

Chew2475 said:


> Looks great.  Was thinking of taking some of mine and smoking.  Did you use a water pan while smoking it?


I did not use a water pan. All the pieces turned out like moist ham.


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## sb59 (Jan 3, 2015)

Chew2475 said:


> Looks great.  Was thinking of taking some of mine and smoking.  Did you use a water pan while smoking it?


Hi Chew! If you've never done this I would suggest you go to Bear's step by steps. Pretty in depth instructions with pics. I keep them bookmarked just for quick reference.


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## uncle eddie (Dec 11, 2018)

I would love to try that!  Very nice - Like!


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## HalfSmoked (Dec 11, 2018)

Just a great item and it seamed easy to do.

Warren


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## buzzy (Dec 12, 2018)

If doing whole hind quarter u also might want to remove lymph node in it before curing. Especially if mature deer or in a CWD area. If deboning u will most likely run across it. Couldn't find any real good pics of this but if u search some you'll get idea where at or check youtube out. Just my .02


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