Some Venison Shoulders

I've been using up the whitetail meat in the freezer before rifle season gets here.

Usually take the shoulders camping and just slow cook them over the fire..
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=194855
but didn't get to it this summer.

For me, shoulders are a pain to clean, and I don't like to use them in sausage. There is so much silver skin. I like to cook the thing whole and let everyone cut the meat off the bone after it's cooked. Seems to work out better for me.

I removed the fore arm or legs from the shoulders, marinated in Allegro overnight.





onto the smoker with just a kiss of mesquite..





smoked for 2 hrs...



then into the beer/beef stock liquid, meat side down



added onions, jalapenos, garlic, beer and some Special Sh*t...





covered and let it go til tender.. (about 7 hrs)





I had to give it a taste test or two...



the meat was moist and tender...



first night I slapped some on a hot tortilla with onions and peppers..





it was pretty tasty! I saved all of the drippings.



The next morning, I had venison grillades and grits on my mind. Couldn't exactly make grillades so I just went with what I had.

Carved some of the venison off the bone..



heated some of the saved stock, added the venison, morel mushrooms, onions, a few of the jalapenos from the venison cook...thickened with a cornstarch slurry..



made some cheesy grits...



breakfast..venison (almost) grillades and grits...





It turned out pretty good. I like braising goat legs this way too. The meat is so lean but comes out nice.


Thanks for looking!

blazinfire said:

Oh yeah! That looks great! Was that Venison style Pepper stout beef? Did you cook it til it pulled? Looked like you sliced it. We deal with a lot of venison here. Our hunting season about to start. Well Gun season. Hopefully I can share a venison cook with you guys soon!

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Thanks Blazin! It was sort of pepper stout beef but with more of a jalapeno flavor. I don't like bell peppers in the pot when braising for some reason.
I sliced big pieces off of the leg, then cut off any silver skin. Made the meat nice and tender.
Hope you have great luck hunting!!

edited to add...
I forgot to mention, in the pic of the leg being sliced. This was the next morning, the leg was cold out of the fridge. I heated the slivers of meat in the stock.

T.Mac said:

Venison shoulder artistry. Bookmarked and can't wait to try it. :thumb:

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Thank you T.Mac! Good luck with your hunting too. :grin:

4ever3 said:

Beautiful cooking Jeanie!!!

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Jeremy, thanks! Hopefully I'll get another deer or two this year.

martyleach said:

Lookin' great Jeanie. It's all about learning how to make the less desirable cuts awesome and you do it so well

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Thank you Marty! Cooking the shoulders whole saves me a lot of work. :grin:

BillN said:

Wow Jeanie that looks incredible and those cheesy grits. if I ever end up on death row I would request that you make my last meal.

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:grin: Thanks Bill!


Thanks so much Blue!

Norm said:

Thanks for sharing this Jeanie!

I usually don't even mess with the front shoulder, good idea and looks delicious!

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I used to grind them into burger or sausage. The silver skin is still a pain, but not as bad after it's cooked. Thanks Norm!

Thank you Mike! :grin:

Thank you John! I had to cut the legs off of the shoulders this time but I try to use as much of the deer as possible. I'm thankful for the meat. :grin:

Battleborn said:

Wow, thanks Cowgirl. I have an antelope neck in the freezer I thought I would braise till the meat fell off. Hadn't though about smoking it first. Another inspiration, so glad to see your posts.

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Wow, great about the antelope, congrats on the hunt! I see them in the fields here, between me and "town".
Hope the cook turns out well for you. Keep me posted if you get the time. Thanks! :grin:

krex1010 said:

Very nice cowgirl! Wish i had seen this last week, first deer of the year last weekend and I ground the shoulders, i would have saved one to try that. I have 2 tags left so hopefully there will be more venison!

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Great!! Congrats on the successful hunt and good luck filling your tags. My season starts next month. I'm allowed one buck and one doe.
Thanks! :grin:

greenmountainsmoke said:

Damnation that looks good! :eusa_clap

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Thank you greenmountainsmoke!

TheHojo said:

So approximately hours on the smoker - 2 unwrapped and 7 in the broth? Out of curiosity, what was the internal temp of the meat when it was all said and done? Looks awesome

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Yes about 9 hrs total. I don't take the internal temp of meat... I pull it off the heat when tender. Thanks!