JOINT OF VENISON

Here we’re putting all our roasts, rounds, and silversides under one common heading: joints. Sometimes you find shoulder, attractively tied, ready to be cooked whole in the oven and carved into beautiful pink slices. If you’ve bought the meat frozen and have plenty of time, you can slow-cook it from frozen, Norwegian style.

Keep in mind

This cut is lean. It’s important to retain the juices by not overcooking it. Use a thermometer! Cooking a whole joint rather than slicing it first is a good way of stopping it from drying out unnecessarily.

All cuts known as joints can be a bit bigger if they come from a red deer compared with cuts from the smaller fallow deer.

Cooking a joint of venison

Bring the joint out to warm to room temperature and salt it (or cure it with 60% sugar and 40% salt) for about 1 1/2 hours before cooking. Brown the joint on all sides in oil for heat and butter for flavor. Cook in the oven at 125°C. Use a thermometer and aim for 55-60°C because the temperature will rise a few more degrees as the meat rests. Enjoy immediately.

Or try it in a different order:

The award-winning game chef KC Wallberg in Stockholm roasts his meat in a roasting bag and doesn’t brown it until it’s finished cooking in the oven. That way you bring the aroma of freshly roasted meat, known as the Maillard effect, right to the table. Chuck a sprig of thyme into the pan.  

The basics when cooking a game joint:

• Leave it out to reach room temperature.
• Salt the meat at least an hour in advance.
• Brown the surface in a mixture of oil and butter.
• Finish cooking in the oven at 125°C.
• Use a thermometer and aim for 55-60°C.
• Leave to rest for approximately 15 minutes – but eat immediately.
• Carve across the fibers.

If you like your joint rarer: Take it out of the oven when the temperature reaches 48°C.

If you like it more on the pink side: Take it out of the oven when the temperature reaches 52°C.

Slow-cooking from frozen:

• Preheat the oven to 80°C.
• Place a deep-frozen joint in a roasting dish at the bottom of the oven.
• Roast – it usually takes about at least 12 hours – to an internal temperature of about 65°C.
• Place in a cold, spiced salt solution for about 5 hours.
• Wipe dry and serve in thin slices, cut across the fibers.

You’ll find more ideas for cooking game under cooking game.

The classic

Thin, tender slices of slow-cooked venison with a potato gratin.