Venison Jerky

[MJBaldwin]

Alright guys here is my question about making Venison Jerky. How do you do it. I still have some ground up venison meat from last year and since the time is coming around the corner I was thinking of making up a few more pounds of it at bring it to Deer Camp this year. Last year I tried it two different time. I bought a dehydrator and rotated the racks every hour and flipped the venison over every so often. (I also bought a jerky gun) I used some of the seasoning that I bought from the store just a package but there just was not enough flavor I like spicy or like a cracked pepper kind of jerky. Can anyone help me out with this looking to do it this weekend but want it to turn out right and delicious! Let me know anything from recipes to timing to rotation of it anything will help.

Info would include I just have a dehydrator off of CList and the jerky gun is from FFarm.

Thanks Guys

[Farley]

Old Plantation Pepper jerky seasoning is good if you like the pepper taste, you can get it at most butcher shops. It comes with enough seasoning for 25 lbs so adjust your seasonings\cure accordingly. I use a smoker for most of my jerky but have had good results just hanging it from skewers in the oven (sliced jerky not ground), then setting the oven at the lowest temp and leave the door open a crack. Works best with electric but have done it with a gas stove. In the smoker I rotate from bottom to top once during a 3-4 hour smoke. Never tried a dehydrator, but buddies have made jerky in them with good results.

[reinhard1]

Hi Mountain and Nesco make good pre mixed flavors for jerky with Hi Mountain being the best in my opinion. i also have a jerky gun [ a must have ] and do my jerky in a Nesco dehydrator set at max heat. i have one that has six trays. i dont rotate the trays. at the setting i have the temp gets to about 160 deg. 3 pounds of jerky usualy takes about 5 hours for the degree of doneness i like. i've been doing a lot more ground jerky lately since the beef cuts i use are up in price lately.

one thing i do at the end of the proccess with ground jerky is to pat all the jerky down with paper towels to get the excess fat off. i let it cool then and put in small vacume bags and freeze them. i made 12 pounds [ground beef weight prior to making the jerky] in 3 pound batches in the last week. 3 pounds seems to fill the trays i have. deer camp snacks for everyone. good luck.

[Jim Almquist]

Another vote for High Mountain! Try the pepper blend. I know they have the recipe for sliced and ground on their instructions. I like to use sliced and use my smoker with hickory and charcoal for the first part of the drying to get some smoke flavor in the jerky then finish the drying with charcoal. Awesome flavor!!!

[MJBaldwin]

I cant remeber what brand of dehydrator I actually bought it was only 15 bucks so i just kinda went with it to try out the whole process. But I know that it doesnt have any temperature settings. How can I judge that then? Ill have to try the High Mountain flavor. Is it like a jack links flavor? I guess thats what I keep thinking of when I have jerky the last stuff I made just didnt have enough flavor. Any ideas?

Maybe some detailed instructions would be great.

[reinhard1]

put a meat thermometer on the little hole in the center of the dehydrator on top of the machine. it will give you the temperature you have internaly in the mashine. sounds like you have a small dehydrator because of the cost of 15 bucks but i could be wrong. i dont know how much it will hold. i cant remember what mine cost me but i think it was over 50 bucks years ago. you can also do larger amounts in the oven with the lowest setting, leaving a crack in the door open. i like at least 160 degrees for 4 to 5 hours. put some foil in the bottom rack of the oven to catch some drippings. Jack Links cant compare to Hi Mountain. not even close. follow the instructions on the package and you should be golden. good luck.

[1johntimm]

Just got a Smoke Vault gas smoker and I'm gonna try some smoking some venison for jerky and also try smoking/cooking some backstraps in it. Any suggestions on either?

[gunnr]

I use the high mountain seasoning/cure and then add about 1/4 tspn. of canadian steak seasoning. I didn't think there was enough flavor by itself.

[reinhard1]

here is an excelent thread for anyone who wants information on smoking and smokers and related stuff "HSO's SMOKED, SMOKING @ SMOKERS LIBRARY OF LINKS". it is the first thread on the first page of the cooking and recepie forum. just scroll down and you will find all the information you need on smoking and more. thanks to SHACK for putting this together. look it up and you will be back on that thread many times. good luck.

[reinhard1]

good idea. you can always add to your liking. they do have a variety of choices of flavors. good luck.

[Jim Almquist]

I use the high mountain seasoning/cure and then add about 1/4 tspn. of canadian steak seasoning. I didn't think there was enough flavor by itself.

Like I said I always sliced my meat but I did find that I liked the flavor much better if I let it cure for 2 days before I dried it.

[reinhard1]

i think your right on there Jim. let them flavors and the cure set in. good luck.

[eyeguy 54]

Hi Mountain is so easy even I can make great jerky. :>) Mesquite for a bold taste. I've used a ton of the stuff but mesquite is still my favorite.

[1johntimm]

Update: I purchased the High Mountain Mesquite seasoning and made about 5 lbs of jerky and it turned out good. Thanks for the info everyone!