About 15 years ago, we started out with this recipe from Edie, but we have modified it some over the years. First, we like ground jerky better than the strips. Second, we learned to better accommodate the use of venison instead of beef, and after having experimented with nearly every jerky seasoning you can buy (or some you can even make from scratch).
Our favorite jerky mixes are:
- Hi-Country Snack Foods J Johnsons Original Recipe Home Jerky Spice Kit, 16.95-Ounce is the best family favorite, which we all really like.
- PS Seasonings Cracked Pepper & Garlic (my favorite).
- Hickory or Mesquite Uncle Buck’s seasoning (now sold as LEM brand at Bass Pro Shops) was our original favorite, but it’s now moved down the list.
- Hi Mountain Jerky Cracked Pepper ‘n Garlic Jerky Blend is a solid choice.
- PS Seasonings and Spices Brands in Teriyaki (my wife’s favorite),
- PS Seasonings and Spices Brands in Original Recipe (my daughter’s favorite),
- PS Seasonings Maple Jalapeno (this is a mild sweet heat and one of my favorites), it is my Navajo friend’s favorite as well
- Chipotle Chili Lime (this one is a very hot, red chipotle flavor), which wasn’t any of our favorites by my NM brother in law who loves red chile loved it.
You need about 2-5 pounds of meat. You can use whole muscle meat, cut into thin strips, or ground meat. If you don’t have venison, go get yourself a beef rump roast fresh from the market or harvest yourself from white-tailed venison meat and take a good cut, if you want to make strips of jerky. Try to get a decent cut of meat, not a lot of fat and not a lot of tendon strips. You will to slice it very thin but not shave it (about a nickle’s thickness will be nice). If you are cutting it at home, slice as thin as you can. It is best to have the meat partially frozen before you slice, but not quite solid. You can also pound it thin with a meat hammer or hit as necessary to tenderize if working with wild game and/or fatty cuts. When you have your desired size of meat cut, you are ready to marinate it.
If you don’t have a good cut or if you prefer more tender jerky, then coarsely grind your meat up, like hamburger, and use a jerky cannon to make your jerky into thin strips (after seasoning it as described below). Some add JD’s Bacon Salt, which we didn’t think added anything much to the flavor.
Follow the directions on the jerky seasoning bag as far as letting it marinate, you don’t have to let it marinate as long as they recommend, if you are in a rush, but you don’t want to leave it in there more than they recommend, or it will be really salty. However, whether using strips or the ground meat, I do let it marinate overnight in the mix and cure, (but no water needed as they suggest), before shooting it out of the jerky cannon onto the dehydrator sheets.
Bass Pro Shops and Wal-Mart sell dehydrators for about $40-$50 also, I suggest buying a couple extra trays… it makes it go faster if you can lay out a big batch at a time. I have a Open Country FD-28SK Jerkymaster Dehydrator, 350-watt food dehydrator with a set of 2 extra trays, for a total of 8 trays. I also use the LEM Products Jerky Cannon, for ground meat, which holds 2 pounds. I put as much on the trays as I can get on there, flat, but not touching. It normally needs 3-4 hours in the dehydrator. I try not to let mine stay in too long, it makes the jerky too crispy or too dry. Depends on how you like it.
You can use duck, goose, venison, fish, deer, pork, chicken, turkey really any kind of meat you want… just remember that it needs to be sliced thin, or ground and shot out of a jerky cannon into thin strips.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Cook the meat until it is completely dried, 6 to 8 hours depending on your dehydrator and the thickness of your slices, turning as needed to dry uniformly. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool before wrapping or you will get condensation.
Eat as desired, or keep covered, refrigerated, for up to 1 month.