curing venison

I started the whole process on the 6th jan and has been hung for a month now i did not weigh it last night but it looks like it has lost alot and had shrunk down in size nicely and after a week away in france eating lovely meat i could not resist last night,
not very scientific but curiosity got the better of me, the meat had a little moisture still left but i think i prefare that to be honest.
On my next batch i will weigh it in stages the site i took the recipe from said between a month and two so i am not really sure if there is a proper way to tell and this is my first one so i guess i got lucky.
the flavour of the meat comes through all the other tastes really well and you can taste a hint of salt it is really in the background and not one bit over powering like i have heard from wet cures.
This has really spurred me on now to buy some cases and get alot done in one go I also want to do a nice iron hanger for the kitchen and a wooden/iron stand for another leg I really have to say to anyone wanting to try give it a go as it is as good as it looks or anything you will buy in the shops, wayne
ps i know in my original post it was going to be left for up to two months i guess i just have to keep it a little while longer to see what differences there is between to decide whats best.
 
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That looks fantastic Mereside - am drooling here!! It looks like you got the timing bang on. A good rule of thumb is that after the brining/curing period, if you weigh the meat before hanging o dry, once it has lost 25% - 30% in weight it is 'done'. Looks like you got it spot on. on the hanging for longer front, I'd be interested to see what you find out from doing that, I've not done it with venison, but I have found with pork that the flavour does change as it ages - I suppose in the same way that wine matures, after all, it is cured so it can't go off so to speak. I would suspect that with a deer leg, if you wanted to age it after the initial drying period, it might be worth coating the outside of the leg with lard to stop it drying out completely so that it can age/mature whilst retaining its' texture.
 
That looks fantastic Mereside - am drooling here!! It looks like you got the timing bang on. A good rule of thumb is that after the brining/curing period, if you weigh the meat before hanging o dry, once it has lost 25% - 30% in weight it is 'done'. Looks like you got it spot on. on the hanging for longer front, I'd be interested to see what you find out from doing that, I've not done it with venison, but I have found with pork that the flavour does change as it ages - I suppose in the same way that wine matures, after all, it is cured so it can't go off so to speak. I would suspect that with a deer leg, if you wanted to age it after the initial drying period, it might be worth coating the outside of the leg with lard to stop it drying out completely so that it can age/mature whilst retaining its' texture.


Thanks for that as that makes alot of sence, will keep you all posted and i like the lard trick that should work well, can i ask if you think moving forward for me it would be wise to use casings on my solid muscle joints rather than nothing, atb wayne
 
Been watching this thread with interest!! Looks great. Interested or surprised to see such a colour change from the outside to the inside. The inside still looks raw rather than cured? Is the meat inside the joint as you expected?
 
Been watching this thread with interest!! Looks great. Interested or surprised to see such a colour change from the outside to the inside. The inside still looks raw rather than cured? Is the meat inside the joint as you expected?
well i had to try some more tonight and it definately is cured it has taken all the flavours very well but all are very subtle and have a bressola type flavour I have sliced some off to take to work tommorrow for a taste test as a couple of chaps have a good taste for food so we shall see on there outcome, I would say it maybe could do with an extra week or so to have a little drier texture to get a real authentic texture but actually i really like the texture and it to me is exellent but will now leave it to mature a little which i have to say is hard, atb wayne
just to add the colour change is really due to not using a case or cloth which has dried the outside quite fast but it really is only around 2mm
 
Thanks for that as that makes alot of sence, will keep you all posted and i like the lard trick that should work well, can i ask if you think moving forward for me it would be wise to use casings on my solid muscle joints rather than nothing, atb wayne

I'm far from an expert by a long shot Wayne, the most similar meat I've cured to venison is beef and I have done with casings and without. As the casings are porous Im not convinced if they are any benefit or not, I've suspected for a while that the lard method might be the way forward with bigger cuts of venison, but I've yet to have any real hands on experience.

Edit - I had a look at some notes this morning I have made bresolas with and without casings, the one with a casing did take longer pro rata of it's weight to dry so the casings may help achieve a a slower, more steady dry.
 
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right guys here's an update its been a while and just had to have a peep it looks great hanging and has the nice culture on the surface and has reduced enough i think in size to try well my first go and wow is all i can say it has a subtle tone of juniper with rosemary but very faint and has also no saltyness to it just really tasty and even the wife has given two thumbs fresh which is a real compliment,
I think mine has gone wrong. Been hung six weeks and it's a purple colour on the outside and same when I sliced into it could any light be shed
 
sorry to here yours has problems, here's how mine ended up and everyone at the dinner party wolfed it down so i think it's been a huge success, atb wayne
 
I did weight it but to be honest I started eating it abit early it has now gone to full maturity and had that proper waxy feel to it and was super, i just couldn't wait in the early days and had to try it. I will be having quite a few different cuts on the go so i can build up a stock so i cant get tempted too early, atb wayne
 
1 month to 2 months worked ok for mine, not sure if you are hanging in a chamber or fresh air?. atb wayne
 
its in a cool place wrapped in muslin il give it a bit longer it has lost its 30% weight from the start .... il take a peek an the weekend see if it looks edible .lol thanks
 
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