This cured venison loin recipe is one of my all-time favorite ways to prepare wild game for the holidays. If you’re a venison lover, nothing says Christmas like a richly mahogany-colored backstrap on the table.
I’ve been making this for over a decade, and it’s always a crowd favorite. The prep is simple, the ingredients are few, and the final product is incredibly versatile. Think quick-cured duck breast or prosciutto, but made from wild deer meat. The texture is pleasant, the flavor is deep, and it’s ready to eat straight from the fridge.
So if you’ve ever wondered how to cure venison loin or what to do with a whole deer backstrap, this simple method turns it into something worthy of a charcuterie board.
If you’re looking for more ideas to make the ultimate venison charcuterie board, check out my recipes for Red Wine Cured Venison Loin and Smoked Venison Backstrap. Or for even more ideas, browse my full Venison Loin Recipe Collection.
Prep the Loin
Before curing, prep the loin properly to ensure clean flavors and the best texture.
- Portion the meat: A whole venison loin (10-14 oz) works best. You can also use two trimmed 8 oz portions. Avoid smaller pieces they cure too quickly and can over-dry.
- Remove silver skin: Trim off all silver skin, sinew, and fat using a sharp knife. You want nothing but clean muscle fibers.
What Cuts Work Best?
This recipe is built for the venison backstrap (also known as the loin), but a few other tender cuts of venison will work:
- Top round or bottom round: When properly cleaned, these are excellent substitutes and still yield a tender result.
- Avoid: Eye of round and tenderloin. They’re too small and will over-salt during the cure.
Flavor Upgrades
This basic recipe is great as-is, but here are a few ways to elevate it:
- Smoked salt and sugar: Adds incredible depth. Either buy them or make your own by smoking each (separately) in a thin layer at 160-250°F for 4-8 hours. Stir every hour for even smoke.
- Maple sugar: A seasonal swap for white sugar that pairs beautifully with the flavor of deer meat.
- Toasted black pepper: Toast whole peppercorns in a dry skillet, then grind fresh before coating the loin after curing. Adds complexity and a subtle warmth.
- Brush with olive oil: After the loin has been cured and sliced, I like to brush the meat with a good quality olive oil before serving.
Storage and Serving Tips
This is one of those wild game recipes that actually gets better after a day or two. The flavor of the meat matures, and the texture slightly improves.
- After curing, the venison will shrink slightly and firm up. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- To serve, slice thinly across the grain with a sharp knife.
- Perfect for pairing with crackers, good mustard, pickled onions, or cajun pickled quail eggs.
- Freezing: I don’t recommend freezing the cured loin. This will drastically change the texture of the final product.
MORE VENISON RECIPES
Lastly, if you try this cured venison loin recipe, be sure to leave a comment or tag me on Instagram! I thoroughly enjoy hearing feedback and checking out the photos of recipes that
3 DAY CURED VENISON LOIN
Ingredients
- Venison loin (10-14 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt, (smoked salt works excellent)
- 3 cups sugar
- 12 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 8-10 Juniper Berries, (crushed)
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- ground black pepper (as needed after the cure)
Instructions
- Mix the salt and sugar together.
- In a non-reactive dish (Pyrex), lay half of the rosemary, black peppercorns, and juniper berries on the bottom, followed by half of the salt and sugar mixture.
- Lay the venison filet on top of the mixture.
- Lay the remaining rosemary and juniper berries on top of the venison, followed by the rest of the salt and sugar.
- The venison should be fully covered. If not, simply make more of the salt-and-sugar mixture, using a 40:60 salt-to-sugar ratio.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for three days.
- Remove the venison from the mixture and rise under cold water and dry very well.
- Sprinkle the venison with ground black pepper on both sides. For a more robust flavor, dust with a little ground juniper as well. Slice thinly and enjoy. If not eating immediately, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. It will last up to a week in the refrigerator.
NOTES
- Use a whole loin if possible. A 10 to 14 ounce venison loin or backstrap section works best. Small pieces cure too fast and can get overly salty or dry. Top round or bottom round can also work, but eye of round and tenderloin are too small for this method.
- Trim it down clean. Remove all silver skin, sinew, and fat before curing so the finished loin slices taste cleaner.
- Bury the meat completely. The venison should be fully covered in the salt-sugar cure. If it is not, make more using the same 40:60 salt-to-sugar ratio.
- Give it the full 3 days. Cover the dish and refrigerate for 3 days so the loin firms up properly before slicing.
- Rinse and dry it well. After curing, rinse under cold water and dry it very thoroughly before adding black pepper. Any surface moisture will soften the outside.
- Slice it to the texture you want. Slice across the grain with a sharp knife. Cut it about 1/8 inch thick for a more tender bite, or closer to 1/4 inch if you want a little more chew.
- Store it correctly. Wrapped, it keeps in the refrigerator for about 1 week. For a drier texture, leave it uncovered in the fridge for 1 to 2 days before wrapping. Do not freeze it, this will change the texture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
18 thoughts on “3 DAY CURED VENISON LOIN”
Can you freeze this?
I don’t recommend freezing. The texture will change significantly.
How long would it keep in the fidge after the 3 day curing process?… If i tried recipe with both loins, just wondering how quickly it all Needs to be eaten. Thanks.
Wrapped it will last for about a week. But you will gain a little moisture with it being wrapped. So the texture will soften.
If you’d like it to have a drier texture, you can leave it unwrapped for a day or two.
Is the sugar needed? We like to eat low carb as much as possible.
It’s not needed for food safety. But I would probably go with making biltong if I were leaving the sugar out.
In terms of sweetness, the meat isn’t really sweet at all after curing.
Do you think back strap would work ok for this?
Backstrap and top round are prefect for this.
Can you cold smoke this?
A true cold smoke would work.
After the 3 day cure is it edible? Or is the drying period a necessary part of the process for food safety?
It’s edible after the 3 day cure. It will slowly dry stored in the fridge. I like to eat within a week after the 3 day cure.
Can you freeze and then once thawed unwrap for a few days to dry out out in the fridge
I wouldn’t recommend freezing it. It would definitely change the texture.
Made once before and its amazing!!
Will a half day short of the 3 day be ok?
Should be fine. The texture will more than likely be a bit softer.
Im having trouble finding Juniper Berries. Any substitutes or would it work okay with out it?
It’s still great without juniper. Ground sumac is a great substitute, but can be hard to find.
Toasting and grinding black peppercorns adds a great flavor profile.