How I made vennison jerky.

How I Made Venison Jerky

A friend of mine brought me a venison ham and a shoulder from a doe. I gave the shoulder to another friend and decided to experiment with jerky, a first for me. First I read several articles on the Internet because I really did not have a clue! Among the things I learned is that there is about an even argument for slicing against as opposed to with the grain. I found a lot of suggestions about partially freezing your cuts before slicing, different suggestions about a marinade and so forth. I guess I will tell you how I made mine (venison jerky).

First I deboned the venison and cut it into manageable pieces and I then soaked the meat for 24 hours in a vinegar solution. I used white vinegar and about half a bottle of old malt vinegar that I had somehow acquired from Long John Silver's. I then went to another friend and borrowed a meat slicing machine. It wasn't as big as the one I had used in my youth in the meat market, but it did the job. I cut across the grain, well mostly, and the cuts were about one quarter of an inch thick. My jerky making research led me to the belief that this was the proper thickness. I put these slices in a large bowl and mixed in Worcestershire Sauce, Soy Sauce, and Louisiana Supreme Steak Seasoning in about equal amounts. I mixed this up thoroughly making sure all the meat was saturated and covered. I placed the covered bowl back into the refrigerator for another 24 hours.

I next borrowed a dehydrator from another friend. He advised me that jerky requires 12 hours at 145-144°F. That happened to be the top notch on his machine. Since I had a lot of meat, I decided to try three separate spicing techniques. Before placing the meat on the drying trays, I drained most of the marinade and blotted the meat pieces separately with clean paper towels. The spices I used to sprinkle the jerky were various combinations of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and Cajun seasoning. One batch I made saltless. Another got an extra dose of garlic and the third got an extra dose of Cajun seasoning and pepper. All three batches went into the dehydrator at the same time. About four hours into drying I removed the meat from the plastic sheets that sit on top of the trays and placed the meat directly onto the plastic screen.

The next morning I had venison jerky. I had fun that day experimenting and collecting data and opinions from my friends and acquaintances at work. The only negative feedback I received was that it was a little dry. I preferred the salted meat b°°°cut it was all good. Somehow the malt taste from the Long John Silver's vinegar remained and I liked that. I gave a bag to the guy who provided the venison, another to the friend who provided the dehydrator, and a couple of small roasts to the person who loaned me the meat slicer. I could not have made it without them. I probably could have, but I would be missing a finger and making jerky would have been a lot more difficult.

Next time, I think I will smoke it on my smoker at some point. My research tells me that you must get it up to 155 to 160°F at least once in order to kill microbes and then you can dry and smoke for as long as needed.

As Long as I Had Herb's Machine ......

I decided to dehydrating fruit. I did two large bunches of bananas, several apples, and some grapes. This was pretty easy compared to jerky. I now have a lot of fruit ingredients for trail mix.

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