Deer prosciutto

I started 2 deer leg prosciuttos last week. One in the fridge and one in the basement with a weight on it pressing it flat. Both will be hung in the basement to dry next week. Going to use lard on the ends. Also did a brain tan on the hide. Still needs lots of work to soften it. Hopefully these will come out as good as the capicolla I made last spring.

Very nice! What recipe did you use for the venison? I have two hams from one of our hogs about a year into the cure. One I did Spanish style, sea salt only. The other is American Country style with brown sugar and red pepper. I found that an old pillow case is just about perfect for hanging a ham.

Be sure to post your results!

Yum!
How long will you cure/age it for?

john giroux wrote:Hopefully these will come out as good as the capicolla I made last spring.

Was it venison, or the traditional beef?
I plan to have a go at beef this autumn, but venison would be fun-
I could relieve my brother, aka 'the mighty hunter', of some of his freezer-full

Very nice. Could you give me a short description of the general method you use?

How much salt is used, do you add salt only once, at what temp and humidity do you dry etc.

Would be very interesting, because I only have experience with our traditional local method of cold smoking all kinds of meat

Salt cure recipe required per kilo of meat:
- 45g salt
– 25g brown sugar
– 3g Prague Powder #2
– 5g crushed juniper berries
– 5g pink peppercorns – crushed
– 15g black pepper
– 10g rosemary

That is the recipe I used from this site http://thebigfatmushroomhunter.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/venison-prosciutto/
They are coming along nicely as far as I can tell.

As for the capicolla I made. I used a pork Picnic or butt, dont remember which from the grocery store. I used the method in "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Michael Ruhlman. Awesome book, if you are on the fence about getting it, I highly recommend it. I have made the capicolla, bressola, fermented summer sausage, and regular sausage. I used the Kitchen Aide mixer attachment. I was a bit temperamental at times, but if you put all the parts in the freezer first and partially freeze the meats it works great.
The capicolla is amazing with some homemade peach jam. Ill update as the project progresses.

Bressaola. I got my words mixed up-that's the beefy one I meant
Now I need to make that, capicola and venison prosciutto!

john giroux wrote: "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing" by Michael Ruhlman. Awesome book, if you are on the fence about getting it, I highly recommend it

Good to know, I've been tossing up buying this one for ages.

The leg from the fridge. Washed in red wine. Wrapped in cheese cloth. And hang in basement.

Ah... sweet success! I have had the second one hanging in the basement uncovered. I brought it out to cover with lard and cheese cloth and couldn't resist trying a bit. Oh such meaty goodness.

You still alive John?

Yup. No digestive issues either.

That is funny.

Looks amazing and delicious. I've always wondered whether you could make a venison cured meat/prosciutto and now I know.
Thanks for the pictures and instructions.

Thomas Ziminski wrote:Looks amazing and delicious.

Just stop there. Please. I'm drinking nettle broth here. What is this meat you speak of.

*Drooolllls*

It's been 7 months since I started this. Just sliced up a chunk....amazing. Favors have mellowed as well as the saltiness. It is a bit on the dry side. But I this that is because it was not humid enough when I stared it. I still have the whole leg that I posted photos of, no signed of things going bad there either.