I posted pics of this a while back and a few folks wanted the recipe so here ya go. It's super simple but I haven't figured out how to post pictures within the thread so I'll try to keep them in order down below. This is the rub recipe I've been using lately: 2 tbsp salt 2 tbsp course ground pepper 3 tbsp paprika 3 tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp granulated garlic 1 tbsp onion powder 1 tbsp crushed parsley flakes 1 teaspoon five spice powder 1 teaspoon celery seed 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you like spicy change to 1teaspoon powdered red pepper) 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of hickory smoke salt There are many good rubs on the market and I'm sure most will do just fine. I believe that how good/tender your steak will be starts right after you take your deer. We process our deer as quickly as possible then store the trimmed/cleaned meat just above freezing for a few days. I usually cut my ham steaks between 1" & 2" thick and about the shape of a NY strip(when possible). We then vacuum seal & freeze. When I'm ready to cook one I pull it out of the freezer and let it thaw for a day or so in the fridge. Once thawed I dry rub the meat liberally and I also dice a little vidalia onion and fresh garlic and mix that in with the rub. Once that is done I put it in the fridge to set, either wrapped or in tupperware(overnight usually). I cook the meat uncovered over direct heat(charcoal & a few slivers of hickory) on the grill. Depending on the thickness I try to cook em to medium, and usually just eyeball them or feel them with the tongs. That's generally about 3 or 4 minutes per side(1"). When using a meat thermometer you want about 135-140ish degrees internal temperature which is about med rare to medium. NOTE: The big one I cooked tonight was closer to 2" and it took much longer, about 9-10 minutes per side, mainly because I couldn't keep it over the hottest part of the grill. I didn't want to char the outside and have a raw inside so I had to cook it on the outskirts only putting it over the hot spot for a minute or two at a time. I cooked it with some regular 1" steaks for comparison and when they were done the deer was still rare. Took a bit longer but it turned out very good and the vultures were circling almost immediately, Bon Appétit
Hey, I dont know much about cuts of meat, but Ham is specific to Pork isn't it? It seems like youre cooking venison here. Also, is it safe to cook wild meat just to medium? I always thought that meat caught in the wild should be cooked to well done to kill any bacteria.
I cook my venison steaks and loins to Med-rare, Med at most. Over cook venison steaks and they can get chewy and not have near as good taste IMO. That rub sounds pretty dang good, gotta give it a try.
I'm not sure what bacteria there would be, I basically treat venison like I would a good steak but I'm sure most just cook it to whatever temp suits them, my dad for example wants everything "really well done". I'll never understand it but whatever works for ya. A deer "ham" is essentially the rump and back legs.
Whatever bacteria that is hasn't killed me yet and I've been eating deer for a long time. Anything beyond medium-well is just plain burned. I prefer medium.
IMO cooking any wild game past med-med rare is a total waste of the best meat on the planet. I promise any thing you hear about bacteria is false. I prefer my game rare and just barely seared. Even my fowl is cooked this way! YUMMY lookin steaks BTW
