February 10, 2021
By David Draper
Print Recipe
Skip the deli and make your own pastrami from whitetails, mule deer, elk or other cuts of venison. The process is simple, though it does take some time for the meat to brine and smoke. This technique also works great with goose or ducks breasts as well.
Yield: 1 large venison roast
Prep time: 15 minutes + 5 to 7 days for brining
Cook time: 4 hours
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Ingredients:
- 1 large venison roast (elk, deer, antelope, or moose)
- Beef stock
Brine:
- 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups kosher salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 8 teaspoons Insta Cure #1
- 1 quart hot water
- ¼ cup honey
- Ice
Pastrami Seasoning:
- 1 tablespoon ground peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground garlic
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Directions:
- Trim silver skin and connective tissue from your venison roast as needed. Set roast aside.
- In a large bowl or pot, make the brine by mixing together the kosher salt, brown sugar, Insta Cure #1, and hot water. Whisk the mixture until the ingredients dissolve. Add in honey; mix well.
- Add brine to a larger container (whatever container you plan to brine the venison in). Add some ice to the brine to cool it down.
- Put your venison roast in the brine, making sure it is completely submerged. Cover and refrigerate for 5-7 days.
- After the brining process has finished, remove the venison from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, mix together ingredients for Pastrami Seasoning.
- Coat the venison roast with the seasoning. If you have a thinner roast, coat only one side of the roast. For thicker roasts, coat both sides.
- Set your smoker to 220 degrees.
- Add seasoned venison roast to the smoker and let smoke for a couple of hours, until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 150 degrees.
- Remove the roast from the smoker and place it in a roasting pan. Pour in beef stock so the roast sits in about an inch of stock. Cover roasting pan with aluminum foil (shiny side down).
- Put roast in a 275-degree preheated oven for a couple of hours.
- Use the venison pastrami in a breakfast hash, in sandwiches, or on a pizza. There are many ways you can enjoy this pastrami. Get creative and make something delicious with it!
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David Draper
Editor-in-Chief
An avid hunter and accomplished writer, David Draper has traveled the globe in search of good stories and good food, yet his roots remain firmly planted in the soil of his family's farm on the High Plains of Nebraska. As a young man, his dreams were fueled by daily trips to the original Cabela's retail store, which stood a short four blocks from his childhood home. The ensuing years spent chasing his passions for adventure and the outdoors have taken him from the shores of Africa's Gambia River to Alaska's Brooks Range. He has hunted birds and big-game on five of the seven continents.
A 20-year industry veteran, Draper has worked in communications, writing and editing roles for the biggest names in the industry. In addition to bylines in scores of publications, he also served as the editor for the hunting journals of Dick and Mary Cabela and contributed to several books on the outdoors. Draper is Editor-in-Chief of Petersen's Hunting magazine, where he also writes the Fare Game column covering all aspects of processing and cooking wild game.
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