The Complete Guide to Salt Curing Your Own Deer Ham at Home

As an avid deer hunter, I’m always looking for new ways to make the most of my harvest And one of my favorite things is being able to cure and preserve my own deer ham at home. Not only does it let me enjoy delicious smoked ham all year long, but it also gives me a real sense of satisfaction knowing I did it myself from start to finish.

In this complete guide, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know to salt cure your own venison ham at home. It may seem intimidating if you’ve never done it before, but with the right steps, it’s actually pretty easy and fun. The end result is well worth the time and effort too – you’ll have an amazing artisanal ham that puts store-bought to shame!

Why Cure Your Own Deer Ham?

There are a few great reasons to try your hand at curing deer ham at home:

• Customize the flavor – When you cure the ham yourself, you can control exactly what herbs, spices, and flavors go into it This lets you customize it to your taste

• No nasty additives – Commercial hams often contain preservatives, artificial ingredients and other additives you don’t want. Curing it yourself means nothing but pure natural flavor.

• Save money – Curing your own ham costs just a fraction of what you’d pay for an artisanal cured ham at the store. You get gourmet quality at a grocery store price tag.

• Enjoyment – For us hunters, few things beat the pride and enjoyment of cooking up your own harvest from field to table.

So if you love venison, want to get more out of your deer, and enjoy hands-on food projects, salt curing a ham is extremely rewarding.

How to Salt Cure a Deer Ham

Curing a deer ham is a simple process that only requires a few basic supplies. Here’s a step-by-step overview:

Step 1: Choose and Prepare the Ham

• Select a good rear leg for curing – the bigger the better. Aim for at least 10 pounds.

• Remove the hide, head, trotter, and shank so just the ham remains.

• Clean the ham thoroughly, trimming away any hair, dirt or debris. Pat dry.

Step 2: Mix the Cure

• In a bowl or container, mix together:

  • 1 cup salt
  • 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of cure #1 (pink salt)
  • Any other seasoning like pepper, garlic, juniper berries, etc.

• The precise measurements don’t have to be perfect, but the salt to sugar ratio should be around 2:1.

• Cure #1 provides necessary nitrites for preserving and color. Use exact recommended amounts.

Step 3: Pack the Ham

• Place the ham in a container big enough to hold it like a large plastic bin.

• Pack the cure mixture all around the ham, covering every inch.

• Place a lid or plate on top and weight it down to keep the ham fully submerged.

Step 4: Cure the Ham

• Store ham in the cure mix in the fridge or a cool place for 7-10 days per inch of thickness.

• Flip and redistribute cure every few days to evenly penetrate.

• After curing time is up, thoroughly rinse and pat ham dry. It’s now cured!

Step 5: (Optional) Smoke the Ham

For extra flavor, you can cold smoke the cured ham before enjoying.

• Smoke at temps under 80°F for up to 48 hours.

• Use lighter smoke woods like apple, pecan, alder.

• Slice and pan fry for amazing smoked ham!

And that’s really all there is to it. With just a few basic supplies and a week or two of curing time, you can make your own artisanal venison ham at home for a fraction of the store cost. Let’s get into the nitty gritty details.

The Supplies You’ll Need

Curing a deer ham at home takes just a few simple supplies:

• Rear leg – A whole, intact rear leg works best. Go for at least 10 pounds.

• Container – A large plastic bin, bucket, or other vessel big enough to submerge ham.

• Cure ingredients – Salt, brown sugar, cure #1, and any other seasonings.

• Weights – To keep ham fully submerged in cure mix. A lid or plate works well.

• Butcher paper – To wrap cured ham for smoking (optional).

• Smoker – A charcoal or electric smoker if cold smoking (optional).

And that’s it! You likely have most of these already or they are easily found online or at sporting goods and hardware stores. Now let’s look at the process step-by-step.

Step 1: Choose and Prepare the Ham

Choosing the right ham and preparing it properly is key to getting a great end result:

Pick the Ham

• For the best flavor and texture, choose a large rear leg preferably over 10 pounds. The big muscle groups in the rear legs cure best.

• Pass on the front shoulders. They have more connective tissue and don’t cure as evenly.

• Make sure the deer is healthy. Older deer with thicker bones and fat cure better than young bucks.

Remove the Skin, Bones, and Excess Tissue

• Once you’ve skinned the deer, remove the hide, head, trotter, knee joint, and tibia bone from the ham, leaving the main muscle intact.

• Clean away any remaining hair, dirt, debris, or blood spots from the ham.

• Trim off any dried out meat or excessive silverskin.

Pat Dry

Before curing, it’s important to thoroughly pat dry the ham. Excess moisture can prevent the cure from penetrating evenly.

With the ham prepped, it’s ready for the cure!

Step 2: Mix the Curing Ingredients

The cure mixture provides salt, sugar, nitrites, and flavor. Getting the right ratios is important:

Salt

Salt serves a few purposes in curing ham:

• Draws out moisture to dry and preserve the meat
• Imparts flavor and texture
• Helps cure penetrate deeply

Use plain salt like kosher or pickling salt. Add 1 cup per ham.

Sugar

Sugar balances the harshness of salt and gives the ham a nice sweetness.

• Use plain brown sugar.
• Add 1⁄2 cup per ham.

Cure #1

Cure #1, AKA pink salt, provides nitrates/nitrites which:

• Give the ham its characteristic color
• Prevent deadly botulism bacteria
• Enhance flavor

The specific pink color comes from sodium nitrite.

Exactly follow the recommended usage amounts – for most hams, around 2 tablespoons.

Other Flavorings

Finally, feel free to add any other seasonings you like:

• Pepper
• Garlic
• Juniper berries
• Bay leaves
• Etc.

Get creative with ingredients like wine, maple syrup, crushed pepper flakes, or mustard seed.

Mixing it Up

• Combine the ingredients in a bowl or plastic bag.
• No exact measurements needed – just eyeball the amounts.
• Mix thoroughly so cure is evenly distributed.

And with your curing mixture ready, it’s time to pack the ham!

Step 3: Packing the Ham in the Cure

With the ham prepped and cure mixed, now it’s time to submerge the ham in the cure:

Container

Choose a non-reactive plastic or glass container big enough to fit the ham and cure mix. For a 10-15 pound ham, a large plastic storage bin works great.

Packing

Place the ham in the container. Pour the cure mixture all around the ham, coating every inch.

Really massage and rub the cure mix into the meat. No spots should be missed.

Weighting

Once fully coated in cure, place a lid, plate, or other weight on top to keep the ham pressed down into the cure. This ensures maximum contact and even curing.

If needed, you can also pour water in a ziplock bag and place it on the ham as a weight.

Now that the ham is fully submerged in cure mix, it’s ready for the curing process to begin.

Step 4: Curing the Ham

With the ham packed in cure, now it just needs time for the magic to happen:

Temperature

Store the cure bin in the fridge or another cold place around 40°F. Colder temperatures are ideal.

You don’t want the temperature to ever exceed 45°F if possible. Warmer temperatures allow bacteria to grow.

Curing Time

• For the ideal cure, allow at least 7-10 days per inch thickness of the ham at 40°F.
• For example, a 4″ thick ham would need 28-40 days in the cure.
• For hams under 10 pounds, 2 weeks total time is usually sufficient.
• Longer cure times are okay if needed – it just continues developing flavor.

Flipping

Every 5 days or so, flip the ham in the cure mix and redistribute the rub to promote even curing.

End of Cure

Once the allotted cure time is complete, remove the ham, rinse off the excess cure, and pat dry.

The ham is now cured and ready to cook, slice and eat!

Step 5: (Optional) Smoking the Ham

For even more intense flavor, you can cold smoke your cured ham before eating it.

Cold Smoking

Cold smoking exposes the ham to smoke flavor without actually cooking it.

• Keep temperatures below 80°F, ideally around 70°F.
• If it gets hotter, the fat can start to render and meat cook.

Smoke for anywhere from 6 hours up to 2 days.

Woods

Use lighter smoke woods like apple, pecan, alder. Stay away from heavy mesquite smoke.

Slicing

After smoking, the ham is ready to be sliced and pan fried for a true gourmet smoked ham!

So with just a few basic steps and a couple weeks of patience, you can cure delicious world-class venison ham at home for a fraction of the store cost.

While it may seem intimidating at first, salt curing truly is an easy, fun and rewarding DIY project for us deer hunters. There’s nothing better than serving up slices of your own homemade backstraps or tenderloin. But for me at least, the pride I get from biting into a juicy, smoky slice of deer ham I cured myself is just as satisfying.