Corned Venison

This is simply marvelous.  It tastes exactly like corned beef, but without the slimy, fatty and grisly bits that you pay for and end up cutting off.  And – bonus – you know exactly what goes into preparing it. Venison is an extremely lean meat, so you end up with little to zero waste.  Corned venison is fairly simple – you boil the brine and let it cool to room temperature before setting your meat in it.  Then you let it sit for 5-7 days in your fridge.  Then cook it up – I prefer a crockpot.  There is little room for error.  I prefer using roasts from the hindquarters, but you can corn any roast.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 gallon of water
  • 1c kosher salt
  • 1/3c white sugar
  • 1 tsp Intsacure #1 (or similar cure) per 5lbs of meat
  • 1tb cracked black pepper
  • 12 bay leaves
  • 1tb red pepper flakes
  • 1tb thyme
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 6 cloves
  • 5 minced garlic cloves
  • 3-5lb venison roast (or a couple smaller roast to equal the same weight)

Method:

  1. Boil all ingredients except the meat.  Turn off heat, cover and let cool to room temperature.  This may take a couple of hours.
  2. Trim roast of any silverskin and visible fat.
  3. Once brine is cooled, pour it into a glass container and insert your roasts.  Be sure the roasts are submerged.  Cover and set in the fridge for 5-7 days. I like to use glass gallon jars for this.

To Prepare:

The only way I have ever prepared corned beef or corned venison has always been in a crockpot.  This ensures I don’t mess it up.  When we purchase it at the store, its quite expensive.  And making it at home – it takes a lot of effort to process a deer.  I don’t want to risk screwing anything up 😉  So I don’t change what works.  I take the roast out of the brine and place it into the crockpot.  I add about half a cup of water and add 2 tablespoons of pickling spice on top of the roast.  Then I add some carrots and potatoes, then quarter a head of cabbage and set that on top.  I put the lid on the crockpot and walk away.  About 8-10 hours later, dinner is served.

If you have leftovers, you may enjoy making corned venison hash – I put some olive oil and butter (same ratio of each) in a skillet and heat it over medium-high.  Then I add leftover potatoes and carrots, and dice up some corned venison, throw it in the skillet, season with some pepper and seasoned salt and cook until heated through and a bit crispy.  I move the hash away from the center of the skillet and add an egg or two, scramble them up if you wish and heat until cooked through, and serve.

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