curing and smoking whole venison backstrap ?
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Bhouin1086
That sounds like what I was looking for, do you think the amount of pink salt would vary depending on the size of the roast is is it depending upon the amount of water?@Curtis-p the amount of brine you are making
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@Curtis-p why waste a good back strap brining & smoking. Just my opinion!
schultzgang I agree that is why I use the big roast from the back legs
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@Curtis-p @JOE HELL
Here is the recipe I use, never had anyone complain about it. Makes a great ruban sandwich
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I will definitely being trying your recipe. I guess my real question is if it was also cured in a brine and then frozen would that keep the backstrap just as good coming back out of the freezer. as with snack sticks or even chipped venison.
I did 1 backstrap with 2 teaspoons of pink salt a 1 1/2 cups of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar is 2 gallons of water. it turned out ok but the inside didn’t stay pink.
Then I found another recipe for the brine. 1 1/2 cups of salt 1/2 cup of pink cure 1 cup of sugar per gallon of water… left in frig for 7 days and when I smoked the backstraps they were pink in the middle but inedible because of the amount of salt. made me sick because I used and lost 2 backstraps.
what i’m trying to accomplish is being able to freeze the product and then just pull out and thaw to serve in slices,maybe with cheese and crackers or so on .
Any input would be greatly appreciatedCurtis p. Be careful when using Pink Curing Salt as 1 ounce will cure 25 lbs of ground meat. Pink Curing Salt cannot be directly substituted for Mortons Tender Quick as a 2 lb bag Of Mortons Tender Quick only has .32 Ounces of Curing Salt and the rest is Salt and Sugar according to the label. Pink Curing Salt is Potent Stuff!!! and should be used accordingly.
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Bhouin1086 That sounds excellent!
Joe Hell here is the last one I have in the freezer I made about a dozen of them this year! They go fast lol

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@Curtis-p @JOE HELL
Here is the recipe I use, never had anyone complain about it. Makes a great ruban sandwich
Bhouin1086
Thanks for sharing the pastrami recipe. It looks awesome cannot wait to try it this Fall, but NOT with a back strap -
Bhouin1086
Thanks for sharing the pastrami recipe. It looks awesome cannot wait to try it this Fall, but NOT with a back strapschultzgang I agree I like to wrap in bacon and put on the grill!!!
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Joe Hell here is the last one I have in the freezer I made about a dozen of them this year! They go fast lol

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I like to make pastrami from backstrap and also venison roasts. It seems the amount of pink salt (cure) is excessive, but I have been told that is what is needed in a brine as opposed to actually mixing into the meat as when making sausage.
I have have not been able to smoke backstrap without it becoming too dry, pastrami prevents that and since we use it for snack meat instead of a main meat course it lasts longer.
Made some gator meat into pastrami also, was almost as good as venison. -
Might add that I have been told venison likely only needs about 3-4 days in brine compared to 5 for beef. I rinse after brining and then soak couple hours in water only, then change water and soak overnight to remove some of the saltiness.
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@Curtis-p On the sure cure 1/2 a cup is 24 tsp. There are 6 tsp (about) per package of sure cure which is enough to cure 25 lb of meat. I would be leery of adding that much cure to a gallon of meat. The fact that you just brined it and did not inject means you are probably fine but if you try that again I would add less cure. Unless your pink cure is less strong than the sure cure we use. Sure Cure is 6.25% sodium nitrite.
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schultzgang How would you make your backstrap? I love smoking mine but I dont brine, I just marinade. If anyone has a different or cool way they do that let us know!
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Guess I must be a purist when it comes to a venison backstrap. Weber grill, Kingsford original, quick sear, salt and pepper, then indirect to 130 deg. Rest, slice and enjoy.
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Joe Hell
thanks for the info, I had not heard of this until 3 years ago and I think the reason it was brined was to cure or preserve it while
frozen. A friend of a friend makes these after hunting season so they can be taken out of the freezer and sliced up for snacks and they are fantastic but he wont share the recipe. When they are unthawed even after many months they are still perfect.
Have you tried freezing any portion and is it still as good when first made?@Curtis-p
Look up a Bresaola recipe I’m betting that is what his secret is. Whole cured muscle that is amazingly tender and flavorful. Any of the recipes for beef version will work for venison and there are several variations all of which turn out really well. There are also a few venison specific versions out there. Hank Shaw and Steven Rinella are both at the top of the list. It kinda depends on your willingness to experiment and your comfort level with some of the different techniques. Super easy and the end product makes it look both like you know what you’re doing and like it took way more effort than it does. Cheers -
@Curtis-p
Look up a Bresaola recipe I’m betting that is what his secret is. Whole cured muscle that is amazingly tender and flavorful. Any of the recipes for beef version will work for venison and there are several variations all of which turn out really well. There are also a few venison specific versions out there. Hank Shaw and Steven Rinella are both at the top of the list. It kinda depends on your willingness to experiment and your comfort level with some of the different techniques. Super easy and the end product makes it look both like you know what you’re doing and like it took way more effort than it does. Cheers -
Joe Hell Keep us up to date with the entire process, feel free to ask for tips or anything and I will see what our commercial salesmen think and then we can do some sort of post/video of how it all came together!
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Hosshess Hank Shaw has inspired me to turn my basement into a meat and cheese aging locker and fermentation room. I hope to have it put together by the end of summer.
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Joe Hell I think I speak for all of meatgistics when I say that is unacceptable sir! Especially with your propensity to go big on things I want to see basically a cigar lounge style dry curing chamber made out of your entire basement!
Obviously, I am kidding but do keep us posted!
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Joe Hell I think I speak for all of meatgistics when I say that is unacceptable sir! Especially with your propensity to go big on things I want to see basically a cigar lounge style dry curing chamber made out of your entire basement!
Obviously, I am kidding but do keep us posted!
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