Deer ham

I would try to keep it as moist as possible. Venison drys out in a hurry. I usually baste it with a melted butter mix and vinegar. Do not over cook.

Wrap it with a bacon weave.

Ive tried this a couple of times. Neither time did I like the results all that well. Id be curious to see how it turns out. Please let us know!! The Bacon thing seems like a good way as Cholloway mentioned.

Patrick

cholloway said:

Wrap it with a bacon weave.

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I have done several of these and you can ruin one in a hurry....for sure you want to wrap or weave it in bacon for the fat content, I will share my technique to keeping moist, try it if you like:
1. rub with rub and wrap in bacon
2. only smoke for a couple of hours at 225
3. pull from smoker wrap in foil or foil pan with some liquid( I use beef broth with spices and the rub I put on venison)
4. put back in smoker and continue to cook covered until IT about 160 and start to check for doneness(should pull like PP)
the key is too keep it moist you must cover, and use liquid if not it will be dry and tuff!!! Pretty simple stuff, just pay attention and dont let it get away from you and it will be awesome:thumb::thumb:
let us know how it turns out!!!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I ALMOST FORGOT... BE SURE IS THE BONE IS IN TO DEBONE, IF THE BONE IS OUT, YOU MUST AND I SAY MUST... BE SURE TO REMOVE THE GLANDS IN THE HAM IF YOU DONT THEY ARE NASTYuke:

I agree with the previous posters in that the hardest part is keeping it from drying out. The best way that I have found is to rub the ham, then wrap it in cheese cloth, and then marinade the whole thing. I cook it with the cheese cloth still on, mopping occasionally. The cheese cloth will end up being burnt and crusty looking but after you peel it off the meat inside will be flavorful and juicy.

Woah the cheese cloth thing sounds like a real deal!!

The second time i tried it I cut about 10-12 slits into the ham and inserted garlic cloves deep into each slit. That was pretty good (flavorwise) but again it was somewhat dry. Im going to try the garlic WITH the whole cheesecloth thing and give that a whirl this fall.

I've done a bunch of these and my favorite way to cook them is to brine first, rub with our Oakridge BBQ Venison rub, then cook indirect with lump charcoal in my Weber kettle grill. I like the cooking temp to be up in the 350º range and I like them to finish out right around 140º internal. Refrigerate overnight, then slice thin across the grain. Then all you need is some horseradish and some good crusty bread...

Here's a post I did last year on my website that details the process...

Oakridge BBQ Smoked Venison Roast

Holler with any questions.

Mike that looks incredible. Nicely done. I went to your webpage. So you went with a boneless roast then? More of a fast cook method vs a slow cook. Another one to try! I sure hope my camp can shoot straight this fall!

Patrick

Liquordude said:

I agree with the previous posters in that the hardest part is keeping it from drying out. The best way that I have found is to rub the ham, then wrap it in cheese cloth, and then marinade the whole thing. I cook it with the cheese cloth still on, mopping occasionally. The cheese cloth will end up being burnt and crusty looking but after you peel it off the meat inside will be flavorful and juicy.

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I have not done one myself, but the cheesecloth method is what I have seen done by veteran venison cookers many times.
Also seen it used on smoking turkeys.

ZwolleQ said:

Mike that looks incredible. Nicely done. I went to your webpage. So you went with a boneless roast then? More of a fast cook method vs a slow cook. Another one to try! I sure hope my camp can shoot straight this fall!

Patrick

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Thanks, Patrick. I skin and butcher my own deer and always bone out the rear hind quarters into individual roasts. The big reason for this is because of the nasty gland smokeyokie mentioned above. You just about have to bone out the rear hind just to get to the gland anyway, so I just continue on butchering until all of the muscles are separated. Some go into the grinder, a couple get cut into fajita/jerky meat and the top sirloin roast pictured above gets saved for a brine and hot smoke like in the recipe.

For venison, I do favor a hot fast cook vs. a slow low cook 100% of the time. Venison is very lean meat, almost like chicken, in that it doesn't have any internal fat marbling. The meat is just pure, lean red meat. Because of this, slow and low cooking temps tend to create a dry & tough finished product. Whereas, hot fast cooking to a max of medium/med-rare helps preserve the natural juices of the meat and keeps it from getting tough and dried out. Also, IMHO no amount of bacon on the outside will ever account for the lack of fat on the inside. IMHO, all bacon does on the outside is succeed to ruin the potential for a good bark, it also impedes smoke penetration into the meat. Think of and treat most cuts of venison like you would a boneless/skinless chicken breast or a fillet mignon steak.

It's also been my experience that no matter how long you cook a deer roast, it will never be like good pulled pork. There's just no fat inside the meat to keep it lubricated and juicy to allow it to fall apart like a pork butt. In the end, you're left with dry, chewy, and gamey tasting meat that has to be drowned in a gallon of bbq sauce to be edible.