Dead deer ham - a good way to get ill?

[draylon]

Hi - I've just joined the forum and wanted to say hello, and to ask for some advice.

We've been picking up and eating roadkill roe deer for several years now. One of the big problems with this is freezer space, given the glut of meat we always end up with. We've tried out brine-cured then slow-cooked recipes (basically a modification of Delia's spiced Christmas beef) with some success, but I've often wondered if it would be possible to prepare an air-dried ham type product from one of the hind legs.

Has anyone tried anything like this with venison before? Are there any parasites we ought to be watching out for in particular with wild deer? (Probably a bit late to try and find out as we tend to eat the stuff wobblingly rare in any case).

[aris]

I think Paul Kribs has tried something with Roe Deer.

Oh - and where on earth do you find copious amounts of road kill deer?

[Paul Kribs]

Yep, I have indeed used venison for some ventures, thanks to deerman.. with regard to supplies. You can utilise the haunches for venison Pastrami. It is absoluely delcious cut very thin, and I would summise that it could be used for any part of a deer.
I used Len poli's recipe which can be found here:- http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/index_files/Pastrami.pdf
Try it, it's superb

Regards, Paul Kribs