I've got a couple whole legs in the freezer that need to eaten. This time of year I'm going to want to grill them. I have some thoughts, but I'd love to hear some success stories on how to properly prepare and grill them.

Thanks,
Bob
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My life has two seasons, duck season and carving season

How big? I've only done legs from small deer and they were excellent.

A small Y. Small enough I can get the whole leg on the grill, maybe in a roaster if I bend it.
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My life has two seasons, duck season and carving season

I, personally, would not do a leg of anything without sous vide. Just my take, but it is the only way to get a game leg cooked through without overcooking the outside half. The one venison leg we did with beyond excellent, it was from a young deer. We used a cooler as the sous vide chamber and bagged it in a turkey oven bag (they are really large and fit the whole leg). Sous vide several hours, lots of salt at 125 (will be raw rare) or 130 (rare) and finish on a very hot grill for just long enough to color it up (few minutes).

Inspirational (hopefully) pics...

Final product, tender as can be.



Leg, ready to slice.


Fits in bag.



In bag in cooler.



Cooking.


Torch, rather than grill, but grill would be better.

Thanks Tod! Looks like the way I want it to be done. I'm not in a big hurry so I'll watch some videos on sous vide.
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My life has two seasons, duck season and carving season

I've done whole front shoulders, put a rub on them and smoke till inside temp no more then 140.
Slice and eat...Hot or cold, very simple.

I usually de bone the rears and slice and cook like small steaks. Again, no more then medium.

Tod, that looks great. And I agree about the sous vide. I think you just inspired me to try this with the leg from a Sika hind.

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I never know which is worse: the sorrow when you hit the bird, or the shame when you miss.
http://www.hillmandecoys.com
Mullica Hill NJ

That would be perfect, love the idea with a mini elk. I shot this deer specifically to get a small hind quarter. I'd talked about it for a couple years, but finally got an opportunity to get just the right little one.

For anyone reading along, sous vide in this case is really easy if you have a cooler and an instant read thermometer. We did sous vide for years this way. Fill the cooler with hot tap water and then have a kettle on the stove boiling to bring it up to 125 or 130. Check it every 1/2 hour and bring the temp back up to your goal temp. Sous vide for 5 or 6 or more hours minimum to break down the tough connective tissue between muscle groups.

Now that Tod posted pics and we?re all hungry I will add that I?ve done deer legs in a large slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours, like pot roast and it was very good.

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Carl
Mobile, AL
DHBP Member since 1998

"Life is too short to drink bad beer."
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