Venison Roasts

If you’re looking for how to cook a leg of venison, or a venison rump or find a good deer roast recipe, you’ve come to the right place.

These recipes that follow are for the large cuts you’ll get from the legs of a deer or elk or moose or whatever. You can also substitute beef or lamb roasts here if you’d like. Most of these recipes work with any animal, although a few require a small, young deer or antelope, and some a large roast from an elk or moose.

Many of these venison recipes can be cooked in a Dutch oven or slow cooker. Others need fire or at least a hot oven.

In general, how you cook a leg of venison depends on the leg — and the animal. A shoulder roast or a neck roast needs to be cooked like a pot roast. Definitely slow cooker or Dutch oven. Slow and low, then pull the meat apart, ideally off the bones. Hind leg deer roasts need to be hot and fast: You want them cooked medium-rare.

Another rule for cooking deer roasts: The younger the animal, the more tender it will be, and the less you need to cook it.