Corning venison began as one of those, “why not?” experiments that turned out far better than I had expected. I don’t know why I was so worried — I like corned beef, and how different is venison, anyway?
Corning venison at home is so good in fact that any deer hunter out there really ought to learn this technique — you will get far more enjoyment out of the leg roasts from your venison.
I typically use whole-muscle roasts from the hind leg to do this. Big sirloin roasts, rump roasts, the “football roast,” and such. But any big hunk of venison will work. The advantage of the whole-muscle roasts is less sinew and connective tissue, which takes hours to break down. I suppose you could use the backstrap, but why would you?
Lovers of hash might want to corn shoulder or neck roasts, then simmer them so long they begin to fall apart. The extra connective tissue in these cuts makes for a moister hash.
The technique is simple: Brine your meat, then simmer it into tenderness. It takes several days, but it isn’t labor-intensive at all. Once made, corned venison is great hot or cold, with root vegetables, cabbage, cold in sandwiches (how I eat most of my corned venison), or chopped into hash.
A word on nitrites. I use them, for color, for flavor and for safety. Can you do this without pink salt? Yes, but your meat will be gray, you will lose some flavor, and there is an ever-so slight chance you might pick up botulism — not a large chance, but as botulism is one of the most toxic substances known to man, I’d say use the nitrite. You can buy it online here at The Sausage Maker.
Once made, you can keep corned venison in the fridge for a couple weeks, or freeze it for a year.
Corned Venison
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 ounce Instacure No. 1 (sodium nitrite)
- 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds
- 6 bay leaves, crushed
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 chopped garlic cloves
- A 3 to 5 pound venison roast
Instructions
- Add everything but the roast to a pot and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover, then let it cool to room temperature while covered. This will take a few hours. Meanwhile, trim any silverskin you find off the roast. Leave the fat. Once the brine is cool, find a container just about large enough to hold the roast, place the meat inside and cover with the brine. You might have extra, which you can discard.
- Make sure the roast is completely submerged in the brine; I use a clean stone to weigh the meat down. You can also just flip the meat every day. Cover and put in the fridge for 5 to 7 days, depending on the roast's size. A 2-pound roast might only need 4 days. The longer you soak, the saltier it will get -- but you want the salt and nitrate to work its way to the center of the roast, and that takes time. Err on extra days, not fewer days.
- After the alloted time has passed, you have corned venison. To cook and eat, rinse off the meat, then put the roast in a pot just large enough to hold it and cover with fresh water. You don't want too large a pot or the fresh water will leach out too much flavor from the meat -- it's an osmosis thing. partially cover the pot and simmer gently -- don't boil -- for at least 3 hours and up to 5 hours. The meat itself will be cooked in an hour or less, but you want the sinews and connective tissue in the roast to soften and that takes time.
- Eat hot or cold. It is absolutely fantastic with good mustard and some sauerkraut on a sandwich.
Notes
Nutrition
Like the Recipe? Buy the Book!
You'll find everything you need to know to master venison in Hank Shaw's cookbook Buck, Buck, Moose.
I’ve done this with venison and elk; both absolutely delicious. So easy to make and we had everything in the spice cabinet!
Best corned “beef” recipe I’ve ever tried, hands down!
Did this with one of my last roasts from the 2020 season. Was absolutely awesome, 5 stars, but next time I’ll do it with shanks, shoulder, or neck to give it that slow cooked connective tissue succulence.
I would never have guessed how good this would be! Excellent recipe, can’t wait to try it on goose.
Hi Hank,
Great looking recipe!
One question, can you smoke this on a wood pellet grill, rather then simmer it? And if so, what temp would you run the smoker at and what would be your final internal temp?
Thanks!
Cody: You could, but that is not what corned beef is. That said, low and slow, like 175F until the center hits about 130F.
I am 52 years old and have been eating corned meat, beef, venison and even goose. But tried this recipe to corn a 3 pound roast and I must say it is the best corned beef I’ve ever had. It is out of this world. Hint, do not leave out the cinnamon stick. Thank you for this.
Another great recipe! I usually use a football roast from a moose for this recipe. After brining for 7-8 days I’ll cut it in half and cook one piece just for sandwiches. The other half goes back in brine for a few more days to a week. The. I’ll take that out and make “Jiggs Dinner”, which is basically an east coast dish with salted meat, root vegetables, pease pudding and sometimes blueberry/ lingonberry pudding. I made this last week and tossed a couple of snowshoe hares in brine for 4 days and it made some awesome hash!
The only tip that seems to work well for me is the use of a meat syringe. Given I am usually brining larger cuts of meat I’ll use a meat syringe and inject brine into the roast once a day for the first few days. It seems to help ensure there are no brown pockets after cooking and slicing.
Give this a try and you’ll be making it often!
Hi Hank,
Thanks for the recipe! One question – the package instructions on the InstaCure #1 say to use 3 ounces per gallon of water, so should I use 1.5 ounces for this or stick to the 0.5 ounces from your recipe?
Ben: I’ve had good success with my ratio, and I know a lot of people are hesitant about nitrite. But either ratio is safe, so it’s up to you.
Hey Hank, love this recipe and have done it for years now for my family and I. This year I want to spread the love. I’d like to do a half dozen 3 lb roasts, do I double or triple all the ingredients in the recipe? Obviously don’t want to overdue the pink salt. Thanks in advance .
Matt: Yes, you can double or triple it.