VENISON HAM
Cured and smoked venison ham with a brown sugar-mustard glaze. Use neck/shoulder for pulled ham or sirloin tip/round steaks for thin, sliceable ham.
Ingredients
For the Venison
- 1 venison roast (neck, shoulder or round steaks)
- 2 cups apple juice or apple cider (for basting while smoking)
For the Brine
- 1 gallon of water
- pink curing salt (follow the directions on the package)
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
For the Glaze
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Make the Brine
- In a large pot add 2 quarts (1/2 gallon) of water and the brine ingredients.
- Bring to a simmer and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the remaining 2 quarts of water to the pot. Place in the refrigerator until completely chilled.
Brine the Venison
- After the mixture has completely chilled, place the venison in the brine. If the venison isn't fully submerged, place it in a narrower container. Place a plate on top of the venison so that it will stay submerged. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap.
- Place the pot in the refrigerator and brine the meat for 5 days.
- Remove the meat from the brine and rinse it with cold water.
For the Glaze
- Make the glaze while the venison is brining. Add the glaze ingredients to a bowl and mix until the sugar has mostly dissolved. Place in the refrigerator until needed.
Shredded Ham Method (For necks and shoulders)
- Place the meat in a large pot or dutch oven Add enough water to cover the meat by a couple of inches.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for two hours. Check for tenderness with a fork. If the meat isn't separating fairly easily with the fork, cover and cook for another 45 minutes to an hour. Repeat if necessary until the meat is fork-tender.
- Pre-heat your smoker between 180 and 210 degrees F. Smoke the venison for up to 2 hours (depending on how much smoke you like) while basting with apple cider or juice every 30 minutes.
- Brush on enough glaze to coat the meat. Smoke for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the meat from the smoker. Brush on more glaze if you like. Let the meat rest for 30 minutes before shredding.
Sliced Ham Method (For round steak cuts and sirloin tips)
- Optional: For the best smoke flavor and color, dry the venison with paper towels and place it in the refrigerator uncovered overnight before smoking.
- Pre-heat your smoker between 150 and 180 degrees F.
- Remove the silver skin from outer portion of the meat.
- Smoke the meat between 2 and 3 hours. Baste with the apple juice or cider every 30 minutes. Checking the internal temperature of the meat around the 2-hour mark.
- Increase the temperature of the smoker to around 200 degrees F.
- Smoke the meat until reaches 130℉. Brush on a layer of the glaze.
- Continue smoking until an internal temperature of 140 degrees F.
- Remove the deer meat from the smoker and brush with a little more glaze. Let the meat rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
NOTES
- Choose the cut by end result. Use neck or shoulder if you want a shredded ham, and use sirloin tip or round cuts if you want a sliceable ham.
- Chill the brine completely. Dissolve the salt and sugar first, then add the remaining water and refrigerate the brine before the venison goes in. Keep the meat fully submerged and brine it for 5 days.
- Dry it overnight if slicing. For the sliced ham method, pat the venison dry and refrigerate it uncovered overnight before smoking if you want better color and smoke adhesion. Remove the outer silver skin before it goes on the smoker.
- Cook shredded cuts first. For neck or shoulder, simmer the meat until fork-tender before it ever goes into the smoker. Start checking after 2 hours and keep going until it pulls apart fairly easily.
- Smoke sliced cuts gently. Start the smoker between 150 and 180 F, baste with apple juice or cider every 30 minutes, then raise the smoker to about 200 F after the first 2 to 3 hours.
- Glaze near the end. For sliced ham, brush on the glaze once the meat reaches about 130 F, and keep smoking until it hits 140 F internal. For shredded ham, glaze after the smoke has set, then cook 20 to 30 minutes more.
- Rest before slicing or shredding. Let the ham sit for about 30 minutes after smoking so the juices settle and the texture firms up.
- Store it the right way. Slice thin across the grain for the sliced version, and keep leftovers either in the cooking liquid or wrapped and chilled.
Nutrition
Calories: 2666kcal | Carbohydrates: 538g | Protein: 110g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 383mg | Sodium: 114658mg | Potassium: 2594mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 510g | Vitamin A: 84IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 825mg | Iron: 22mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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