venison hindquarters

[rlgiv]

a buddy of mine is giving me a venison hindquarters to smoke. Bone in and it is the entire upper leg to the knee. I plan on brining it for 24 hours then using a spg rub, smoking at about 250 for a couple of hours then wrapping in foil with some juice until i hit internal temp of about 145 or so. From there Im not real sure what exactly im going to do. What is the consistency of this meat going to be? will I slice it or pull it? If i pull what kind of finishing sauce works well with venison

 

[buzzy]

I did a hind quarter by boning it and curing in Pop's Brine. It was Pastrami like and very good.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/131711/cured-venison-ham-s

Try this for sandwiches

 

[smokerjim]

I did one last year but I brine mine for 20 some days in pops brine, and cold smoked it for 6 hours then slowly bumped up temp until internal temp of 155 tasted just like ham. I don't think you will be able to pull at 145, will be good for slices .

 

[motolife313]

Deer is tough meat. No way will it pull at that temp. I’d grind it into ground meat myself and cut off few steaks first myself. There’s good steaks u can get out of there and I cut it 1” or so thick pieces then pound on it with the meat tenderizer

 

[chef jimmyj]

Lots of Sinew in a leg. You may consider taking it to 195 to 205 like a brisket, probe tender. Disclaimer...I never cooked a whole leg. The two I just got, from a friend, had all the sinew removed then we're cut in small cubes for Chili, 1" Stew Chunks, Steaks and thin Fajita/Stir Fry Strips...JJ

 

[rlgiv]

how would the meat be if i cooked it up to 190-200?

 

[smokerjim]

Probably over cooked deer meat, you could chop it in food processor if it doesn't pull for you and add some bbq sauce.

 

[chilerelleno]

how would the meat be if i cooked it up to 190-200?

Leather.

Smoking or roasting venison hindquarters, steaks and roasts, they're tender if cooked properly and not above medium at the very most.
Rare to med-rare is the way to go for steaks and roasts.

The only way you're going to get a tender pulled venison is to slow braise it.
See my Recipe Index for Braised Shanks, a good example of what can be done with the toughest meat.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Leather.

Smoking or roasting venison hindquarters, steaks and roasts, they're tender if cooked properly and not above medium at the very most.
Rare to med-rare is the way to go for steaks and roasts.

The only way you're going to get a tender pulled venison is to slow braise it.

So there you go. I too learned something new today. Points...JJ

 

[archeryrob]

145 is good but I prefer deer at 140 whole. Remember it will still climb in temp after you pull it. If you cook it to 160 or better, the dog is going to eat well.

 

[tallbm]

I've taken lean little feral hog back legs, cured, and smoked to 165F (for food safety reasons) and it came out just like ham and didn't have any tenderness issues... but it also was a little young 60 pounder.

No my experience wasn't a deer BUT it was super lean wild game so maybe some of the info is helpful :)

 

[banderson7474]

Hope this helps if you decide to carve it up beforehand.

 

[tallbm]

Hope this helps if you decide to carve it up beforehand.

That's a pretty good video on separating the muscles.
My guestion is... WHAT IN THE WORLD did he do to get such a black/purple deer leg?????
Also I highly recommend moving all the skin on the outside of the leg that you wouldn't throw in a skillet and eat.

General rule of thumb... if you won't throw the stuff in a skillet and then eat it then remove it from your steak, grind, and/or jerky cuts :)

 

[chef jimmyj]

I just butchered 2 quarters a friend got. They were that dark, hung a week. One is now 10 lbs of 1/2" Cubes for Chili. The other was cut in Steaks, Stew Chunks and a couple pounds of Fajita Strips...JJ

 

[chilerelleno]

My guestion is... WHAT IN THE WORLD did he do to get such a black/purple deer leg?????

Hung in a refer to dry age for about two weeks?

 

[tallbm]

I guess the aging process does it. In TX we don't have the luxury of hanging in ambient temps that are at cooler/freezer levels... unless you have a walk in cooler. It's always a mad dash to get it out of the ice and processed to get into the freezer. I've never seen one so dark down here and I guess that is why :)

 

[chef jimmyj]

At a minimum you have to rest the meat 24 hours to get past rigor. Freezing sooner will result in very tough meat. My family in San Antonio quarter and rest a week in a beer refer...JJ

 

[archeryrob]

We have out beer/extra fridge in the basement. Deer are boned out in the garage and we use 4 gallon square buckets with lids to place all the meat into. One is 2/3 full with round roasts, loins, extra loin and back straps. Second one is almost full with deboned shoulders and scrape meat from everywhere else to be ground. We strip the hind roast while its hanging. The football first, and then the two back flatter rounds separate right out.

I have sealed hind roasts in 48 hours and in over a week and can't tell an aging difference in deer. The biggest thing, IMO, that ruins deer is poor field cleaning, not getting cold quick and over cooking. As cold Miser said "I never want to see a steak over 145°" :D

Here is my youngest learning this year. She's getting big, daddy's tired of carrying her. She cut a few roasts and learned. Apologized to slicing part of a flat round off. I said "It will just make more sausages, chorizo or bologna." ;)

 

[tallbm]

My normal situation is hunting 4-5 days straight and animals we kill are dressed and usually hanging in a walk in cooler within a few hours of being shot. If no walk in cooler then into the ice chests with ice.

Even if we kill on the last day it takes 6 days of processing and sitting in ice chests and a garage fridge before it hits a freezer.

I do think that how an animal is dressed and stored before processing makes a HUGE difference in flavor of the meat.
This year I hunted on a different property and there was no walk in cooler so we used ice chests and the field dressing and breaking down of the animal was quite sub par compared to the previous 7 years I've hunted.
This years meat has a little bit of what people would call a "gamey" flavor. It is just noticable but not bad.

The previous 7 years with the facilities and care in dressing, hanging, and breaking down the animal, you could not distinguish the difference between the venison meat and the beef other than noticing that the venison was leaner.

If we hunt the same ranch next year I will be much better prepared to handle the animals. This year was the 1st time at the new ranch and we were a little mislead on the facilities and such that were present. :(

 

[chef jimmyj]

Nice. I started my girls cutting up meat around 5 years old. In their early teens they were breaking down chickens and this year my middle girl cleaned her first venison leg quarter. It was perfect. The bone was clean and all silver skin off with very little meat sacraficed. She wasn't fast but a fine job none the less...JJ