Bone-in Venison Shoulder Roast

Step 1

Dust entire roast with salt and fresh cracked pepper and let them sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Step 2

Melt cooking fat of choice in a pan over medium high heat (lower if using butter so it doesn't burn) and sear all sides of the roasts.  Set aside.

Step 3

Turn your crockpot to low setting and pour in the stock.

Step 4

Slice the onion and mince the garlic cloves.

Step 5

Sauté the onion in the same pan you seared the roasts in until they start to brown, then add the garlic and sauté another 2 minutes.  Pour all these into the crockpot and then use a small amount of cooking fat if necessary to help deglaze the pan and get any brown bits into the crockpot.

Step 6

Add the roasts to the crockpot followed by the sage and thyme.

Step 7

Cover the crockpot and forget about it for 5-6 hours until the roast is falling off the bone.

Step 8

Once the meat is as tender as it can get, take the roasts out and set aside.  Try to keep them as together as you can when removing them.  You want to shred up the meat nicely and then add it back in with the vegetables.

Step 9

While they're cooling off a bit so you don't burn your hands trying to shred the meat, this is a great time to cut up your celery, carrots, and sweet potatoes.  Cut them to your desired thickness but just keep in mind the obvious that the thicker you make your sweet potatoes, the longer it takes to cook.  If you're impatient and hungry, like I was, this is a good time to turn your crockpot to high so it cooks them faster while you're shredding meat.

Step 10

Add the celery, carrots, and sweet potatoes back into the pot and work on shredding the meat.  It should come off the bone so cleanly that the bone should look like it's been in the woods for years.

Step 11

Return the meat to the crockpot and keep checking for your desired doneness of the vegetables and sweet potatoes.  It shouldn't take more than 30-45 minutes depending on how thick you cut them and how soft you want them to be.  Once they are done to your liking, add the spinach and stir it well to get all of it down into the liquid.  From here, it needs 5-10 minutes and then you're ready to eat.

Step 12

Put a little salt on your portion and enjoy.