First Smoke....Venison Roast.......

[tommy kid]

Hey folks. My first smoke was last weekend and the results were outstanding. I marinated a venison roast in a corned meat brine (from Eldon's) with curing salt for 7 days. I didn't think it was going to take as long as it did to reach a desirable internal temp (140 F), so I only smoked with apple for 2 hours at about 200 degrees F. It was in the mid 30s F and windy, so 200 was the best I could get out of the Bradley. It took about 7 hours to reach the 140 mark. I wrapped it in foil and let it rest for about an hour. It was getting late, so I popped it in the fridge and sliced it up the next day. If I closed my eyes, I would have sworn I was eating ham. I have two venison bottom rounds marinating right now and plan on using cherry for this weekends smoke. Thanks go out to all of you. I did some research and got some good ideas and tips that I feel really contributed to my success. Looks like I've taken the first step in a long journey..........
Tom

[Buck36]

That is an awesome first smoke! I am excited to try this myself. I would love to use up some of the venison in the freezer. If I can get it to taste like ham, the family will go nuts!

[JDM]

Sounds great, one of the reasons I got the smoker was for wild game. So hearing success stories like that make me look forward to more smoking.

Not sure what Eldon's is...

Dave

[tommy kid]

Sorry, I should have clarified......it's Eldon's Jerky and Sausage Supply. I've been buying my spices from them for a few years now. I used the Corned Meat Brine Mix, Product ID Ekc-393. Here's the link to the site:
http://www.eldonsausage.com/

[Buck36]

Tommy,

Looking at their website it shows a Ham Brine Premium. Have you tried this with venison? I am just curious since you generally use Eldon's if the corned brine produces better results over the ham brine.



...I think I answered my own question since you use the corned brine :-\

[tommy kid]

Nope, never used the Ham Brine. Actually, this is the first time I've brined anything. I bought the corned meat brine with the idea of cooking the corned venison on the stove, but a friend told me that he brines/smokes so I thought I'd give it a shot. Previously, I've just used Eldon's for sausage making spices. I've already made sweet italian and chorizo this year. Looking forward to making jalepeno, hot italian and bologna now that the Bradley is up and running.
Tom