Category: Big Game

What’s better than a game of cards and some fresh deer jerky? Not much, I tell ya!

In this tutorial, we will go over how to make your own batch of deer jerky so that you can have all the flavors at home. You’re free to add or delete any steps if they don’t suit what works best for making yer perfect meat snacks in seconds flat

 

Let’s Get Started!

1. The Cut of Venison Meat Is Your Choice

This is a straightforward process. You may choose to make deer jerky out of any reduction of the deer that you just choose. I personally use any and all meat scraps from your favorite hunt for my best-selling treat, DEER JERKY!

There are two steps in this process: 1) finish processing the meats chosen for making Deer Jerky; 2) soak those cuts heavily with water until they’ve had about 72 hours (3 – 4 days).

Once these two simple steps have been completed properly, it’s time to shred or grind up those delicious strips into tiny pieces before dehydrating them at 140 degrees Fahrenheit over 3 consecutive nights without interruption while keeping an eye on their progress every 6 hours minimum during each night as well as

 

2. Which Do You Prefer: Thin Deer Jerky or Thick Deer Jerky?

Deer jerky has been a long-standing tradition for hunters who really love to eat venison meat snacks. It’s also become something of an obsession with many people, and there are countless debates about how to make it.

Some like thin-sliced deer jerky, while others prefer thick slices because they think that when drying out in preparation for consumption the thinner cut will dry better than thicker cuts as time goes on – saving you more effort!

Personally, I like my deer jerky thinly sliced because when you start the drying process of the thin-style deer jerky you get a much better and even drying process than you do with the thick-style deer jerky. Plus, I want to eat my deer jerky now. so, waiting around for thicker pieces of deer jerky to dry is just not something that I would like to be doing with my time.

Here are a couple of reasons why I personally choose to Make Thin Deer Jerky:

1. You’ll save time in the drying process. Thin deer jerky, cures and dries more quickly.
2. You’ll save time on the endless knife sharpening you’ll have to do if you opt for making thick deer jerky. The reason for this is you have to do more chopping and cutting when making thick deer jerky vs. thin deer jerky.
3. Thin Deer Jerky, just tastes better! The thick-sliced deer jerky is tough and hard to chew. It also oftentimes can spoil by getting moldy due to inadequate drying of the deer jerky.

You can slice your deer meat with a sharp kitchen knife. However, if you wish to make a lot of deer jerky I would suggest that you opt for buying a meat slicer. It’s an investment, however, you’ll be so glad you made it because it can be used for a lot of different wild game meats you might process later do the road.

Also, a meat slicer is a good way to get your deer meat sliced super thin for your deer jerky. You can actually get your deer meat so thin with a meat slicer that it’s virtually shaved. Yeah, I know right…That’s Thin!

3. Mix the Deer Jerky Spices

While one person is slicing the deer meat, another person can begin mixing the deer jerky spices for your deer jerky recipe. Wait, till the end of this post and I’ll share with you some great deer jerky recipes to get you off to a great start.

You can alter the deer jerky recipes any way you wish. But for the most part, all the deer jerky recipes have very similar ingredients. All of the deer jerky recipes I have seen and used myself have contained the following base ingredients: soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, crushed red pepper, plenty of brown sugar or white sugar (your choice), and anything else that we think sounds good – toss it in there – experiment with your deer jerky recipe. I mean, honestly…Who wants a boring spiceless, flavorless deer jerky, right? Add some spice, give your deer jerky some heat, and some kick in the shorts.

Anyway, let’s get to mixing the recipe up for your deer jerky. Once this deer jerky recipe is mixed hopefully, your jerky-making partner will have all the deer meat sliced.

In the case that you might be flying solo (aka – working alone) making deer jerky, you’ll, of course, have to take things step by step. Get all the deer jerky meat cut up, nice and thin, or for those folks that like thick jerky you can cut yours thick lol. After the deer meat is all cut up; then you can start mixing up all the deer jerky spices for the jerky recipe.

4. Get Your Deer Jerky Soaking in a Spice Bath

As soon as your deer jerky spices are all combined and your deer meat is sliced the way you desire, it’s time to mix the deer meat and the jerky spices together. You’ll want to fill the large bowl with the jerky marinade and stuff it with full of deer meat.

Once the deer meat, jerky spices, and the jerky marinade are all mixed together well. You then place the large bowl of deer meat in your fridge and allow it to marinate overnight – roughly 24 hours or so works well. Once you get up the subsequent morning, you’ll be prepared to start the drying course.

5. Start Drying Out the Deer Jerky

Alright, so while you were sleeping your deer meat was marinating. Now you are ready to start the jerky drying process.

What you’ll want to do is place the deer meat on the trays in your food dehydrator. Your typical store-bought do-it-yourself food dehydrator will work just fine or you can even choose to make deer jerky in the oven.

However, if you have a smaller dehydrator you’ll be able to make enough deer jerky to last for a few weeks or even a month or so depending on how much you eat. The smaller kitchen countertop food dehydrator will really only allow you to make small batches of deer jerky at a time. so, you’ll have to make a few small batches until you have made all the deer meat into jerky. Make sure to check out the deer jerky dehydrators I have listed at the end of this post.

Once your deer meat is dehydrating, follow the instructions for your particular food dehydrator for how long you should leave your deer meat drying. Each food dehydrator is different, so be sure to read up on their specs.

I’ve discovered that more often than not most food dehydrators take anywhere between 12-24 hours for the deer meat to be dried out and is ready for you to enjoy.

Again, your results could be completely different. You’ll have to keep an eye on the deer jerky by feeling it to see if the outer pores and skin are dry. You can take a few pieces of deer jerky and break them every so often to see if the inside of the deer meat is drying properly.

When you feel confident that all of the deer meat has dried, and you have let it dry for the appropriate period of time that your food dehydrator’s manual suggests, then you’ll be able to remove the deer jerky from the dehydrator and start to eat.

Make sure to check out the deer jerky recipes we’ve included below for you to enjoy.

1. Simple Venison Jerky
2. Oven-Cured Venison Jerky
3. Hoosier State Deer Jerky
4. Northwoods Deer Jerky