If you’ve ever looked at a venison roast and thought, this would make a great ham, you’re absolutely right. With a basic wet brine, cure #1 for safety, and a low-and-slow smoke, you can turn lean wild game into a fully cooked, sliceable ham that works just as well for sandwiches as it does for frying.

I used moose but, deer, elk, bison, and even beef all work using the exact same process.

The Cut I Used

For this batch, I used a 1½ pound outside round roast. Outside round is a great choice because it’s lean, fairly uniform in thickness, and cures evenly. As long as your roast is similar in size and shape, you can follow this process without any changes.

The Brine I Used

This is a wet brine that balances salt, sugar, and a little acidity, with warm spice notes that work especially well with wild game. I started with one gallon of water and added granulated sugar, pickling salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, allspice, and black pepper.

I brought everything to a boil just long enough to dissolve the salt and sugars, then removed it from the heat and let it cool completely.

Only after the brine was fully cooled did I stir in two tablespoons of cure #1. Adding cure to hot liquid will degrade it and it won’t properly protect the meat from botulism.

How Long to Brine the Meat

A simple rule of thumb for whole-muscle curing is one day of brining for every quarter inch of thickness, plus two extra days. My roast was right around two inches thick, which worked out to ten days total.

Anything thicker than two inches should be injected. Even though mine was right on the edge, I injected it anyway to make sure the cure was distributed evenly.

The roast stayed fully submerged in the brine, weighed down with a bowl, and refrigerated. I turned it once a day.

If you miss a day, it’s not a problem.

After the Brine

Because the weather was extremely cold at around -25°C (-13°F), I left the roast in the brine for twelve days instead of ten. Extra time in the brine is perfectly fine.

Once the brining time was up, I removed the roast, rinsed it well, and soaked it in clean water for about thirty minutes. After that, I patted it dry with paper towels.

I ran a zip tie through the roast so I could hang it in the smoker.

Forming the Pellicle

Before adding any smoke, the surface of the meat needs to dry slightly. I hung the roast in the smoker at about 120°F with the vents wide open for roughly an hour.

You’re looking for a pellicle. The outside should feel slightly tacky. This step matters. Applying smoke to wet meat will leave you with a bitter, sooty flavor.

Smoking the Ham

Once the pellicle formed, I raised the smoker temperature to 150°F and started my A-MAZE-N pellet smoker. I placed it in the smoker and closed the vents about halfway.

I let it smoke for about three and a half hours, which is plenty for a ham this size.

After the smoke phase, I increased the smoker temperature to 165°F and continued cooking until the internal temperature reached 142°F.

I pulled it at that point and let it rest. During resting, the internal temperature rose to 145°F, which is fully cooked for ham.

Letting the Flavor Set

After cooling, I wrapped the ham tightly in plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator for two days. This allows the smoke flavor to mellow and fully blend into the meat.

Slicing and Storing

You can leave the ham whole, slice it into ham steaks, or partially freeze it and slice it thin for deli-style sandwiches.

I portioned the slices into sandwich-sized packs, vacuum sealed them, and froze them for long-term storage.