Simple Smoke: Venison Leg Roast

Here’s a confession: I am a heavy smoker. My backyard features two pellet smokers and a Texas pit-style stick burner, in addition to a couple of gas grills and a charcoal grill. Often, when we serve guests game it involves smoke.

There is a certain simplicity to smoked whole muscle game. In this case, the roast featured is the bottom round, cut from a hind leg of recently harvested whitetail. If you butcher your own deer, you will note that the hind leg separates easily into three large muscle groups. The smallest of these muscles is the bottom round, a piece of meat that features all the meat in one grain. This single roast might be my favorite for the smoker. It makes carving the roast cross-grain easy.

Note the amount of fat left on this roast as indicated in the accompanying photo. Many of my fellow hunters recommend removing every spec of fat from cuts of venison, but I disagree. A bit of fat left on the leg roast allows that fat to melt and naturally bastes the meat while the roast cooks.

This recipe for smoked leg is very simple: season well, drizzle with oil, let rest in the fridge overnight, then smoke to your preferred temperature target, slice and serve.

Simple and simply delicious.

Tools and equipment

Pellet Smoker

Container to hold roast while marinating

Refrigerator

Carving knife

Cutting board

Instant read thermometer

Ingredients

Hunt Chef Canadian Carnivore Seasoning (or your favorite seasoning)

3-5 pound venison leg roast

Olive oil

Method

Thaw venison leg roast in the fridge.

When fully thawed, rinse in cool water, dry with paper towels and season liberally with Hunt Chef Canadian Carnivore Seasoning

Drizzle with olive oil, rub oil into the roast surface and store in the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove the roast from the fridge while the smoker comes up to temperature. (I set my CampChef Woodwind pellet smoker at 225F and level #10 smoke.)

Smoke to the desired internal temperature. (I use the CampChef temperature probe inserted into the thickest part of the roast to monitor cooking progress.)

When the roast hits 10 degrees F below your target remove the roast and let rest. (If your target is medium pull the roast at 135F and the temperature will rise to 145F while resting.)

Slice the roast after resting covered for 10 minutes.

Serve over your favorite side. I chose risotto made to the packet’s instructions, but mashed potato, polenta or pasta would make fine alternates.

A Bluetooth-controlled pellet smoker like the CampChef Woodwind is an excellent smoker. Slip one of the four probes into the center of the roast to keep tabs on the progress of the temperature. I pulled this roast at 135F for a final temp of 145F. The roast was perfect, and our guests were happy.

Being a heavy (meat) smoker is not such a bad thing.