Many cuts work well, but a boneless roast from the hindquarter is best: top round, bottom round, eye of round, or sirloin tip (knuckle). Loins or even steaks work too, except they tend to fall apart while simmering.
You can prevent that by securing them with twine or butcher’s netting (after the curing, before the cooking). Or you could choose the “sous vide” method — which takes a bit longer but produces better texture and flavor, with less shrinkage.
“Eye of round” roasts, or loins from smaller deer are perfect to slice into medallions for hors d’oeuvres. A plate of miniature open face reubens on slices of rye “party loaf” will get rave reviews.
Options: slow simmer, or sous vide. Frankly, sous vide has wide application and is an easy technique to learn and use. Cooking corned meats might be the ultimate use of the sous vide technique.
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lbs venison
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- 7 lbs venison — boned, trimmed
- 5 quarts water — Water used in any curing, pickling or fermenting process should be chlorine free. Public water supplies often have chlorine.
- 6 cloves garlic — Crushed or diced
- 1 cup pickling spice — by weight. 1/4 cup per oz.
- 24 whole cloves
- 3 tablespoon ground allspice
- 1/4 cup whole black peppercorns
- 3 ounces powdered dextrose — by weight. OK to substitute table sugar.
- 3.5 ounce Coriander
- 3 ounce black pepper
- 1.6 ounce mustard seed
- 1.6 ounce dill seed
- 1/4 ounce mace
- 1/4 ounce Clove
- 1/4 ounce chili flake
Ingredients
After-brine rub (optional)
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- Remove all bone, and trim well before weighing meat.
- Dissolve the salt, cure and dextrose in the water, then mix in the remaining brine ingredients.
- Using a non-reactive vessel such as glazed crockery, glass or food-grade plastic, submerge the meat in the brine
- Hold between 36 and 40 degrees. Your fridge is perfect. The garage, barn, root cellar, under the deck, etc will all be too warm, too cold, or will fluctuate too much.
- Stir the brine and re-arrange the meat daily, making sure all surfaces get exposed to the brine. This is called "overhauling" for some reason. It is more important than it sounds – don’t skip it.
- After 5-10 days (5 days for small thin roasts, up to 10 for large, thick roasts) remove and lightly rinse the meat. Brining too long is better than too short, within reason.
- Place roasts in a large pot of water.
- Optionally toss in a couple fists full of pickling spice.
- Bring to a boil on high heat, immediately reduce to a slow simmer (pay attention!).
- Cook at a slow simmer, 2 1/2 hours, covered. A water temp of 185°F is perfect. Check occasionally — but nothing to stress about so long as you keep it below boiling.
- Remove the roasts. Serve hot or cold. They will have shrunk a lot. Don't worry, all the meat is still there!
- Optionally add the after-brine rub. Though more associated with Pastrami than Corned, it is interesting. But I usually skip it. Try it both ways and see what you think.
- Vacuum seal roasts and cook 15 hours @ 175F
- Remove from bag, saving the liquid for use simmering vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes. Also useful to pour on sliced corned meat while gently reheating.
Corned meat freezes very well, and like any cured meat lasts a long time in the fridge.
Serving suggestions: Corned venison and cabbage, corned venison hash, or venison reuben sandwiches. Om nom nom!
One last thing — Pastrami is a fantastic cousin of traditional corned meat. Instead of simmering it involves smoking then steaming the brined roast. It is pretty much always rubbed prior to smoking. Here's a good recipe from "The Meat Eater"