Try this recipe for a delicious corned venison roast

I love to use wild game to celebrate a holiday meal. Whether it is a turkey for Thanksgiving or a goose on Christmas, I always believe that having something I harvested on the table makes the celebration that much more special.

Most people wouldn’t think about St. Patrick’s Day (Monday, March 17, 2025) as a big food holiday, but I enjoy Irish food almost as much as I enjoy Irish whiskey. And what would St Patrick’s Day be without corned beef?

Several years ago I discovered that the corning process can turn almost any piece of meat into a tender, delicious corned delight. So what is corning and where did it come from?

As it turns out, corned beef didn’t originate in Ireland.  When the Irish came to New York they lived in areas near Jewish butchers who sold salted or brined briskets, which were at the time considered a cheaper, tough cut of meat.

The salt they used to preserve the beef was a cheaper quality of salt with larger crystals about the size of a kernel of corn. Hence the name “corned” beef. No actual corn was ever used!

Over the years, seasonings were added to the corned beef, and then butchers began using brine barrels to store the briskets and age them.

Brisket, being a tougher cut of meat, needed to be cooked for a long time to make it tender, and simmering the meat in water was the easiest method. Adding potatoes and cabbage and maybe a few carrots during the cooking process saved time, and a new tradition was born.

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The first thing I ever corned was an antelope roast. Antelope can be a stronger meat and many people don’t enjoy it. But everyone who tried my corned antelope loved it.

Corning quickly became my go-to for many different cuts of meat that I didn’t know how to use. Over the years I have used coning brine on deer shanks, all kinds of heart and tongues and perhaps my favorite use is on duck and goose gizzards.

No kidding: Corned gizzards are almost indiscernible from corned beef in flavor. If you save all the hearts and gizzards from your game birds and waterfowl and corn them you won’t be disappointed and you will use more of the animals you harvest.

Any cut from any big game animal can become a corned roast. The big roasts from the hind quarter are the best, but neck roast, shanks, hearts and tongues all work as well.  If you ever come across an animal that has a stronger flavor than you like, make a corned roast out of it and it will lose that strong, gameyness that sometimes turns people off.

I have used a corning brine on every big game animal I have hunted, and it is amazing. Bear and antelope were my favorites. I have even corned beaver legs; they turned out amazing.

One of the ingredients used in the corning process is pink salt also known as InstaCure No. 1 or Prague powder. It is a different type of salt that contains sodium nitrite. It is use as a curing agent and preserves meat for longer times. Pink salt does come with some safety warnings. It is dyed pink so that you can tell what it is, as it is not to be used like table salt. It is important to use it as directed and in specific amounts. When used in the curing process it is not harmful, but if you were to use it like table salt it could make you sick.

One of the great things about a corning brine is that you can add or subtract almost anything you’d like from a seasoning and spices stand point. The salts and sugar are really the only things that aren’t interchangeable. If there is a spice or seasoning you don’t like, you can leave it out. If there is one you want to be more pronounced, you can add more. And in the recipe shown here, if you can’t find maple sugar, you can use brown sugar or regular white sugar.

Give a corned venison roast a try this offseason, and have it ready for March 17.

Corned venison

INGREDIENTS

2 quarts of water

1/2 cups kosher salt

½ cup maple sugar

2 teaspoons pink salt (sodium nitrite)

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons allspice berries

1 small cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into pieces

2-4 bay leaves, crumbled

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1 (2-4 pound) venison roast

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot combine the water with the kosher salt, sugar, sodium nitrite, and all the spices. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.

Place the brisket in the brine, weighted with a plate to keep it submerged; cover. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days. The actual time will vary based on the size of the venison roast you are using. A small 2-pound roast might only take two days where as a 10-pound moose roast might take a week.

Remove the brisket from the brine and rinse thoroughly. Place in a pot just large enough to hold it. Cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Simmer gently until the brisket is fork-tender, about 3 hours, adding water if needed to cover the brisket.