Smoked Whitetail hind quarter

xcutter

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Connersville, IN
Has anyone ever smoked a Whitetail ham? I have a very small doe ham and thought about injecting it with beef broth and salt injection seasoning and smoking it. Appreciate any insight. Thanks.

Sorry forgot. This is a whole ham bone in.
 

Skid71

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Sep 25, 2020
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I have never tried it myself, but have seen recipes that inject then soak in brine for 7-10 days. Smoke to 150 degrees. Hope to see more input and to hear about your results.
 
Joined
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I haven't tried a hind quarter, but I smoked a whole backstrap last year that turned out well. I let it soak overnight in a brine consisting of water, kosher salt, and brown sugar at a 16:1:1 ratio (by volume). I smoked to 125°F (didn't take long, maybe 30-45 min) then seared it on the grill. I was skeptical of how this would turn out given how lean deer is, but the meat was tender and reasonably juicy with a moderate smoke flavor.
 

Swampyak

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Feb 21, 2020
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Should work well
Smoke deer, bear and antelope all the time, but never a whole quarter.
Over time I've found I keep it simple.
I put the frozen piece of meat in a ziplock with some water and salt, put in fridge till thawed, take out and smoke at 275 till done
Never had any complaints
 

Whisky

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Dec 25, 2012
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I smoked a whole bone in hind once. It was a long time ago. I didn't do any injections or anything fancy like that, just seasoned it and tossed it on a 250* smoker. Don't recall how long it took. I was going for med rare throughout. The problem with that big piece of varying thickness meat, with a bone in the center of it, is it cooked so uneven. It could be 160 on the outside, and raw by the bone. If I was to do it again I would probably debone it and attempt to tie it up into a "roll" with butcher twine.

Injecting it would be a good idea. Just use a good beef brisket injection.
 

Titan_Bow

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Dec 10, 2015
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Colorado
I haven’t truly smoked one, but last couple of thanksgivings, I’ve done a whole bone in ham from a small deer (wt,multie or lope). I’m really doing more of a roast, but on my smoker grill with a wood fire. What I do is take out a couple days prior,, cut deep slits all through it and “lard” it with bacon or pork belly and slivers of garlic. Then lay out Saran Wrap, rub the whole thing down with salt and pepper, olive oil, and a bunch of chopped rosemary, thyme and sage. Wrap the whole thing up tight and let it sit in the fridge at least 24 hours like this.
I put it on indirect heat in my smoker grill, on mesquite and cook them slow till medium rare. It’s always turned out great but you are going to get variations in doneness for sure on a whole bone in ham. For a big gathering meal, that’s not too big of a deal, as not everyone has good taste and enjoys medium rare venison .


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Azone

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Apr 21, 2018
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Northern Nevada
Has anyone ever smoked a Whitetail ham? I have a very small doe ham and thought about injecting it with beef broth and salt injection seasoning and smoking it. Appreciate any insight. Thanks.

Sorry forgot. This is a whole ham bone in.
Add cure #1 into your brine according to its directions to get the pink color all the way through. I never smoked a whole deer leg but have done a couple feral hog hams with cure #1 and other assorted spices in the brine and they were pretty tasty.
 
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xcutter

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Connersville, IN
Ended up smoking this hind quarter over the weekend. Turned out absolutely awesome. Hardly had any leftovers. Below is how I did it. After injecting I wiped the hind quarter dry and applied olive oil all over it and applied Montreal Steak seasoning.

Injection:
1/2 box of beef broth
2 tablespoons of kosher salt
teaspoon of garlic powder
teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of worstershire
Heat in pan until salt if melted. Place in refrigerator until cold.
Inject hind quarter all over using all of injection.

Seasoning:
Montreal Steak Seasoning

Fat Sauce for basting:
1/2 stick of salted butter
6 tablespoons of bacon grease
2 tablespoons of Montreal Steak Seasoning

Smoked on pellet grill at 225 degrees F.
Smoked for 2 hours then flipped.
Smoked for 1 hour.
Applied Fat Sauce.
Flipped after 1 hour.
Applied Fat Sauce.
Smoked until reaching 140 degrees internal temp.
Placed hind quarter on aluminum foil and poured remaining fat sauce over it and wrapped tightly and placed in cooler.
Let it rest in closed cooler for 1 hour before cutting.

Turned out excellent. Give it a try.

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Joined
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I did a whole ham from a button buck 20 years ago. It turned out pretty good. But it dried it out a bit more than I anticipated.
 

bullnose

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Jul 25, 2022
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Location
Michigan
I’ve never tried a leg quarter, but I’ve done several whole loins on a pit barrel smoker. I just dry brine for at least a couple hours before smoking. I’ve also done venison chops the same way and they turned out really tasty.
 

LCsmith

Lil-Rokslider
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Dec 18, 2019
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137
I cut out specific roasts and trim all the silverskin and fat off. Season with pepper, salt and grill seasoning. Smoke at 180 until IT is around 130 for medium rare. Just as good as roast beef, especially good sliced thin and served chilled.
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