Smoked whitetail shanks... Good Lord, so good...

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

It's been a year or so since I smoked any whitetail shanks, and I don't know what took so long. They are by far the best tasting piece of meat on a deer. Prep is super simple, and you don't have to get overly concerned with the silver skin. Remove the outer most membrane on the shank itself, and the rest will mostly render off while its smoking. If you get too crazy with silver skin on individual muscle groups the shank will fall apart.

Rub the shanks down with your favorite pulled pork, ribs, or brisket seasoning, and let the dry rub marinate and work its magic overnight. Smoke at "hi-smoke" or 225 degrees until your probe reads 160 (stay off the bone) and then wrap in foil. When the shanks hit 190 they're done and let them rest for 30 minutes, an hour if you can stand it. When you unwrap the foil, the individual muscles can be pulled off the bone, just like a pork shank, and they are absolutely melt in your mouth delicious.

Enjoy!

 

[PNWGATOR]

Sounds delicious!

 

[Marshfly]

Wow. I was planning to not fill by Deer B tag this year. Now I have to.


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[Macintosh]

Sounds great! I like shanks too, but I just leave bone-in and braise like an osso bucco or dishes like that. Makes great barbacoa too. Never tried smoking them, will have to try that!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Sounds great! I like shanks too, but I just leave bone-in and braise like an osso bucco or dishes like that. Makes great barbacoa too. Never tried smoking them, will have to try that!

They're just delicious. You get more meat off the back legs obviously, but the front legs are worth it as well. If you like the tender, melty, savory, sorta gelatinous parts of a good chuck roast, you will love it. The back leg bones are large enough to hold a decent amount of marrow too if a guy wants to crack them open. I'm sure its incredible with the smoke.

Hold them vertically from the "hoof" end of the bone, and take a fork and peel the muslces towards the "knee" end. They should pull down clean as a group off the bone and be very tender.

 

[sbaker0029]

So no brine or marinade, just straight dry rub and low smoke?
Going to have to give this a try

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

So no brine or marinade, just straight dry rub and low smoke?
Going to have to give this a try

You got it!

 

[tx_shooter]

Just the post I was looking for as I am filling tags. The smoker is going to get a work out soon.

 

[richardegood17]

Gonna have to give this a shot! Only thing I think I haven’t smoked

 

[Aaron-in-CO]

@jjohnsonElknewbie About how long do you usually have them in the smoker?

 

[Spike elk]

I love them in a crock pot. Going to have to try smoking them now!

 

[LCsmith]

I've smoked them followed up by the pressure cooker to make them fall of the bone for a venison ramen recipe that is amazing.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

@jjohnsonElknewbie About how long do you usually have them in the smoker?

I had them in with a pork butt, and those usually take 12 hours. I think the 2 shanks were roughly half that time. Depending on how done guys like them, you could take them off before they hit 190 too. If your temp probe goes in without resistance, they're done.

I have a Camp Chef Smoke Pro pellet smoker, and on my analog unit, I just set it to "hi-smoke". This is around 225 degrees. I use the Lumber Jack Competition Blend pellets from Bomgaars.

 

[atmat]

And they’re not totally dried out? Do you add anything when you wrap in foil (butter, tallow, etc.)?

I typically braise my shanks and serve with some kind of reduction.

I’ll try it this year (assuming I fill my tag) and report back!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

And they’re not totally dried out? Do you add anything when you wrap in foil (butter, tallow, etc.)?

I typically braise my shanks and serve with some kind of reduction.

I’ll try it this year (assuming I fill my tag) and report back!

No. Not dried out at all. There are some veins of fat that run between the muscle groups that keep things moist and tender. I don't add anything when I put them in foil, and when I took them off, there were actually juices coming out of the probe holes. However, I've never turned my back on butter, and that may be an enhancement worth trying.

 

[atmat]

No. Not dried out at all. There are some veins of fat that run between the muscle groups that keep things moist and tender. I don't add anything when I put them in foil, and when I took them off, there were actually juices coming out of the probe holes. However, I've never turned my back on butter, and that may be an enhancement worth trying.

Tallow makes a lot of things delicious!

 

[sierracharlie338]

Say man! How are you gonna post something that sounds this good without pictures. That should be illegal.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Say man! How are you gonna post something that sounds this good without pictures. That should be illegal.
View attachment 627472

LOL!!! My bad, and I thought about that after I'd eaten them.

Hopefully fill a bow tag soon and have another opportunity in the near future.

 

[ozyclint]

AVB smoked a deer shank not long ago.

(MHG- Well you said you were running out of material........... )

 

[alex.mattevi]

The shank is such an underrated piece, I usually braise mine and slow cook.. so tender

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