Deer Jerky

Thanks a lot guys, lots of good ideas here. I mentioned the Slap Your Mama cajun spice to my wife and she said she has seen it at the grocery here. We are not that far from Louisiana so that sort of thing is popular around here. I made a short trip to Bass Pro the other day and picked up a few of the mixes they had on the shelf, including hickory, pepper, and jalapeno. I also picked up a bottle of their liquid smoke as well to experiment with.
I have gotten sort of pumped up over this project and decided to go shoot a doe and grind the whole thing. I'll freeze it up in one lb. packages after I grind it all up and then it will be ready to go whenever I am. It would also make for good lean meatloaf that way as well.
Unfortunately I can't hunt tomorrow, but I should be able to get a doe this week sometime, and then I'll get back to the jerky making.
 
I might make exception to the backstraps and tenderloins. I already have 3 deer in the freezers this year, so not in short supply though. I thought I might go out this morning, but the wife decided it was going to be a shopping day for her and I am going to have to do some dog sitting at home....after I check hog traps for the day. Maybe tomorrow.
Jeeze.... the things we have to do to keep the wives happy!
 
Went out this morning looking for a "jerky doe" and saw everything but. I saw a total of 8 deer and not one good sized doe. Lots of yearlings, a button buck, a forkie, etc... Finally gave up..shot a large sow and came home. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to bone out a doe and grind her up..
 
Last year for the first time I ground up meat for jerky. As I was told that's how the commercial in the bag sellers make theirs. My ground jerky turned out pretty good close to what (sliced) jerky is in taste. But not quite there in texture to my liking. During the jerkys making I fried up some here & there throughout its spicing for taste until I thought the meat with it's spice mixture were spot on. (a shade on the salty side is preferred here) One thing I noticed was ground jerky has to have quite a bit more strength in it's spice mixture verses the sliced in soaking brine. I think if I try doing the same again here in the near future. I would sprinkle a raw dry mix or spill & smear a wet mix over the ground meat spread out on a table.
Water/mixed then blended into bulk meat in a bowl or tote per a store bought mix directions I think turns out usually to be a little lacking in the taste department & texture wants. BTW: I found it better to make 3 and 5 lb batches of meat verses bigger amounts. Better control of the spice/brine blending is the reason.
 
Ok, so first cut any type of venison, into fairly large, 1/4" strips.

Then mix the following ingredients in a large bowl. Depending on the quantity of meat you may have to double or triple the recipe.

4 Tb worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 Tb garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup soy sauce

Soak the venison in this mixture for 1-4 hours Then bake on a cookie sheet at 150-200 degrees for 3-4 hours. If you have a smoker that's even better.
 
Going to try for a doe again this morning and get back to the jerky experimenting. Yesterday morning I had a bunch of coyotes working the area ( including a black one) and I think this stopped the deer from moving in my area. Good looking recipes getting posted!
 
I tried a pepper mix I picked up from Bass Pro and it was really good. I made up 5 lbs of meat, and the jerky seemed to disappear as soon as it got done. Every friend that came by left with a bag of it or at least a pocket full. Now they are asking for more! I ordered some terriaki to try and it should be here soon...I'm looking forward to it.
Actually the way I have been grinding the meat and using a jerky gun is pretty quick and easy to get a bunch going. The only real work involved is getting all the fat and sinew out of the meat.
 
brine's
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Dunno why folks want to add water to meat they want to dehydrate...? Water does not add flavor or aid in preserving.

My method is put it on dry and let the salt pull moisture before the smoker. No help for the jerky gun process, but just sayin...
 
I gotta agree with you on the water. I picked up some more mixes to play with this afternoon and picked out a hickory one to try out. I have 6 lbs of ground venison and they say to disolve the mix into 5 ounces of water. I did as they suggested which makes a sticky mess, but I'm going to let it sit until tomorrow morning before getting it into the dehydrator, so it should dry out some. I added a little worchestire sauce and pepper to it, just make it interesting. I am having fun trying out all the recipes so far, and haven't made any that I thought was not good. It seems to disappear soon after taking it out of the dehydrator.
 
I always just slice my jerky but I wonder, since you don't like the spicing over brining, would it be possible to brine slices and then grind afterward?
 
I'm still in the learning curve as far as jerky goes, but i would think brining or spicing would work either way. I just finished putting about 6 lbs. of ground venison in my dehydrator. I used the hickory mix and added pepper and worchester sauce in it as well, so about noon today I'll figure out if it's fit to eat. I have to say the grind method is sure easy, a home grinder and a jerky gun is inexpensive....about 100 bucks and you are making your own jerky. It's mind boggling how many different recipes and procedures there are out there.
 

This batch I started at 3:30 this morning....i'm an early riser. It should be ready to eat about 11:30 if all goes well. With 8 trays on the dehydrator, it will accomodate about 5 lbs of jerky strips. The kitchen smells really good right now!
 
I have to say the grind method is sure easy
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I prefer it to whole muscle also. Makes so you can use all the scraps and still get consistent jerky.

Dunno why folks want to add water to meat they want to dehydrate...? Water does not add flavor or aid in preserving.
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I only do so with ground meat for jerky. It aids is dispersing the flavor/cure thruout the batch equally and reduces the amount of shrinkage when drying. Once the jerky dehydrated, it is gone just as if you never added it.
 
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