Smoking a Venison Shoulder

BKhunter

WKR
Joined
Oct 13, 2016
Messages
373
Location
New York
Hey All,

I'm trying to clear out some of my venison in the freezer and have a whole shoulder I was thinking of smoking. Has anyone done this before? If so any tips on how long and at what temp to let it go for? Would you recommend brining it?

BK
 

dble07

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
167
Location
NW North Dakota
I have done it a couple times. It has always turned out really good. We've always put a little dry rub on it and let it sit for a couple hours. Just before putting it on the smoker we cut some slits in the meat several inches deep and put cream cheese and jalapenos into the slits then used toothpicks to pin the slits back closed. Put some bacon on the outside and smoked on a low heat(200) until internal temp reaches desired doneness(150~if I remember correctly). It's a great alternative to grinding all the shoulder meat for us. Only drawback is the amount of freezer space it takes up.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

robtattoo

WKR
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
3,294
Location
Tullahoma, TN
I generally smoke 4 or 5 a year.

I brine mine for 24 hours (5 gallon bucket of ice water, 2 cups salt, 2 cups Brown sugar, handful of whole cloves & peppercorns)
After 24hrs, pat dry & apply a liberal amount of dry rub. Mines sugar & mustard based, but use whatever is your favorite pork rub. Refrigerate in the rub (put it in a BIG tray) for a further 24hrs. Remember to keep any rub & liquid in the tray to make sauce ;)

Average weight for my bone-in whitetail shoulders is 7lb & I'll throw that in my propane smoker, with either Apple or Peach chips at 225° uncovered for 1½ hours. Baste/spray every 15 mins with Apple or pineapple juice, then tightly, double wrap in foil & finish in the oven for another hour at 200°.

This doesn't make it 'fall off the bone-pulled pork' tender, it's still tender, carveable & great for sandwiches.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2014
Messages
325
Location
NE Wyoming
+1 on Robtattoo's brine and smoke method. I have also injected the brine with good results. Hard to screw up. Enjoy!
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
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Location
hawai'i
man were moving in a couple months and wife said she'll get me a traeger for the new place and i cant freakin wait. these recipes sound awesome
 

WhiteOak

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 17, 2016
Messages
260
Location
New Mexico
It's not smoked but if your looking for a good recipe to cook venison shoulder Venison Barbacoa Recipe
I used the whole shoulder/front leg(after deboning) of my last couple deer this way. Throw everything in a crock pot for a few hours then bam the best pulled venison tacos I ever had. Get some canned corn and black beans and cheese for topping. Holy crap man they go quick. Only smoking I've done with venison is to make jerky but I will defiantly have to try the above recipes look damn good.
 

bhowren

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 1, 2017
Messages
113
Location
Oregon
man were moving in a couple months and wife said she'll get me a traeger for the new place and i cant freakin wait. these recipes sound awesome

You will Love your Traeger! I haven't made Anything I didn't like on mine! Use it at least 3-4 times a week!
 

Steel Rain

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Messages
138
Location
Kansas
I generally smoke 4 or 5 a year.

I brine mine for 24 hours (5 gallon bucket of ice water, 2 cups salt, 2 cups Brown sugar, handful of whole cloves & peppercorns)
After 24hrs, pat dry & apply a liberal amount of dry rub. Mines sugar & mustard based, but use whatever is your favorite pork rub. Refrigerate in the rub (put it in a BIG tray) for a further 24hrs. Remember to keep any rub & liquid in the tray to make sauce ;)
Average weight for my bone-in whitetail shoulders is 7lb & I'll throw that in my propane smoker, with either Apple or Peach chips at 225° uncovered for 1½ hours. Baste/spray every 15 mins with Apple or pineapple juice, then tightly, double wrap in foil & finish in the oven for another hour at 200°.

This doesn't make it 'fall off the bone-pulled pork' tender, it's still tender, carveable & great for sandwiches.

Where are you finding 5 legged deer?
 

dotman

WKR
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
8,201
Truthfully you can smoke everything to perfection, I would smoke it slow to an internal temp of around 140. Maybe inject some olive oil into it and do t be afraid to use a bunch of rub. Also I would use Hickory wood.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2015
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I did my first last year. Brine overnight. Smoke for 2 hours and the tent in foil and add some butter until it got to 140 internal. Very tasty.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2014
Messages
2,398
I've done a few hinds a couple different ways and they're just not my thing. I think a low and slow roast recipe would be better use of large cuts.
Smoking cuts of venison just doesn't work out as been the best use for me.

This is just my .02
 
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