smoking wild game for long term storage

[smokejumper]

hey guys,
I am new here and hope i'm in the right place. I am trying to learn how to cure and smoke meat and wild game for long term storage in a root cellar. I dont want dry jerky style meat that you get with hot smoking, I want more of a ham style so i'm guessing it means cold smoking. I also have heard that before you smoke it you have to cure it. I have also heard that you can do a venison leg just like you would do a pork ham. can anyone point me in the right direction. I know I have a lot to learn but dont want to scrrew up too much meat or my own digestive track in the process.
Thanks.

[curious aardvark]

Well wild game has natural parasites and bacteria that farmed pigs don't have.

So you'd have to freeze the venison for a while (someone will know how long) first to kill the nasties off.
After that I can't think of any reason you can't make a traditional dry cured ham out of it.

I guess you could cure it, cold smoke it and then do the air dry/salt cure gig.

But you will need to freeze it before doing any of that.

[Bearcarver]

hey guys,
I am new here and hope i'm in the right place. I am trying to learn how to cure and smoke meat and wild game for long term storage in a root cellar. I dont want dry jerky style meat that you get with hot smoking, I want more of a ham style so i'm guessing it means cold smoking. I also have heard that before you smoke it you have to cure it. I have also heard that you can do a venison leg just like you would do a pork ham. can anyone point me in the right direction. I know I have a lot to learn but dont want to scrrew up too much meat or my own digestive track in the process.
Thanks.

Here is what I do to cure & smoke Venison.
It will still need to be refrigerated and frozen for long time storage:

Venison Dried Beef from Deer Hind Quarters:
http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18817

However it will be "Venison Dried Beef", and it will taste like Beef Dried Beef.
No matter what you do to Deer, it will not taste like Ham.

Cured & Smoked Pork will taste like Ham or Bacon.

Cured & Smoked Beef, Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope, etc done like this will taste similar to Dried Beef.

Also: I would personally never Cold Smoke Wild Game, without finishing it hot so the IT gets to at least 145°.

Bear

[curious aardvark]

that's a completely different process Bear - so no it won't taste like a dry cured ham if you don't dry cure it :-)

The only thing preventing you from treating the leg of any animal the same way people treat pig legs is the presence of species specific parasites.

The rest is down to reducing the active water content to the point that bacteria can't grow.

Freezing the meat first kills the parasites. A dry cure and cold smoke drops the Active water content and also adds nitrates and nitrites to kill bacteria.

At that point there's is absolutely no reason why you couldn't then air dry it like a traditional air dried ham.
Or do it straight from the freezer.

Not sure how effective a cold smoke would be on something that's going to spend 12 months or so drying out.
By that time would you even taste the smoke ?

I can pretty much guarentee though, it would not taste like beef :-)

It shouldn't need to be cooked at any point. Just frozen before starting the whole drying and curing process.

[Richtee]

And SOME parasites are resistant to freezing as well. Fish it is apparently pretty effective... like 7 days at -4°F or something. Other wild game it may not be,

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichin...info/faqs.html

[Bearcarver]

that's a completely different process Bear - so no it won't taste like a dry cured ham if you don't dry cure it :-)

The only thing preventing you from treating the leg of any animal the same way people treat pig legs is the presence of species specific parasites.

The rest is down to reducing the active water content to the point that bacteria can't grow.

Freezing the meat first kills the parasites. A dry cure and cold smoke drops the Active water content and also adds nitrates and nitrites to kill bacteria.

At that point there's is absolutely no reason why you couldn't then air dry it like a traditional air dried ham.
Or do it straight from the freezer.

Not sure how effective a cold smoke would be on something that's going to spend 12 months or so drying out.
By that time would you even taste the smoke ?

I can pretty much guarentee though, it would not taste like beef :-)

It shouldn't need to be cooked at any point. Just frozen before starting the whole drying and curing process.

Yup----I agree----Freezing it at the right temp for the right amount of time will mean you can cook it to below the normal temps, because you killed the parasites, but I still wouldn't cold smoke any kind of meat or fish without finishing it with heat to get it to safe temps. That's just me though, as I don't eat raw fish or game.

However that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Deer meat will never taste like Ham, no matter what you do to it. Only Pork cures & smokes to the flavor of Ham or Bacon.
Deer will always cure & smoke to the flavor of Beef.

Bear

[Bearcarver]

I can pretty much guarentee though, it would not taste like beef :-)

I can't let that one go. I've been Dry curing Both Deer & Beef for years, and if I took some of each on two different plates, sliced exactly the same, there is NO WAY you could tell which one was Beef & which was Deer. Not Guessing----Guarantee!!!

I've done this many times!!!


Bear

[Doug S.]

That's just me though, as I don't eat raw fish or game
Bear

No Sushi

[Bearcarver]

No Sushi

Never!!

[nickelmore]

All good advice but I will add that an OK book to start with is this one:

It is considered "the bible" by some. I guess I have to agree since it was the first book I ever bought about the subject. I still refer to it every once in a while.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Sausage-.../dp/0025668609

It covers a lot of subjects to help you out. The sausage recipes in my opinion are a little bland and the ingredients needs doubled up on most of them.

This web site is a little jewel in my opinion as well for getting educated.

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes

And of course the fine folks at smoke-meat!

Welcome to the island.

[curious aardvark]

you must be getting really weird deer.

I've made venison ham and it absolutely did not taste like beef :-)

Closest thing to beef ham I guess would be pastrami - and that does not taste like venison ham, not in any sense.

To be fair only venison tastes like venison.

On the other hand I did make a really long treacle cured pork ham that you would have sworn was beef. Maybe something to do with the colour ?

But thenI think the only thing that tastes like chicken is chicken. But then I don't buy factory farmed chicken, which has almost no flavour of it's own.

A lot of it is down to individual taste and the cooking process.

But my venison ham did not taste anything like beef.

I'm NOT saying venison leg would taste like pig leg - what would be the point of that ?

The intensification of flavour you get with the long air drying would concentrate the venison flavour.

Hell I'd expect it to taste totally different to pig ham - which is kinda the point :-)

[Bearcarver]

Try making your Venison Dried Beef the right way.
Just for one time follow my Step by Steps.
Then tell me what it tasted like.
I think I have a little more experience on Smoking both for 7 years, and eating both for over 40 years, and this was always true of the flavors.
Unless your deer over there are even more weird than I thought when you said their fat isn't anything like tallow wax---I was suspicious of the Brit Deer. I never before heard of Deer with good tasting Fat.

I don't know what causes one animal's Dried Beef to taste like another, but Beef, Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope Dried Beef all taste just about the same, and only Cured & Smoked Pork tastes like Ham or Bacon. Seems all of the 4 legged grazing critters that chew their cud produce the same tasting Dried Beef, and Pigs don't do that.
Make some real Dried Beef from Deer & from Beef----Then tell me about it.

Bear

[wvuarmyeng]

So when I do my deer snack sticks and Bologna I should freeze the ground meat first or just when dry curing??


Edit- ok I think I get it, since I'm cooking it to 160 I don't need have to worry about it

[nickelmore]

Not if it was frozen prior to grinding.

I freeze large pieces and what chunks I plan on grinding. When it partially thaws I run it through the grinder. I keep this grind as cold as possible during the whole process.

[Richtee]

So when I do my deer snack sticks and Bologna I should freeze the ground meat first or just when dry curing??


Edit- ok I think I get it, since I'm cooking it to 160 I don't need have to worry about it

If you are using well frozen meat for the sausage, and are including cure... try them at 153° IT. You’ll like the fat distribution better and the texture.

And as SOON as it hits 153..ICE BATH it... then hang to bloom.