The sad reality is so many things that don’t belong in our food get pumped into lunchmeat and served to our kids. Nearly all the lunchmeat sitting on grocery shelves and being served at delis is either processed or packed full of preservatives or hormones or all of the above. It’s a scary reality.
Making venison lunchmeat is easy and can be very tasty. It is also the perfect organic option with which to make sandwiches for you or your kids’ lunches. Sometimes, when I don’t finish a roast or backstrap in one sitting, I will refrigerate cold and then slice the couple days to make lunchmeat or salad toppings. Other times, I may smoke and sear a roast with the main intention of turning the venison into lunchmeat.
Here you will find two recipes to a couple different variations of lunchmeat. Roast Venison is the same concept as roast beef from the deli, but with deer and not cattle. Venison pastrami is often not a kid favorite, but it could be an acquired taste at a young age. For adults, pastrami is a covered cured meat and top tier a charcuterie choice.
GENERAL LUNCHMEAT-MAKING TIPS:
· Use hindquarter roasts such as sirloin tip, top round, or bottom round.
· Season ahead of time and allow to sit in fridge overnight.
· Start with low and slow temps (200 F) when cooking and use a meat thermometer to monitor internal temp.
· Larger roasts like sirloin tip and top round should be pulled at 115 F, while bottom round and backstrap should get pulled at 110 F.
· The reverse sear followed by the rest (which results in carryover raising the internal temp of the roast) will get your venison to the perfect medium-rare (approximately 130 F).
· When slicing, I have found halfway between the 1 and 2 setting on the slicer is great for thinner slices, but you can always go higher for thicker slices: or even perhaps a little lower for a bit thinner.
· Making the perfect sandwich starts with the perfect meat—and we got that—but consider also investing in quality buns or bread, vegetables from a farmer’s market or your own garden, good cheese, perhaps even some creamy horseradish for the adults.
ROAST VENISON:
Ingredients (serves 4-6):
One venison roast, approximately 2-1/2 to 3 pounds, trimmed of silver skin
Favorite savory spice rub
Olive oil
Trim the roast of any silver skin and fascia. Liberally rub roast with savory spice rub. Let sit in the fridge overnight.
When ready to cook, heat oven or smoker to 200 F. Smoke or slow-cook roast, ensuring ample airflow to all sides for 45 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. For large, thick roasts like top round and sirloin tip, you want the internal temp to reach 115 F. For less-thick cuts like bottom round and backstrap, 110 F is the final preferred internal temp.
When the roast reaches preferred internal temp, lightly drizzle all sides with olive oil and sear all sides over a very-shot fire or grill, preferably 600-700 F. Goal is to obtain a hearty crust on all sides. This should take 4-5 minutes for larger roasts, 2-3 minutes total for smaller roasts and backstrap.
Remove and allow to rest uncovered for 15 minutes prior to carving or slicing.
VENISON PASTRAMI:
Ingredients (serves 4-6):
One venison roast, approximately 2-1/2 to 3 pounds, trimmed of silver skin
1.8% of total weight in kosher salt
.25% of total weight in InstaCure (pink curing salt #1)
Rub:
Maple syrup
1-1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoons dry thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Trim the roast of any silver skin and fascia. Weigh roast and convert to grams for purposes of determining required kosher salt and pink curing salt #1. For example, a 2-1/2-pound roast equals 1134 grams, meaning you should include 20.4 grams of kosher salt and 2.8 grams of InstaCure in the initial mix.
Mix appropriate amount of kosher salt and InstaCure together then rub onto all sides of roast. Place roast in a non-reactive bowl (plastic or glass, for example) and cover. Cure for 7-10 days. For smaller roasts, you can cure for as little as 5 days.
When done curing, lightly rinse off roasts under cold water and pat dry. Lightly glaze with maple syrup. Blast rub spices in a spice grinder enough to break down but also leave a bit of texture in the rub. Apply the rub to all sides of the roast.
Smoke roast for 2 hours and 40 minutes at 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Turn up to 225 F, then smoke for 20 minutes. Ideally, you want to pull the roast when the internal temp reads 150 F.
Allow roast to rest for 10 minutes prior to carving and serving.
Any questions or comments, please reach out on Instagram: @WildGameJack