How to Cure and Smoke a Deer Ham
Learn how to cure and smoke a deer ham to use for a holiday ham, soups, or sandwiches.This home-cured and smoked venison ham is wet brined and then smoked to perfection for an incredible meal to serve to friends and family. You will be blown away by the flavors of this homemade deer ham.Curing a cut of wild game to make your own homemade ham is a lot easier than most people think. The most popular protein to use for ham is pork, but you can make a ham using almost any cut of meat from any domestic or wild animal. And you can make it bone-in or boneless. I've used this same recipe to make venison ham with deer and elk. Deer ham sandwiches are amazing!I loved making this particular deer ham, slicing it super thin with my meat slicer, and then packaging it for sandwich meat for my daughter's school lunch. It's pretty cool when your kid can tell everyone at her lunch table that she's eating a deer ham sandwich!HOW TO MAKE A DEER HAM1. Mix the sugar, salt, and curing salt in the water until it dissolves. Submerge the ham in the brine for 4 days in the fridge. 2. Take the ham out of the brine, pat it dry with paper towels, set it on a wire rack on a baking pan, and put it back in the fridge uncovered overnight to dry.3. Smoke over your favorite wood chips (I used apple wood) for 1 hour, getting the smoker's temperature up to 220°F. Heat the maple syrup in the microwave and brush the ham with it every hour until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F.4. Let the ham cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing on a cutting board. Serve warm or cold.MORE DEER HAM RECIPESIf you're looking for a great brunch recipe, try this ham in my Everything Bagel Croissants with Ham and Cheese. And if you want to serve it as an appetizer, check out these Ham Spanish Croquetas.CONNECT WITH ME AND JOIN OUR WILD GAME COOKING COMMUNITYSign up here to receive a new recipe in your email inbox every Tuesday morning!If you make this Deer Ham Recipe, I’d love for you to join our community and connect with me so we can all see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! When you post a pic of your finished dish on Instagram, be sure and use the hashtag #wildgameandfish and then tag me @wildgameandfish so I can share it on my Instagram stories. If you have another great way to use this deer ham you'd love to share, I'd love to hear about it. You can email me at: [email protected]Did you enjoy this Deer Ham Recipe? Be sure to leave a 5-star rating RIGHT HERE!
Ingredients
- 1 venison hindquarter roast, about 4 to 5 pounds (you can use deer, elk, antelope, or moose)
- 3 quarts water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon Instacure #1 (also called Prague Powder #1 or Pink Curing Salt)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Mix the sugar, salt, and curing salt in the water until it dissolves. Submerge the venison roast (ham) in the brine for 4 days in the fridge.
- Take the ham out of the brine, pat it dry with paper towels, set it on a wire rack on a baking pan, and put it back in the fridge uncobvered overnight to dry.
- Smoke over your favorite wood chips for 1 hour, getting the smoker's temperature up to 220°F. After the ham has smoked for 1 hour, heat the maple syrup in the microwave and brush the ham with it every hour until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 130 degrees F.
- Let the ham cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing on a cutting board. Serve warm or cold.
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2 Responses
Can you add garlic or onion powder or any other seasoning?
Absolutely. The salt and instacure are the mainstay ingredients you need to “cure” the ham. Other than that you can play around with using other seasonings. Let me know how it turns out!