New Venison curing/smoking/processing book

willie_gunn

Well-Known Member
For anyone interested (stone, basil, Tommo, jingzy??) I've just posted a short review of a new book on curing, smoking and processing bacon, sausage, paté, salami, etc. in the Recipes thread.

A lot of the recipes can be adapted for venison, so great for those of us who process our own deer. It's just been published so nicely in time for Christmas! And no, I have no connection whatsoever with the author, publishers, etc. ;)

willie_gunn
 
Started smoking my venison a few months ago.

Have only smoked two roe haunches and one fallow.

I use a hot water smoker and it seems pretty "idiot proof" so im doing ok so far :eek: but always room for improvement :rolleyes:

It adds a whole new dimension to cooking your own venison. I know some of you will have been smoking food for a long time, but its a learning curve for me.

Does anyone on here hydrate there venison :confused: as I would like to make venison jerky but am not sure if the £200 + for a hydrater is worth it :confused:

Your veiws appreciated

Max
 
Max

I take it you mean de-hydrate, i.e. take all the moisture out?

If so, I do have a purpose-built Excalibur dehydrator that I use when I'm making venison biltong, as well as when I'm drying pineapple, banana, raspberries, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.

To be honest I'd rate a de-hydrator as a "nice to have" unless you're into drying a lot of food. You can dry venison in anything from an oven/Aga to a drying box using a light bulb as a heat source.

You can also try the African method of drying it outside, but I've found that the temperature here doesn't get hot enough whilst the humidity is too high, so the meat starts to go mouldy :cry:

willie_gunn
 
willie_gunn

Thanks for the correction, yes I did mean de-hydrate.

I looked at the Excalibur and if I go down the de-hydrate route thats what I will go for.

We try and be as self sufficient as we can, Debs grows nearly all the salad and veg we eat (she is vegeterian) and I shoot almost all the meat I eat, so works well.

We have a lot of seasonal fruit and that was another reason for wanting to try dehydrateing.
You sound as though you have been doing this for quite a while, if you have any advice im all ears :)

Max
 
I was told by a South African that you can dry Biltong in a home made wooden box with a little computer fan.
I make my own bacon and use dry cure salt, most butcher suppliers stock it, and it is very good.
Smoking is best in a Bradley Smoker, although you can get smaller models and good saw dust from eBay. The correct saw dust is very important and it needs a tiny amount of moisture to help it to burn.
Paul GAP180
 
I've made several batches of biltong that has passed muster with a mate from Zimbabwe, so it must be fairly good. With this kind of thing it is as well to remember that it must be very simple as the guys out there don't generaly read recipe books. I use a fan heater set to cold, i.e. just the fan. Very understanding wife allows me to stretch strings of it across the dressing room. Good tip is to pull a string tight and hook your trimmed meat strips onto half opened paper clips one strip either side of the string. I've dried it out in Italy over a very low cool fire too. It takes on a fantastic smokey twang. Fair to say I rarely bring any home, it never gets past my hunting friends! You can freeze it once cured/dry so don't mess about with very small amounts, v
do a good size batch.
 
New Venison smoking/curing/processing book

Hi Willie, Have put the book on my Christmas list.
Last year I smoked a haunch. I over did it and it turned out very dry. My son-in-law suggested soaking it in something alcoholic and I decided that a 50/50 port and whiskey mix would be worth a try. It went in the chiller for 4 weeks and was then hung to dry. Oh Boy did this do the trick.
 
New Venison smoking/curing/processing book

Hi Willie, Have put the book on my Christmas list.
Last year I smoked a haunch. I over did it and it turned out very dry. My son-in-law suggested soaking it in something alcoholic and I decided that a 50/50 port and whiskey mix would be worth a try. It went in the chiller for 4 weeks and was then hung to dry. Oh Boy did this do the trick.
 
Techman

Just to make sure I understand, did you have the already-smoked haunch soaking in the port/whisky whilst it was in the chiller for the full 4 weeks? If so, what sort of container did you use? We've done spicy venison before where you cover the haunch with salt, herbs and spices and then vacuum-seal it and leave it in the fridge for 48 hours - or as long as you can wait - and then slice it thinly. It melts in the mouth, but I fancy the sound of the smoke/port/whisky mix! I'll try to dig out the recipe.

Max

Like you, we try to grow our own fruit and veg on the allotment (along with having chickens), combining it with the game and fish that I collect as hunter-gatherer ;)

Because I've started out making our own venison sausages and burgers we've tended to freeze most of the excess venison that we've had this year so I've not done much biltong. I de-hydrated some of our own tomatoes and raspberries but mostly I was de-hydrating bananas and pineapple when the glut hit the supermarkets. The results are so much better than what you buy in the shops.

If you decide to get a de-hydrator, make sure to buy Mary Bell's book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Bells-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256211540&sr=8-2 as it's a mine of information. De-hydrating is a doddle. Most of the work is in the preparation with slicing/marinading/blanching, etc. Then you just put it in the dehydrator, set the timer and fill the house with wonderful smells for the next 18 hours!

If you're ever down Oxfordshire way and fancy checking out the de-hydrator before you buy one just send me a pm.

willie_gunn
 
Thanks for the advice willie_gunn, if I am your way you can count on a visit and thanks for the invite.

As for Mary Bells book, its on my list :)

ATB

Max
 
Hi Willie, The haunch was dry salted using 70%salt 30%brown sugar and half a dozen dried crushed juniper berries. Placed in the chiller in a cool box with a 5 litre container of water sat on top of the haunch.
Water drained each day and re-salted for three days. Rinsed to remove the excess salt and hung in the chiller for a further three days to dry (that brings you back to the weekend and you can keep and eye on the smoker).
Placed in smoker friday evening and taken out Monday morning. Monday evening tried a taster and althouugh the flavor was good, the meat was very dry and that is when We decided that an infusion of alcohol might resurrect it.

A chap our local butcher new but has sadly moved away, did a couple of haunches for us a few years back. Steeped in port for two months and then salted and smoked. The haunches went away weighing six and a half pounds and came back three months later weighing two and a half pounds. Cut thinly as Parma Ham they were delicious.

I still have some vacuum packed and in the freezer somewhere and I'll try and find it for our next Get Together.
 
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