Deer Jerky?

[mrklean]

How many of you guys make your own jerky, I plan on canning a bunch of my venison and was thinking about making jerky, anyone willing to share there recipe or tips for a first timer?

[eyeguy 54]

grind it, hi mountain jerky cure, LEM jerky gun and a good dehydrator. easy, fun and tasty.

[DonBo]

I prefer the whole meat to ground, but Hi Mtn mix is the way to go. Have a batch in the dehydrator right now. 😊

[Alagnak]

I also like whole muscle over ground and freeze all the roasts whole just for a batch of jerky in the deyhrador every few weeks. It's hard to beat the consistency, cost, and convenience of pre made brine mixes. I just add a little of what I like. Usually use half soy in place of water, little liquid smoke, and I crack coarse pepper and/or red pepper on the meat after its first put on the racks. Although you can live without one, an electric slicer really steps up consistency of when they are done. Also, an electric timer is nice to set the time and go to bed. Turn it back on in the morning if a few pcs need another hour.

[Jim Almquist]

High Mountain Pepper blend. Cut into slices and let it cure for 2 days. Put in smoker for about 2 hours turning them and changing racks at 1 hour. Hickory / Charcoal blend for heat and smoke. You will never touch Jack link again.

[eyeguy 54]

yepper, non ground is great also. if you dont mind all that slicing. both are mmmm mmm gooood.

[Jim Almquist]

Slice while semi frozen and it will slice up great.

[eyeguy 54]

My favorite hi mountain is the mesquite with a little added pepper. but love the hickory also. a little mellower for those who prefer mellower. Original and pepper are great too. Just cant go wrong.

[eyeguy 54]

anybody try the hunters blend?? must be a new one. looks good.

[MattL]

I haven't experimented with my own recipes, but I have used the premixed hi mountain and Lem seasonings. Both are pretty tasty. I started using a hand crank slicer this year and it really saves time and makes more consistent slices.

I just smoked 20 lbs of deer jerky last weekend. I used LEM seasonings in hickory, mesquite, original, and hot. They are all pretty good.

I like a real deep smokey flavor so I have wood smoking at least 3/4 of the time if not the whole time.

[eyeguy 54]

yepper, that wood be smokey

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

My Wife makes Deer Jerky & lets it dry in the window in the Sun.

Then puts it in a low temp oven and it's ready to eat!!

[MJ1657]

High Mountain Pepper blend. Cut into slices and let it cure for 2 days. Put in smoker for about 2 hours turning them and changing racks at 1 hour. Hickory / Charcoal blend for heat and smoke. You will never touch Jack link again.

I'm a real dummy with butchering and food prep. What part of the deer should I make jerky from?

When you say cure for 2 days what do you mean? What kind of temp for the smoker.

Thanks

[MJ1657]

Where can I get High Mountain products?

[eyeguy 54]

with whole meat cure 24 hours, with ground cure 4 hours is good.. more for each does not hurt anything. Hi mountain is at a lot of grocery stores or online. Cut from anyplace you have bigger chunks. most of the whole meat jerky I have done I do from the rear quarters. there are spots from the front if a nice sized critter. But I cut everything I can into steaks most of the time. So that is why i use ground most of the time. I trim almost all of the crud so my burger is nice and red. not sure on the smoker temp but the old smoker I did it in years ago was 160. I prefer the dehydrator.

[highlife4me]

Cabelas, Scheels, Gander Mtn as well as many grocery stores.

[MJ1657]

How do you cure meat? Let it sit out or do you put it in the fridge?

[eyeguy 54]

the cure comes with the hi mountain mix (and others) and explains how much to add. always cure in the fridge. just pop on here when you get some and are ready to have at it if questions come up. when doing whole meat I lay the met out and sprinkle the dry mix all over, flip and do again till all used up. Then I mix by hand in a big bowl and then I layer it all in a square tupperware container and in the fridge for 24 hours before the dehydrator. With ground you will add about 1/4 cup cold water per pound to the spice and cure mix. Pour that over the meat and mix by hand till really mixed good. Then in the fridge for at least 4 hours. I usually do it overnight and run the jerkys out through the shooter in the morning. I would say try just a pound or 2 your first batch. I have 9 trays for my machine so 4 pounds is my limit.

[MJ1657]

Thanks eyeguy. I'm going to try some with sliced meat in my smoker.

Heating up hot dogs Max's out my abilities. I'll hollar at you guys when I give this a shot.

[Jim Almquist]

Just follow the directions on the package of High Mountain. The reason I like 48 hours is the pepper blend tends to flavor it a little more with the additional time. I like a Pyrex glass baking pan to season and store in the frig.

[BobT]

I prefer whole meat over ground. Jerky by the very nature of it's name should be somewhat tough. Use choice cuts of meat and cut diagonally across the grain in 1/4 - 3/8 inch thick slices.

1/4 C.Worcestershire

1/4 C. Soy sauce

1 tsp. Onion powder

1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

1/2 tsp. Course ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper

Should be enough to marinade about 1-2 pounds. Vacuum pack and refrigerate at least 24 hours, kneading the bag periodically.

I use a dehydrator set at 145° for about 6 hours. I also use my pepper grinder to add pepper on the outside after putting the meat on the dehydrator trays.

[Ebiz]

Hi-Mountain Pepper blend is probably our favorite, got done butchering deer Friday and just made a batch yesterday. I've tried making my own seasoning mixes before but for jerky the Hi-Mountain always seems to come out better. For reference, started with about 3.5# of meat and finished with about a pound of jerky.

[eyeguy 54]

nice. bummer that it looses so much weight but oh so good!

[DonBo]

My brother doesn't hunt anymore and gave me his old dehydrator. It's the same as the one we used to have that gave out a couple years ago. Liked it better than using my smoker for jerky.

He also gave me some of his jerky mix -NOT- High Mountain. I used some this weekend and totally wasted 3 lbs of good venison. It turned out SO bland and boring that I can hardly eat it. I even let it soak in the solution for 3 days longer than recommended. Lesson learned.

Hi Mountain or bust.

[eyeguy 54]

bummer but might be an awesome dog treat