Smoked Venison

wolfman

Old Mossy Horns
Anyone ever smoked a shoulder or ham? I've done quite a few boston butts in my time but would like to try something similar with venison.

Cover it with anything?
What temp to cook?
What internal temp to shoot for?
 

shadycove

Twelve Pointer
Go by your local BBQ joint and pick up a couple of "skins" {off of the pork shoulders after they are cooked}. Wrap/tie these around your venison and smoke'it.
Works good on the grill too.
Adds just the right amount of grease and a little pork flavor too.
 

Banjo

Old Mossy Horns
I have never tried a venison roast on a smoker, I always cook them in a crock pot. But I would think that since venison is so lean, it could possibly get too dry. I usually smoke my butts and brisket low and slow, generally 1.5 hours per pound at no more than 225 degrees. The connective tissue breaks down at 205 degrees. I am not sure about a venison roast though. If you try it, let us know how it turns out. Good luck.
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
Never done it, but it's gonna need a pretty good fat cap to be fittin'. Just my .02
 
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woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Go by your local BBQ joint and pick up a couple of "skins" {off of the pork shoulders after they are cooked}. Wrap/tie these around your venison and smoke'it.
Works good on the grill too.
Adds just the right amount of grease and a little pork flavor too.

glad I could get online tonight to see that post,,,,,,,,,dang fine idea,,,,,dang fine,,,,,,embarrassed I didn't think of it,,,,,,
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
And any fat cap on deer is yuck. Just ain't like beef or pork fat.

Yup, I didn't articulate well enough lol, gonna have to make your own fat cap. That waxy hard fat on deer won't melt, render, or taste good.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Yup, I didn't articulate well enough lol, gonna have to make your own fat cap. That waxy hard fat on deer won't melt, render, or taste good.

I figured you were just joshing but I've seen people talk about how fatty they were and how it was gonna be good. I cringe and tell them to enjoy. I cut out anything that isn't red. Lol
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
I have smoked a few venison hams in my day and they aren't too bad. I have a water pan electric smoker and what I have done is place a pork butt on the top rack and the venison on the bottom rack. That way the pork drips onto the ham. You can also barder it with bacon. Remember to always remove the lymph nodes from the hams (and shoulders) prior to any cooking. I dry age all of my venison so the dark, hard, outer layer of dried fascia, fat, and flesh is trimmed away. But to be honest there are better ways to cook a venison ham than smoking.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I've had good luck taking frozen pieces of pork fat, cutting into sharp "speared" pieces and putting them through out the ham into holes I've poked into it with a filet knife. Also after a few hours I wrap it in tinfoil and put a lager beer in it. Never had issues with dryness.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
,,,,But to be honest there are better ways to cook a venison ham than smoking.

I rarely keep a ham whole but when I do my favorite method is to inject the ham with good tomato based marinade (new york steakhouse is a favorite),,,,,,then cook slow on a pig cooker,,,,,,
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
I rarely keep a ham whole but when I do my favorite method is to inject the ham with good tomato based marinade (new york steakhouse is a favorite),,,,,,then cook slow on a pig cooker,,,,,,

That sounds good. I'm like you now, I cut up most of my hams now into small roasts or steaks.
 

CBD21

Eight Pointer
We poke holes in the ham and stuff it with bacon and jalapeño slices then lay bacon over the outside. After it's got some smoke we wrap it with apple juice to finish out. Then chop it and it has the bacon and jalapeños through out.
 

specialk

Twelve Pointer
bacon is your friend....cut slices across ham and lay a strip of bacon in each slit, then wrap ham in bacon......smoke a couple hours at 250 then wrap in foil with apple juice and finish out to 160 degrees......like others have said I like hams cut into roasts....I like to do mine in crockpots.....
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
That sounds good. I'm like you now, I cut up most of my hams now into small roasts or steaks.

yeap,,,a whole ham takes to long to eat all of it after cooking,,,,for my small crowd anyhow,,,,prefer to cook it in meal sized amounts,,,,,
 

wolfman

Old Mossy Horns
Good stuff. So is the consensus 160F internal temp?

I usually go 195 on bbq butts but obviously this is a lean meat.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Good stuff. So is the consensus 160F internal temp?

I usually go 195 on bbq butts but obviously this is a lean meat.


you are killing me,,,,,,

160 degree internal temperature is well done,,,,,,I tend to keep my venison to no more than a Medium internal temp,,,,med is around 140-145,,,,,and for me that ham internal temp would't get above 135
 

wolfman

Old Mossy Horns
you are killing me,,,,,,

160 degree internal temperature is well done,,,,,,I tend to keep my venison to no more than a Medium internal temp,,,,med is around 140-145,,,,,and for me that ham internal temp would't get above 135
i like steak medium rare but cook at high temps quickly. so basically treat the internal temp like steak but take my time getting there.
 

apexhunter

Ten Pointer
I've taken small hams marinated in Italian dressing overnight then sliced 1" apart with bacon inserted like above- wrap in foil and put next to a pig on the cooker. This makes a perfect lunch for the cooking crew once the meat is medium rare to medium (at the most). As for smoking we took a large ham from a decent buck hanging in a walk in for 5 days (bone in), salt & peppered the whole thing, sliced an onion and used toothpicks to place slices all over the ham and put on a charcoal smoker. We did this on a non productive hunting weekend due to weather and prepping to riding an Argo around the never hunted areas of the grounds with adult beverages we started cooking a bit late, but this worked perfectly. As the ham reached medium rare we took it off the smoker, let it rest for 20 minutes and sliced 1-1/2" thick steaks perpendicular to the bone from it. These were better than any steakhouse ribeye or filet I've ever had!!!!! Frank White always claimed that game should be cooked to medium rare at the most and this is an example of how true his statement was- a nice aged deer ham smoked to perfection produced the most delicious steak ever.
 

nchunt101

Ten Pointer
Shoot a small doe/fawn and cook the thing whole on a pig cooker. Lard the entire deer with fatback/rosemary/garlic and cook until the medium at most.
 

Mattbowen61990

Button Buck
I recently cooked one on the RecTec grill, and it turned out pretty good. I injected it with some Beef broth, covered it in some garlic/onion powder, and some black pepper. Cooked it for 2 hours, wrapped in aluminum foil, added some beef broth and brown sugar. I put it back on for 2 more hours, and it was pretty good.
 
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