Glazed deer hams

Archeryrob · Dec 9, 2017

Who does their own processing and prep work?

Here is all the rump roast out of a buck, cured, smoked, glazed and sliced. More details here if you want to read it.

BigSteve57 · Dec 9, 2017

Looks delicious!
We don't do processing of big game but I sure enjoyed looking over you website.
Very impressive - congrats!

ChrisD · Dec 9, 2017

Looks fantastic. I cut my own deer up. Made 25 pounds of sausage from the last two deer. Chorizo, Andouille, and Italian. If I get another, I'm going to corn a few roasts, may also give your method try with a ham.
Here is some of the chorizo sausage:

StantonCree · Dec 9, 2017

Rob I gotta say I actually enjoyed reading that! Your screw ups, the dog, how you fixed it. I'm kinda the same way and almost always screw up a first try. It did look delicious though!

On a side note I use a similar glaze for salmon but add minced garlic and a little bit of Jack Daniels......I use it as a marinade and then boil it down later.

I will be paying attention to your blog

Archeryrob · Dec 9, 2017

Thanks all, it is pretty good. I built this damn smokehouse, now I got to use it. I'm a squirrel at home, if I see it I got to get into it. If I can building it I want too! The wife just loves that about me!

ChrisD said:
Looks fantastic. I cut my own deer up. Made 25 pounds of sausage from the last two deer. Chorizo, Andouille, and Italian. If I get another, I'm going to corn a few roasts, may also give your method try with a ham.

Details and maybe recipes please!!! Do you leave the front shoulder as a roast? I used too, but its a lot of work bone out and bone in requires a saw and its long and skinny. I ground the last one and got these rumps and maybe 30+# to add to 30+# of 73% beef. I might like to try what you did there. I love Chorizo, but most is so salty the wife can't eat it. I'd like to make a low sodium version.

engineerbrian · Dec 9, 2017

I do my own ground, chops, roasts and sausage. I leave the bologna and hot dogs to the butcher, but i want to start doing that myself too. I'm just taking it slow since there is a learning curve. Luckily my dad has been a butcher for 45 years so i have a good teacher.

Here was one of last years grinding days.

engineerbrian · Dec 9, 2017

Rob, i just finished reading the blog, thanks for the info.

As for the colored spots, i've wondered about that too. I had some hams done last year at my local deer processor and they had the spots in them too. I'll look into it and post back if i can find an answer

Archeryrob · Dec 9, 2017

I found the bologna works best for me at 50/50 mix with 73% beef. I don't do the fancy fine and course grind stuff for presentation. Just all fine ground and then the recipe. You only have to watch not getting the smoker too hot or the fat renders to the outside and and you got dry bologna that is all grease covered. before the smokehouse I use the propane smoker and didn't soak the chips. They caught fire and temp to 300 before I noticed. opps.

I was going to use pork butt but the wife said NO.

emphatically, so I just said umm, beef it is.

I got sources to research. Some have said not cure and others it is. I personally think not, but i'll still trolling looking for the best sage to teach me.

HogCommander · Dec 9, 2017

I process my deer too. For the hams, I separate the muscles into individual roasts and get rid of all the fat/sinew/silverskin. After thawing, I apply a spicy rub and let sit overnight in the fridge. On cook day I run the smoker low and slow and pull each roast when it reaches 145 degrees internal.

Here's the rub I use:
1/4 cup red chili powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

May have to try your glaze and get a slicer!

ChrisD · Dec 9, 2017

Archeryrob said:
Thanks all, it is pretty good. I built this damn smokehouse, now I got to use it. I'm a squirrel at home, if I see it I got to get into it. If I can building it I want too! The wife just loves that about me!

Details and maybe recipes please!!! Do you leave the front shoulder as a roast? I used too, but its a lot of work bone out and bone in requires a saw and its long and skinny. I ground the last one and got these rumps and maybe 30+# to add to 30+# of 73% beef. I might like to try what you did there. I love Chorizo, but most is so salty the wife can't eat it. I'd like to make a low sodium version.

For the sausage mixes, I used the cabelas kits. The spices and casings are all in the box. I think the next time I will increase the spice mix per pound by about 25% more than what is in the instructions on the box. The flavor could be a bit more pronounced. I used 2lbs deer grinds to 1lb 73/27 ground beef. I think next time around, I'll have to go closer to 1/1 ratio on deer/beef, or use pork to add a bit more fat content. This batch is a bit on the dry side. Or maybe my wife cooked them a bit too long.

The Andouille, quite a color change from the chorizo spices:

engineerbrian · Dec 9, 2017

ChrisD said:
For the sausage mixes, I used the cabelas kits. The spices and casings are all in the box. I think the next time I will increase the spice mix per pound by about 25% more than what is in the instructions on the box. The flavor could be a bit more pronounced. I used 2lbs deer grinds to 1lb 73/27 ground beef. I think next time around, I'll have to go closer to 1/1 ratio on deer/beef, or use pork to add a bit more fat content. This batch is a bit on the dry side. Or maybe my wife cooked them a bit too long.
The Andouille, quite a color change from the chorizo spices:
View attachment 220110

I use pork for my venison sausage mixture. Boston butts and picnic roasts are cheap and work great :thumbsup:

Archeryrob · Dec 9, 2017

ChrisD said:
This batch is a bit on the dry side. Or maybe my wife cooked them a bit too long.

No, you don't have enough fat. Your mixture is about 9% and 50:50 would be almost 14% which is huge. Get up to 20% and you'll be complaining again.

Did they have recipes, or just spice packs?

I was join to go cheap with the pork too, but go overruled fast.

ChrisD · Dec 9, 2017

Archeryrob said:
No, you don't have enough fat. Your mixture is about 9% and 50:50 would be almost 14% which is huge. Get up to 20% and you'll be complaining again. Did they have recipes, or just spice packs?

I was join to go cheap with the pork too, but go overruled fast.

Here is what I used. Last year did the Italian sausage, and came out really good.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/home...kehouse-sausage-kits-lbs/734567.uts?slotId=14

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with these kits.

gtodave · Dec 12, 2017

The spots are where cure didn't make it though, as I'm sure you've figured out. I usually inject larger roasts with the brine/cure to help with this.

I want to see pics of the smokehouse! I'm probably going to build one in the spring.

I'm currently curing a whole ham from a 75lb doe. I'm going to hang it in the basement for ~6 months after that to age it. I'm a little scared :eek:

I based it off of this recipe: https://honest-food.net/goat-ham-anyone/

Archeryrob · Dec 12, 2017

I will be interested to hear about what you do there and how that works out. I have received some input that my refrigerator might be too cold at its current settings for curing. It might be 34 and I need to to be 40 or higher when curing. Cold slows the curing down. I think I need to sharpie too lines "a beer line" and a "cure line"

luckily beer is kept mostly in the garage fridge and not the basement fridge. [EDIT] just checked the mason jar of water with the temp sensor and 34° and that is my "beer line". Now turned down to five and the next couple days going to get readings for 1 - 6 on the temp settings for the next try. [END EDIT]

Longer cure time, slightly more cure or slicing the footballs in half. More experimenting to do. I like the dry cure, but am not opposed to injecting some wet cure into it and I have the SS injector to do it.

I did dry some goose and duck breast after curing. The duck got so hard it is difficult to eat. I try hydrating in water for 4 to 5 hours and it got soft on the outside and hard and miserable inside still. Not very pleasant to tasty to eat. This did not turn out whole and have not tried it on deer yet. So I want o see follow up on yours!!

On my smokehouse. It works great for low temp cooking and smoking. I have not worked on cold smoking yet. The fire box is 4.5' from the smoke house and I have to test fire it for that. My heat bypass comes out the top of the pipe and maybe it should have been the side.

This was the smokehouse before the heat bypass

The heat bypass added. Maybe it should have been in the side and not the top.

I might redo the fire box and pipe setup later on. The fire brick needs to go all the way up as I got joints cracking. I might dome it like a ceiling and build an upper level to be an oven to be used without the smokehouse.

gtodave · Dec 12, 2017

I think I remember seeing this now. Thanks for sharing (again). I plan to be able to burn directly in the box (for a whole pig or turkey), or in a burn box outside like yours for cold smoking.

Glazed deer hams

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