Venison Roast with Cranberry Sauce Recipe

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Thanksgiving may be the domain of the turkey, but we're allowed a bit more leeway at Christmas time. Venison roast is a prime candidate for the big dinner. Problem is, many people have a hard time cooking one that doesn't come out dry and unhappy. I'll walk you through how to go about it.

You can serve your venison roast alongside anything you want, but I typically like to include some stewed greens like kale or turnip greens, the obligatory mashed potatoes and some homemade cranberry sauce. All are easy to make.

Now, about that roast.

First, you need to have your roast at room temperature. Room temperature meat cooks more evenly than meat that's warming at the outside but is still ice cold in the center. Second, you want to coat the meat in oil or melted fat. I actually used melted duck fat for the roast in the picture, but you can use vegetable oil. Why? Science.

When you roast meats in an oven, the heat of the air hits the meat and causes the moisture at its surface to evaporate and cook. The problem is that water boils at 212°F, which is pretty low when you think about roasting. Adding an oil barrier around the meat will allow the surface of the meat to get hotter since oil won't boil away for at least a few hundred degrees hotter. The bottom line is meat will cook better with a coating of oil.

Next, you want to go slow and low at first, then hot and fast. This is mostly personal preference. When you cook this way, getting the interior of the meat to a temperature approaching what you want at the end, you have less of a jump in carryover heat when you brown it later. If you switch and start hot and fast, you get more carryover heat and you need to deal with a very hot oven that needs to cool down a lot. Basically, it is just mechanically easier to start cooler and finish hotter.

Finally, rest your roast. Resting allows the intense heat that is at the outside of the roast dissipate throughout the meat. This brings up the center temperature and allows the meat to retain more moisture when you slice it. Doing this for 10 minutes is good, but 15 is better.

Grind some black pepper, or whatever other spices you might want, slice and serve. A good pro tip is to drizzle some nice oil over the slices, too. I prefer walnut oil or good olive oil.

Venison Roast with Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Serves: 4
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 to 5 pounds venison roast
• Vegetable oil to coat
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 cups cranberries
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• Zest of an orange, sliced into strips with pith removed
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped
• Salt
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 teaspoon white pepper

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Directions: