Venison Prosciutto ...

Dr.S.Jordan

Member
My buddy shot a nice fallow doe last year and was good enough to part with one of the legs for a little charcuterie project.

One of our ambitions for a while had to be to make our own venison prosciutto. Having never dry cured a whole leg of venison before I decided to do a little research, yielding a few recipes with rather varied results - non standing out as a sure bet. I thought the most sensible option for curing the leg would be to use a slightly modified version of a cure blend I use for curing hams.


Due to it's leaness and low fat content I also decided it would be key to dry cure the venison leg slowly and in order to develop the richness and depth of flavours to mature the leg in some sort of casing. I did some more research and came across a novel method employed by some nordic hunters in which they encase cured meats in beeswax. This reportedly helps to develop the cured flavour of the meat as well as imparting it's subtle aroma and taste.


I began this culinary adventure over a year ago now and am delighted to report the success I have had with this method, and am sharing with you guys so that hopefully you can get the same results!

Method:


  1. Acquire one whole leg of venison (mine weighed in at approx 5 kilos)

  2. Create the following salt cure according to weight and rub half the mixture into the leg. Apply liberally to bone and tendon areas, can add extra salt like I have to these areas too.

    Salt cure recipe required per kilo of meat:
    - 45g salt
    - 25g brown sugar
    - 3g Prague Powder #2
    - 5g crushed juniper berries
    - 5g pink peppercorns - crushed
    - 15g black pepper
    - 10g rosemary




  3. Wrap the entire leg in cling film and place in a fridge for two weeks.


  4. Remove from the fridge and apply the remaining cure , re-wrap and place back in the fridge for a further 2 weeks.

  5. Finally the leg can be removed and rinsed throughly under water.

  6. Pat with kitchen towels and place leg in a draughty position for around 3-4 hrs to dry.

  7. Cover leg in a thin coating of lard and black pepper (this aids with slowing down the curing process, and keeping flies/bugs away)

  8. Hang for a minimum of 1 month at approx 15 degrees Celsius with a 70% relative humidity.
    Venison leg after hanging ...









  9. Take down the leg and paint with melted beeswax, making sure to cover the entire leg. Leave for around a year for the flavours to mature and develop.






  10. Crack open the brittle beeswax shell, remove the thin outer layer of meat and enjoy the rich ruby red meat laying beneath it!















Nb. If when you remove the beeswax there is mold … this is fine along as it is white. If you discover green/blue mould earlier on in the process – simply remove with vinegar. Black mould … lob it in the bin and try again!
 
interesting thread, thank you! Maybe I'll have one for Christmas 2015...

did you make a candle with the recovered beeswax?
 
Seriously impressed with your skill and patience. It looks fantastic ! No way I could wait for over a year though.
 
Looks great. Well done. My favourite starter is prosciutto and melon, we happened to have it last night though we are not going to grow that variety of melon again....

How did it compare to pig based prosciutto in texture and flavour?

Where did you hang it in order to achieve the required temperature and humidity, pantry? Cellar? Shed?

Alan
 
That looks good enough to eat.:D


A really interesting post, with a worthwhile product to show at the end.


Thank you for taking the time and effort to show us.




Steve.
 
That looks superb!!

Pine martin, once the meat has been hung for a suitable amount of time and lost approx 25-30% of it's original weight it is effectively 'dried'. The sealing it in wax or a coating of lard allows the flavour of the meat to mature over time (rather like a good cheese or wine) without the meat becoing completely dessicated.
 
Completely spot on Legolas! The dry curing is finished after the month is up, but to develop those flavours and stop it drying out the beeswax coat is put on it.
Texture is very similar to that of prosciutto/parma ham from pigs, but flavour is completely different.

Hung mine in my garage, which gets some ventilation and stays nice and cool.
 
I used 500g - melted in an old saucepan and brushed on with a paint brush. The beeswax will set quite quickly so you need to work relatively fast. Good luck!
 
Bearing in mind it is effectively sealed in by the beeswax, how important is the temperature from that point?
 
howa243 - I know I didn't start this thread and don't want to hijack it but if I can throw my twopenneth in. After the leg has been cured and dried to losing approx 25% it is effectively 'done' - the use of curing salts and the loss of moisture from the meat has made it a suitably inhospitable environment for the bugs and rot etc so it is now a fairly safe/easy piece of ham to store. I have a ham hanging in a cupboard in my office which will be three years old next month, I would say that the temp in there fluctuates between 10 degrees C and 25degrees C over the year. I would say as long as you kept it somewhere above freezing you don't need to worry about fluctuations in temp too much. I was speaking to an American friend who intentionally hung cured hams in his attic over the peak of summer as the higher temperature imparted a nutty flavour into the meat. I hope this is helpful
 
Well I have finally given it a go. Was unsure about a dry cure or a brine cure but eventually went for one in brine. Had about five different recipes open at the same time and have taken a little bit from each. Fingers crossed.
 
That looks superb, thanks for the brilliant write up, really interesting.

just completed my first cured bacon, which has been a good success story

may try a couple of Roe haunches.

do you seal the whole joint and the bone joint end to completely seal in everything. ?


regards

phil
 
Well I have finally given it a go. Was unsure about a dry cure or a brine cure but eventually went for one in brine. Had about five different recipes open at the same time and have taken a little bit from each. Fingers crossed.

If you don't mind sharing, I'd be really grateful to see your brine recipe. I've never wet brined an air dried ham and would be interested to see what you came up with.

Cheers
 
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