By Wilson Love
A couple years ago, a friend gave me a recipe for a salt/sugar cure for deer meat that he had tried and really liked. I promptly lost it and forgot about it.
Two deer seasons went by and I processed all my deer meat the traditional way.
Then, last deer season, I didnât have any deer meat, but another friend gave me a âhamâ (back leg) of a nice buck he had taken. With that single chunk of fresh deer on hand, I began to think of how to best use it. I remembered the curing recipe and retrieved it from the original giver.
Over the years, we have been blessed to have tried deer, bear, hog, moose, elk, antelope, and many other game meats which were prepared in a wide variety of ways. After a while, we tend to think weâve been there, done that, and there isnât much thatâs new on the horizon.
But we had never salt/sugar cured deer meat or other wild game and this seemed the perfect opportunity. Most of us who grew up where there are no sidewalks, have at least tasted âcountry curedâ salty pork ham. I was concerned that my cured deer meat could turn out to be that kind of salty. Not so. Sure, you can taste the salt, but it is balanced by the sugar and spices, for a unique flavor.
Ingredients:
Fresh back leg (ham) of deer
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon prague powder (curing salt)
Cut off the lower joint of the deer leg and trim the âhamâ of excess fat and membrane. Mix all of the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Rub the dry mix all over the meatâs surface in a large pan or tub.
Place the rubbed meat and excess dry mix in a clean, heavy plastic bag and seal. Put the bagged deer meat in the bottom of the refrigerator and flip it from one side to the other, once a day.
Place the curing bag in a tray in case your seal isnât perfect.
For a small doe leg, leave the meat in the cure for two weeks. For a large buck leg, leave the meat in the cure for four weeks. When cured, rinse with cold water and rub with black pepper.
This recipe is intended to be a preparation for smoking the meat. However, we have used this meat a number of different ways without smoking: thin sliced and lightly fried for biscuits or sandwiches, chunked for chili or beans, and with vegetable/rice dishes.
Curing venison this way firms and flavors the meat. The salt will draw much of the water out, so your sealed bag will soon have reddish liquid in it. But the result is not too salty as with some âcountryâ cured pork hams.
Here are a few extra tips weâve learned: Donât leave the meat in the cure mix longer than recommended. This doesnât help. It only makes the meat darker and harder. Also, be sure to use plastic bags that are approved for contact with food â some are not. We have skipped the pepper rub part of the recipe, so this is optional. One last thing: when the curing process is complete, pull and cut the muscle groups apart and carefully trim all fat, membrane and connective tissues from your beautiful lean meat. Shrink wrap or double wrap for the freezer in small packs.
So there you have it; one of our new favorite ways to enjoy venison. We think youâll like it!
Wilson Love is Owner/Operator of The Practical Outdoorsman, a retail and consignment store.
