how to cook a deer ham?

A deer “ham”? Ham is pork, deer is venison, and what you are calling a “ham” is actually a “roast”.

Try this:

roll the roast is fresh cracked black peppercorns

wrap the roast in uncooked bacon strips, holding the ends with toothpick as needed

place in a roasting pan

(ovens vary so I can only give general times for roasting)

rump roast about 18-20 minutes per pound, at roughly 325 degrees

Shoulder roast is 12-18 minutes per pound

you want it just barely pink inside (it will continue to cook for a few minutes when removed from the oven, so don’t over cook it!

about half way thru the process, place a tent of foil over the roast

I also use a large injector and inject the roast with a mix of melted butter and finely minced garlic (or garlic juice) Venison gets dry if over cooked.

Save the drippings from the pan to make a gravy

shoot safe

Deer Ham Recipes

Deer Ham

Mike,

I am along time Alaskan hunter and trapper. Is this a full deer rump that has been brined, soaked, and smoked?

For large cuts of deer it needs to cook for a long time in slow moist heat. Go to the store and buy one of those roast ‘cooking bags’ and follow the directions. You will find the time per pound listed for a pot roast is exactly what you want to cook for – this wil give you a tender piece of meat. If you cook until just simply well done – it is going to be a very tough piece of meat.

Before these bags came to the market – people used Dutch Ovens. Although nothing beats slow cooked pot roast and hams in a Dutch Oven – it takes a long time for the cast iron and contents to start cooking. Not as effecient as the bags. If you like what you create today – you may want to track down a Dutch Oven at a garage sale or pony up for a new one. They work great inside a normal home oven along with a gas grill.

The reason you don’t find many recipies for large cuts of deer, moose and caribu – these are always very lean meats. To the human pallet they taste dry. You ‘fix’ this by putting thick sliced country style bacon on the top of the roast – it allows the fat to seep into the meat during the cooking process and adds a bit of a smoked outdoorsey flavor. (The bacon, once fully cooked, will surprisingly not taste all that great – but the finished meat will).

My wife and I have both worked in restaurants at one time in our lives. If you have any specific questions – feel free to email us.

Hope this helps

~ 1 venison leg ham

~ 1 lb. bacon

~ 1 cup of white vinegar

~ 1 roasting bag

Place the deer ham inside of roasting bag.

Place strips of bacon over ham to completely cover.

Pour vinegar over bacon that is placed on ham.

Seal bag and cook at 350 degrees for about 2 hours. Time depends upon how rare or well you like your meat. Make sure internal temperature is at least 165 – 170 degrees

Hey Largeframe, I have to agree with you on that statement brother. I harvested a really nice buck this past season in N. Florida right about the end of January & after I sorted through the contents of the box that our Hunting Clubs local game processer returned to me, I noticed that he had marked on the vacuum sealed packages…Deer Ham??? I had it processed through him because everyone told me what a great job he does, & reasonably priced so I took advantage of it. Here it is now the 1st part of July & we have gone through just about all of it except the Deer Roast which he calls a Deer Ham.

So,,, just like you I never heard a Deer Roast called a Ham but I’m about ready to sink my teeth into it.

I’m the hunter, and my mom usually cooks it, lol. With deer hams, or roasts, she usually does them in a slow cooker, or crockpot, with lots of liquid, and vegetables. It always turns out really good. Use a meat thermometer, and temp the internal temperature consistently until it is about 130, or a little higher. Take it out, and it will rise about ten degrees. This is the temp for a medium done roast.

Another tip, I do a lot of meat cutting, and a key thing to remember, especially with wild game, is to trim the fat really well. Wild game fat and gristle is really nasty, so if there is alot of it on a roast it will ruin dinner because of the taste.

I have never cooked a deer ham but I assume it would cook up just like a hog ham. I would put pineapple slices and cloves and some brown sugar on it and bake it.

Remove the bone or saw it short. Then in a big covered Stainless pot, add enough chicken broth to go 1/4 up it’s side. Slow simmer until tender, turning it over several times for even cooking.

Oh, excuse me, you said bake!

I’d cook it like a roast, low heat for a long period of time(6-8 hours) with water in the pan, basting it while cooking, I really can’t see any other way to cook a piece of meat like that.