Corned Venison

I solicited some help for this recipe from my friend Hans Hummel of Hi Mountain Seasonings and his friend, Jim Waterman. Hi Mountain makes a deep line of seasonings, jerky cures and kits, sausage kits and more that’ll make your fish and game taste exceptionally good. Their game seasonings are not the typical overpriced repackaged salty stuff. Hi Mountain seasonings have flavor!

My goal was to transform deer meat into something that tastes something like corned beef and I’m happy to announce that this preparation far exceeded my expectations. I had at least a dozen people sample the finished product and they couldn’t believe it was venison! I’ve also used the same method to make corned goose, duck and elk.

How long you brine the meat depends on the thickness. If you’ve got a big venison muscle, you might want to cut it in half and reduce the brine/pickling time. By the way, there’s no corn involved with corned meats. It’s really just a way of pickling meat, but corned sounds better than pickled when it comes to meat.

Print Recipe

Corned Venison

Ingredients

• 3 to 5 pounds venison roast trimmed of silver skin and gristle
• 3 1/2 quarts water
• 1 packet Hi Mountain Jerky Cure
• 1 packet Hi Mountain Jerky Seasoning
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup pickling salt
• 1/4 cup pickling spice

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients except meat in a large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
• Place meat in in a non-metallic container (glass, plastic, ziploc, etc) and pour brine over to cover.
• Refrigerate 5 - 7 days. Remove meat from brine and rinse under cold water.
• Put rinsed meat in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 - 4 hours or until meat is very tender.

Notes

I slice large goose breasts in half along the edge and butterfly them so that that cure penetrates the meat better. If you want to see if the meat has cured long enough, cut off a piece and see if it is a lighter shade of pinkish red throughout. If the center looks more red than pink, it hasn't been brined long enough. You can also cut a test piece off and simmer in water. If it's still grayish in the center, it'll taste OK, but not as good (or as good-looking) as when brined for a few more days. I also use a Jaccard tenderizer on the meat to help the brine penetrate.

When you check out Hi Mountain Jerky Seasoning, pick a flavor that suits your taste. If you like it a little spicier, try the Jalapeno or Inferno blend. Each kit only costs around 8 bucks and has enough seasoning and sure to process 15 pounds of meat. 2 packets of seasoning and cure per package