venison jerky

This weekend i am going to get some venison from a friend to make some jerky, i have made jerky many times in the past, i use a dehydrater. Does anyone have any specific tips when making it from venison??? or if you just want to share some of your tips and prefered methods it would be greatly appreciated

We like it (moose, caribou, beef, venison) marinated in a 50/50 mixture of soy sauce & Worcestershire sauce (throw in some black pepper/red pepper/red pepper flakes and/or a little garlic powder to taste)...then in the dehydrator...

or...

marinate it in Yoshida's Gourmet sauce (or teriyaki....again, throw in a few spices if desired)...then into the dehydrator it goes...yummy!

as far as the reccomended 160 temp for killing ecoli? i never thought about it untill today, usually i just toss it in the dehydrator

I've made venison jerky in the dehydrator, but I have gotten much better results by grinding the meat, laying strips out on aluminum foil with a jerky shooter, and dehydrating it in the oven. YMMV, of course.

Best Jerky I ever had was venison. Maybe it was just better because we ate it at the hunting camp every year, hard to say. The guy smoked it and used an extra heavy dose of black pepper, large cut. It had a little salty flavor but pretty light and the pieces were rough cut, thick and long. 1/2"-3/4" square and 4"-10" long. This was the kind that's so hard and dry you cut off a piece with your knife then sucked on it a while before chewing. We provided the venison but he still charged us $5 a pound and this was back in the 80's and 90's.

That jerky could be left open on the table for 2-3 weeks and it was still too hard to tear with your teeth. Diffent people like different types but that's my favorite, hard and dry with lots of course black pepper.

Ok, now you've got me craving exotic jerky's... where online can I get this stuff?

Here is some alligator jerky for you http://www.beefjerkyoutlet.com/shop/exotic.htm

Hmm.. I tried some Salmon Jerky and It was the BEST!! I want Some Now

planning on a deer hunting trip this weekend to hopefully supply venison for jerky. first hunt of the season, bow season.

going to Osage hills, indian lands. a bit off the beaten path.

Great... now I'm hungry, for jerkey... :thanks: ya'll... That deer jerky sounds good.

I had deer jerky before from my friend; a little bit tough at first but softens up afterwards.

My friend's Uncle happened to own 50 acres and would hunt/catch deer on his property. I forgot how my friend's uncle made it but he did put something spicy in it and probably smoked it.

my friend got a moose not too long ago and gave me some moose jerky, its pretty good. better than buffalo.

Here is the recipie I use most often



1/2 c Dark soy sauce
2 tb Worcestershire sauce
1/2 ts Onion powder
1/2 ts Garlic powder
1/4 ts Ginger, powdered
1/4 ts Chinese five-spice powder
3 lb Lean Meat of Choice

Trim meat completely of fat and cut across grain into slices 1/8 inch thick. To aid in slicing meat thinly, freeze until ice crystals are formed.
Blend all ingredients except meat in small bowl. Dip each piece of meat into marinade, coating well. Place in shallow dish. Pour remaining marinade over top, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Oven method: Preheat oven to lowest setting (preferably 110 F). Place several layers of paper towels on baking sheets. Arrange meat in single layer on prepared sheets and cover with additional toweling. Flatten meat with rolling pin. Discard towels and set meat directly on oven racks. Let dry 8 to 12 hours (depending on temperature of oven).
Dehydrator method: Arrange meat on trays in single layer and dehydrate 10 to 12 hours, depending on thickness.
Store jerky in plastic bags or in tightly covered containers in cool, dry area.

I make a lot of jerky and it really doesn't matter if its deer, moose, beef, goose, etc as long as the meat is VERY lean- if you ever chance across some fatty stuff it might turn you off jerky forever.
I use a recipe similar to sigman (a little stronger than 50%) and add a healthy dose of Tabasco sauce.
Quick O/V of the basic steps I use are;
-slice meat thin; no more than 1/8 (its REALLY chewey if you slice with the grain)
-mix with marinade and let it reside in a fridge overnight.
-remove from fridge, drain, let dry until it shows the patina (shiny surface)
-smoke for 2-3 hrs
-dehydrate until it is the consistency of leather.
-store in an air tight container in a cool place. (don't let my dog know I have some)

There is an old adage that aptly reflects the origin of jerky. "Sprinkle with enough salt to dry it out and enough black pepper to keep the flies off, then hang it in the sunshine until it is dry."

You can look on the web and find a feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew recipes.
have fun

Karl

Got me on the craving now too..

It's my understanding that the high salt level was responsible for stopping microbe growth.

2000xlt said:

as far as the reccomended 160 temp for killing ecoli? i never thought about it untill today, usually i just toss it in the dehydrator

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A store that I have been to many times that has excellent jerky is the Dublin Store. Their website is,,, http://www.dublinstore.com/

I never had any jerky, anyone know of a place where I can get some good jerky? I'm in the netherlands and the product isn't very common here. I know of some outdoor shops that sell it, but their pricing is absolutely ridiculous and there is not much choice in taste... BBQ or Cajun beef sounds pretty good to me

MayCooper said:

I never had any jerky, anyone know of a place where I can get some good jerky?

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wow man im sorry but i havent ever herd of inyone thats never had jeky before. i sure am glad i dont live where you do.

i hope you find some good luck!

turbodog said:

It's my understanding that the high salt level was responsible for stopping microbe growth.

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OOOPS- forgot one ingredient in mine which is "sugar", brown in my case; this leans to my brining side where sugar is probably more important than salt. Still makes great jerky.

May Cooper- PM me your address and I will vacuum pack a sample for you to try the next time I make a batch (may not be deer)

Karl