Bresaola di cervo or venison deer bresaola is one of the cured meat cold cut or charcuterie. Bresaola, sometimes called brisaola is air-dried, salted and spiced beef or venison deer that has been aged for several months until it becomes hard and turns a dark red. Bresaola usually made from lean and tender meat like eye round or tenderloin.Properly trimming process is essential to the rich taste. The meat of beef are thoroughly defatted and seasoned with a dry rub of coarse salt, spices, and herbs. They are then left to cure for a few days. A drying period of between one and three months follows, depending on the weight of the particular bresaola. The meat loses about 30-40% of its original weight during aging.
Eversince i’ve made my Homemade Duck Prosciutto (Air Dry-Cured Duck Breast), i’m obsessed with making homemade cured meat or charcuterie. Homemade version of venison bresaola is away cheaper than the gourmet deli store price tag. Making venison deer bresaola is actualy effordless since you let the time doing it’s drying and aging process. Beside, you can control all ingredients and adjust the taste according to your own personal licking. For example, i add szechuan peppercorn to my homemade venison bresaola to satisfied my asian descent taste buds and you won’t get any of it in the store.
Venison bresaola is popular among the hunters because it was ancient old meat preserving method. Properly dry cured method of bresaola can save the good amount of hunting harvest. Than they can enjoyed it for a long day since it can last for months or even years. Some would love to inocculate a good white mould in the exposed meat to make it last longer. To mantain the red meat color and prevent spoiling and poisoning from botulist, bresaola cured with nitrites like salt peter or potassium nitrid. The nitride oxide binded and reacted with the remaining myoglobin in the flesh and make a red pigmentation. This process get even better when the water is drained out from the flesh, but since i was using a junvenile deer for making this bresaola, the meat color is not as red as the matured ones.
To make venison bresaola, you must have the tenderloin or the round eye meat of it. Make sure you deboned the loin from the ribs properly and cleaned it from any silver skin or it won’t be well cured. The tenderloin then cleaned, salted and cured with good seasoning for about 2-3 days, depend on your venison loin size. During this time the venison loin is gently pressed to drain all the blood that remains in the meat. After the curing process, the cured venison loin is carefully washed in running water, patted dry and hung in a dark, good-ventilated environment. The humidity and temperature of the inviroment is the key success of making a good quality of venison bresaola. The best enviroment for making cured meat is cold climate with low humidity. The cured venison loin is then left until dry and loosen 30 percent of it’s weight. When you lived in a tropical country with high temperature and humidity, don’t worry about it, as long as you can set your refrigerator in “dry mode” you can made your own dry cured meat or bresaola.
The spices and herbs used differ according to the traditions and your personal preferences. For making my homemade venison loin i’m using a combinations of nutmeg, szechuan pepercorn, fennel seed, cumin, cardamon, sage, tarragon, juniper berries, black pepper, bay leaf, cloves, thyme, oregano, and rosemary. For the salt, i’m using homemade wood smoked salt and also salt peter (sendawa). All of the rub then processed in a food processor until form a fine powder to made it penetrate better to the meat.
How to enjoy venison bresaola is up to your preference, bresaola usually sliced into paper thin and served at room temperature or slightly cold. It is most commonly eaten on its own, but may be drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. I love to serve venison breaola as a salad or as an appetizer on a top of toasted whole wheat bread with blue cheese, pesto or spicy salsa dressing. Another variation is serving venison bresaola as a pasta or pizza topping. If you ask me about how does venison bressola taste like, i guess it almost the same with beef bresaola, but got a gamey deer flavour within. Venison bresaola is got more iron-like taste with metal aftertaste, just like you eat your anemia supplement.
Homemade Venison Bresaola Recipe:
Ingredient:
- 1 1/2 pounds venison deer tenderloin (replace with beef)
- 20 gr (about 2-3 percent from the meat) wood smoked seasalt
- 1/4 tsp of salt peter/ pottasium nitride (you can either use pink salt)
- 30 gr brown sugar (you can replace with regular sugar)
- spice : nutmeg, szechuan pepercorn, fennel seed, cumin, cardamon, juniper berries, black pepper, and cloves
- herbs : sage, tarragon, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, and rosemary
Instruction:
- Trim any siverskin and fat from the venison deer tenderloin, note the weigh it for counting the salt weigth
- Process all salt, sugar, spice and herbs in the food processor until form fine powder, set aside
- Rub the venison loin with half amount of the rubs, make sure all surface are throughly coated
- Put the spiced venison loin in the non reactive airthight container (or using zip lock bag), let it refrigerate in 7-10 days until very firm, flip it every 12 hours
- In the following next day, discard the liquid that dripped off from the meat, rub the meat with remaining rubs
- Put it back in the fridge, flip the meat every 12 hours for following next 1-2 days depend on your venison loin size until it stiff and hard
- Wash gently your cured venison loin in running water, pat dry it well
- Wrap it in a cheese cloth and secure the end, note the date and the weight of your salted and cured venison loin (count and note your 30 percent weight lose of your venison bresaola)
- Hung the venison bresaola in your refrigerator, set it in “dry mode”
- Watch and weight your venison bresaola until it got ideal 30 percent of weight lose target
- Voila, your venison loin bresaola is done!
- Thinly slice your venison bresaola and enjoy it!
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Oh my! You’re unbelievable! You cook like professional chef, so amazing.
It is so nice to read someone else who has the charcuterie bug 🙂 This cured venison looks so wonderful I’ll have to give it a try for sure. Love how your posts jump from traditional fish dishes to meat 😀
My Sicilian grandparents would be proud. This is such an amazing technique to have under your belt. Impressed as usual!
Bowing to dentist chef! Never cured meat before, I have only smoked some fish 😉
I love charcuterie (with wine)–it would be fantastic if I could make my own! You create amazing things 😀
Wow, this is so impressive! That is amazing that you cure your own meat too – it looks fantastic 🙂
Looks great Dedy!
Very impressive!
This looks wonderful. How you make me wish I still knew hunters like I once did. Deer season is just staring back home in Michigan.
Wow, it’s amazing this is homemade! Way to go!
You sure are very adventurous in the kitchen, good for you.
Wow, that’s a very cool recipe.
I love all kind of Bresaola, but I’ve never tried to prepare it at home.
I’ve always wanted to dry and cure meat but just haven’t taken the time to actually do it! Thank you for providing a great tutorial. Great recipe. Looks fantastic.
You really do make some interesting dishes! I’ve had bresaola before, but never with venison. And I haven’t made it. Fun post – thanks.
Wow you made this? So impressive, must have been delicious!
The dishes you make are truly unique and interesting. Thanks so much for sharing!
I’d love to do this myself one day! You make it look so straightforward! 😀
The images of the vension are so cozy and inviting. I would love to try this recipe!!
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I have never eaten bresaola but this looks amazing!!!
I’ve never attempted to make charcuterie, but I think it’s so interesting. Love the added szechuan peppercorns!
Oh…How gorgeous! I love cured meat and this sounds super fun to do a homemade version. I better clear my fridge to create some space for this delicacy in the making. 😉
This looks fantastic. I wish it would catch on here in WIsconsin where deer hunting season is almost at its peak!
I am simply in awe! You are amazing! Curing meat at home has never even crossed my mind. It seems so complex and complicated… Your idea to add Sechuan pepper sounds excellent. I wish I could invite myself for a snack 😉
I am totally impressed with this recipe, the way you described each and every step and the pictures you have taken – I have never had a chance to dry-cure anything yet but your wonderful blog post sure is encouraging – maybe I should try my hands at this after all! Respect, dear friend, respect!
Your Vension Bresaola slices look PERFECT and truly impressive. Several years ago in Salzburg we ate some and it looked just like yours. You are very talented dear Dedy:)
Cheers,
J+C
this looks absolutely fantastic!
All these meats sound so complimentary together my friend 😀
Beautiful photos!
Cheers
CCU
P.S Unfortunately, I have lost around 1000 subscribers on my blog, and I have no idea how, so if you were subscribed, would you be able to resubscribe? Thank you!
My husband is a big venison fan but he eats it at a nice restaurant as I don’t cook. I just show this to him and he’s so interested to try himself! I may be able to eat this. 😀 You’re amazing cook!!!
Both, beef and venison are something we don’t eat yet I love how the meat was rolled with the ingredients for the delicious outcome. I am looking at using lamb for this recipe which I am sure should not be an issue.
This is really wonderful! I have never thought to make homemade bresaola. Not sure I can get the deer tenderloin, but I sure can get beef! How fun to try this! Thanks! ~ David
THESE LOOK INSANELY DELICIOUS!!!
I am really impressed with all of your posts, you continuously post excellent food over and over again.
Gosh, you’re so talented! Can’t believe you’re doing this at home.
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