# Deer Jerky



## Lady_Husker (Aug 8, 2015)

I'm about to start work on a big batch of homemade deer jerky and I wanted to know what everyone's favorite marinades/rubs are. I have a couple I use regularly, but why not expand my horizons? So what is your favorite marinade/rub for deer or beef jerky?


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

little cyan pepper -black pepper, salt and some brown sugar that's about it.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Uncle Abe's Hot Jerky Seasoning, a little extra seasoning and a good dash of cayenne. I like my jerky hot with extra flavor. Soaked overnight in the fridge.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

It's venison, treat it with some respect. Just a good salt brine (I know redundant) and dry it. the use of pepper is not necessary but not forbidden either.
Actually, you are making it for yourself - make it the way you like it. I tend to be a purist, so I use the brine and then dry it. I like steaks and roasts the same way (not dried) with just a little salt and cooked medium. I would rather eat it rare but with wild meat I sacrifice the internal temp for safety.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

I brine with bruised rosemary.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 25, 2014)

*Allegro steak marinade*. They have 3 flavors, but I like the Hot Asian flafor best for jerky. It's spicy, but not so hot that it'll kill the gringos. Soak meat strips in the stuff (in a big ziploc bag) for 24 hrs, then dehydrate. It is awesome, and does not make a mess outta your dehydrator like some recipes (I hate cleaning up my dehydrators after making apple slices with brown sugar!)


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

I love spicy. Texas Pete hot sauce overnight ways is simplest and works great.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

I use High Mountain sweet n' Spicy, brown sugar, red pepper, a touch of Teryaki and smoke it with a blend of apple and cherry wood. Can't make it fast enough. The real key is properly harvesting, dressing and aging the meat. This can't be overemphasized. An improperly prepared deer is not fit for the coyotes.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

csi-tech said:


> I use High Mountain sweet n' Spicy, brown sugar, red pepper, a touch of Teryaki and smoke it with a blend of apple and cherry wood. Can't make it fast enough. The real key is properly harvesting, dressing and aging the meat. This can't be overemphasized. An improperly prepared deer is not fit for the coyotes.


CSI If you don't mind please explain what an 'improperly prepared deer" is. I am not being a smart ass here, I really don't know. I feel like I know how to butcher a deer.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

I try to do 10-12 lb batches using some variant of beef round or sometimes sirloin if its cheap. Bambi works good if you got some. Just make sure it dont have any fat on it..which is not likely form the little skinny deer we get around here. I soak it in the marinade below for at least a few hours preferably overnight in my vacuum marinator or two days lacking that piece of equipment. Giving it an occasional shuffle by hand. In the ice box of course.

10-12 lbs jerky cut lean beef for venison (finger size)
1 cup wooster sauce
1 cup soy sauce
2 T. granulated onion
2 T. granulated garlic
1/2 cup Terriyaki sauce
3 T. Black pepper
2 T. Cayenne pepper
2 T. Crushed red pepper
2 T. Mortons Tender Quick
1 T. Dry minced onion
1 small squirt Frenchies yellow mustard
1 small squirt Honey.

I smoke and dehydrate at the same time using peecan and apple in the upright of a big offset pit with the bottom part of a Brinkmann Electric smoker in the horizontal for the heat and smoke and small house fan in the firebox. Takes usually 10-12 hours depending on ambient temps to get it sorta crispy but still pliable enough not to break. I finish in the house oven at 275 with the strips piled up in aluminum half pans covered with foil. I try to make the goods break at least 160 when poked as a collective mass with the instant gauge. Usually takes an hour or two. Cool it down where it can get some air and store in brown paper sacks till you get ready to bag it up. If you want it hot baste it with some cheap red hab sauce on each side a time or two. Whew..sorry this is so long and windy. Hope I dont get nagged at..lol.

PS Edit. Feel free to sub out the Tender Quick with salt if you want. I just got to using it to try to give it a bit longer shelf life. Think it helps some.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

Can I do this with beef and just an oven on 200 degrees? I wanted to make jerky but don't have the equipment.


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

James m said:


> Can I do this with beef and just an oven on 200 degrees? I wanted to make jerky but don't have the equipment.


Make my oven sausage.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Oven works great. 200 is too hot. Set it as low as it will go..which on most is 200..some claim to go a bit lower. Crack the oven door to the first notch to where it wants to stay put..which will put it cracked open by about a quarter and the interior should hit in the general vicinity of 140..which is around ideal temp. Lay the meat out on the racks and shuffle it every hour or so because it tends to dry out faster towrd the back. Or you can sit a small electric fan pointed toward the cracked door..that gets the air moving pretty good. Brush it with some liquid smoke toward the end if you want it smokey Have tried doing it early but the smoke flavor can tend to get lost if used on the front end..or I thought so anyway. Best of fortunes.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Your most welcome anytime Sir.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

How long do I put it in the oven.


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## Lady_Husker (Aug 8, 2015)

Before I had my dehydrator, I had to use the oven. In my experience, how long the meat has to be in the oven depends on the type of meat, how thick you cut it, and what type(s) o marinade/rub you used with it. If you use a 24+ hour marinade, it will likely take longer than if you just add a rub and throw it in. In general, I start to keep a closer eye on my jerky after about six hours.


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

James m said:


> How long do I put it in the oven.


Your looking for a internal meat temp of 165 then back the heat down if possible and dry it until flexable like leather. I use a smoker. And I use a LEM dehydrator. With dehydrators you need to be careful some only get to 155 degress. 155 is not enough to kill the boogies.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Lady_Husker said:


> I'm about to start work on a big batch of homemade deer jerky and I wanted to know what everyone's favorite marinades/rubs are. I have a couple I use regularly, but why not expand my horizons? So what is your favorite marinade/rub for deer or beef jerky?


Never done much of that except in the winter. Flie are a real bother

I use soy worstershire, blacK pepper then home grown sage thyme rosemary.

Wood is apple cherry or hichory. Apple is best.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

hawgrider said:


> Your looking for a internal meat temp of 165 then back the heat down if possible and dry it until flexable like leather. I use a smoker. And I use a LEM dehydrator. With dehydrators you need to be careful some only get to 155 degress. 155 is not enough to kill the boogies.


Good points on the terminal temps. Made tons of the stuff back in the old days without much safety features..but these days I insist it break 160 somewhere along the path. Tried boiling it in the marinate on the front end..which is the best place to do the evil deed..and is recommended by most of the USDA websites because the germs die quicker in a wet environment than a dry one or so they say..but it makes the stuff taste mighty funny..so have settled on the procedure of breaking that point after its smoked/dehydrated. The Tender Quick can help kill something or other but I forget what it is right now. Thats why I give it a coup de grace in the oven in the foil topped half pans. Not sure what kinda critter dies between 160 and 165 but it might be a baddy. Now for somebody with good heat control on the smoker..they can just jack up the heat and do it on the smoker. Lack heat control on what I use so the oven gets involved. Reaching the right temps is highly important on wild game or so they say.


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## Hawaii Volcano Squad (Sep 25, 2013)

Opps! My bad. Clicked on link by mistake.

I THOUGHT YOU SAID BEER JERKY


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