Do you make Jerky?

[wtfooptimax200]

I hope that this is the correct forum for this post. Does anyone make their own venison jerky? I have made whole muscle jerky by slicing roasts. How do you feel about the jerky shooter type jerky? Is it easier to make? How does the final product compare?

Thanks for any input,

Branden

[1kshooter]

I have used the LEM/Backwoods seasiong mix and done both whole muscle and the jerky cannon way I like both it is a little more work for the latter method as you have to grind it and the load the jerkey gun ..but I do it for my Dad and mom ...umm ...older teeth lol and it is well recived!
Do you have a home mix that you would like to share?
Jonathan

[mstarling]

A buddy of mine gifted me with a good recipe some years ago. Is an excellent one! Here is Mike Alexander's Jerky Recipe:



3 lbs. Meat cut very lean. Slices should be 1/8 to 3/16" thick.
1/2 C. Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
2 Tsp. Msg
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
1 Heaping Tsp. of Red Pepper
2 Tsp. Liquid Smoke

Place the sauce in a bowl. Individually dip the pieces in the sauce to be sure that complete coverage is achieved.In the end, the meat in a bowl should be just covered. Let meat soak in frig. 12 to 24 hours. Dry till there isn't a soft center to be felt.


Note: Don't fancy with the Worchestershire sauce. Cheap stuff is better than Lee & Perrins for this purpose!


Making jerky is a PITA ... cutting all that meat very thin is not easy. Use a VERY sharp knife and make sure you cut the meat and not your body.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive got a jerky shooter but seldom use it. It just isnt jerky! I also make my jerky in a smoker and dont care for it out of an oven. I need to get a meat slicer though as most of my jerky is a bit thick. What i really like is very thin jerky that your teeth have to work on a bit.

[x101airborne]

My fam eats about two deer a year in jerky. And I make about 3 more deer a year for the neighbors, not to mention all the sausage, hams, etc.... I have tried to make my own seasonings and have pretty much gone to the High Country brand of seasoning. If you try to make your own dry rub, be sure to add the cure to the recipe. This prevents certain bacteria from forming and making people sick. Very important. Other than that, you can be pretty safe just mixing what ingredients you like. Make small batches and expirament. Also, the kind of dehydrator you have can make a big difference. I have made some of the shooter jerky, and found if you use meat that is particularly dry or lean, I had to add water to the meat to get it to flow. I really didn't care for it, but I am a traditional man. If you have any questions, I will be happy to help.

[koehn,jim]

I have found if you put the meat in the freezer, for a bit before slicing, it makes it easier to slice.

[Reload3006]

A buddy of mine gifted me with a good recipe some years ago. Is an excellent one! Here is Mike Alexander's Jerky Recipe:



3 lbs. Meat cut very lean. Slices should be 1/8 to 3/16" thick.
1/2 C. Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
2 Tsp. Msg
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
1 Heaping Tsp. of Red Pepper
2 Tsp. Liquid Smoke

Place the sauce in a bowl. Individually dip the pieces in the sauce to be sure that complete coverage is achieved.In the end, the meat in a bowl should be just covered. Let meat soak in frig. 12 to 24 hours. Dry till there isn't a soft center to be felt.


Note: Don't fancy with the Worchestershire sauce. Cheap stuff is better than Lee & Perrins for this purpose!


Making jerky is a PITA ... cutting all that meat very thin is not easy. Use a VERY sharp knife and make sure you cut the meat and not your body.
that is the exact recipe I use but I dont like Worchestershier sauce so I use more Soy sauce I also put in a cup of brown sugar.

[DLCTEX]

mstarling's recipe is close to ours, but we use about twice as much liquid smoke. I have a food slicer and prefer it cut 1/4 in. thick. I don't care for the shooter style.Loyd and I agree on that and preferring to use a smoker. Son tried a dehydrator this year, but I prefer the smoker.

[wtfooptimax200]

I'm a big fan of the recipe that my father in law uses:

6 oz soy sauce
5 oz liquid smoke
1/2 C brown sugar
Garlic Powder and Crushed Red Pepper to taste (I like LOTS of both)

This is good for up to ~5# of meat

Lloyd,
What temperature do you smoke at? Do you use a cure? How long do you smoke for? I like the idea of smoking to give my jerky authentic smoke flavor rather than the fake smoke that I we use currently!

[Lloyd Smale]

i use quick cure for mine. I smoke it at 200 degrees. I put it in the smoker, bring the temp up to 200 degrees and after an hour put heavy smoke to it till its to the consistancy that i like. Now im talking thick cut jerky here not the thin hard stuff. I actually prefer the thin stuff that you have to work at to chew. I just dont have a meat slicer yet so im a bit lazy. Jerky is relitively easy to make and you can about do the mix anyway you want to get the taste you like but personaly anymore i buy all my jerky and sausage mixes here http://www.askthemeatman.com/weekly_special.htm Its more expenisive but ive yet to find anyone that didnt think my sausage and jerky wasnt the best theyve ate. Especially there summer sausage mix. For jerky i like a teriaki mix but its also very simple to do at home. Just some brown suger and soy sause mixed together and you meat covered with it and soaked overnight along with a cure. I like a bit of bite with mine and have experimented with crushed pepper but what ive come to use on it is montreal steak seasoning. Whether i use my own mix or his teriaki mix i just sprinkle some montreal seasoning on it before i put it in the smoker. By the way the first step of not putting smoke to your meat for the first hour is a good idea with any smoking. What it does is allow the pours in your meat to open up and lets the smoke go deaper into your meat. If you smoke cold meat you get more of a creosote like taste on the outside of your meat. As to the lenght of smoking ive found that one hour no smoke and one hour with smoke at 200 will give you safely cooked jerky that is the softer type like is sold in the stores.

[Chihuahua Floyd]

I cut mine with a banded vutting board. Small board about 1/2" thick with a 1 1/8 band arpund the outside. One side is for 1/4 and the other side is for 3/8". Would be simple to make, this one was a present. Lay knife acrodd bands and slice. No need to try for half frozen.
I normally use a store bought seasoning/cure mix,or just pepper, terikiyi and burbon.
Dry in dehydrator about 8 hours at 160 degrees.
CF

[Shiloh]

I hope that this is the correct forum for this post. Does anyone make their own venison jerky? I have made whole muscle jerky by slicing roasts. How do you feel about the jerky shooter type jerky? Is it easier to make? How does the final product compare?

Thanks for any input,

Branden

I have done it this way as well. The sliced roast style. One can flavor the jerky as desired.



A buddy of mine gifted me with a good recipe some years ago. Is an excellent one! Here is Mike Alexander's Jerky Recipe:



3 lbs. Meat cut very lean. Slices should be 1/8 to 3/16" thick.
1/2 C. Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
2 Tsp. Msg
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
1 Heaping Tsp. of Red Pepper
2 Tsp. Liquid Smoke

Place the sauce in a bowl. Individually dip the pieces in the sauce to be sure that complete coverage is achieved.In the end, the meat in a bowl should be just covered. Let meat soak in frig. 12 to 24 hours. Dry till there isn't a soft center to be felt.


Note: Don't fancy with the Worchestershire sauce. Cheap stuff is better than Lee & Perrins for this purpose!


Making jerky is a PITA ... cutting all that meat very thin is not easy. Use a VERY sharp knife and make sure you cut the meat and not your body.

I knew a guy with a deli style meat slicer. Makes cutting a roast a breeze.
Some butchers my slice your game for you. Ask Around. They will slice your roast for sure if you buy it from them.

Shiloh

[44man]

Smoking over real wood is so much better then liquid smoke.
I smoke with apple, cherry or mullberry. Then I finish drying in my dehydrator. My smoker just does not dry good enough.

[reloader28]

I guess somebodies got to vote for the jerky shooter.
I like it. The sliced stuff is too tough on my teeth.
When we butcher, we cut the steaks we want and grind the rest. Makes it easy that way.

We dont bother making seasoning either. Cabelas sells some really good flavors. For $8.00 you can make 15lbs of meat. Thats pretty cheap compared to the store bought jerky and tastes better too. I like 1/2 original and 1/2 peppered. We use High Country for goose jerky and smoked fish.

I never tried jerky in the smoker tho. I've always used the Excalibur dehydrator for a 10lb batch at 5 1/2- 6hr.

[Longwood]

I have several recipe's I use.
One that is everyones favorite is after soaking in my favorite brine mixture, after I fill the smoker to dry the meat, before I start smoking it, and while the meat is still tacky, I get small hands full of course cracked black pepper and throw it at the hanging meat until I have a coating I prefer.
The large pieces of pepper can be wiped off easily by the woooses that can't handle it.
It works better than making the brine hot and some not liking a finished jerky that ends up too hot for their taste.

[leadman]

I like the jerky shooter also along with the Cabela's seasonings. Cabela's recently changed and/or dropped some of their food stuff. Like the Cabela's original fish fry mix. Haven't checked out the jerky seasonings yet.

I'm also going to check into making my own sausages. We have been using Denmark sausage Co. here in Az and have been thrilled until this year. I don't like trying to chew large pieces of cartalige or having to use a sharp knife to cut breakfast links!

[Tom-ADC]

I use Hi Mountain jerky seasoning mix, usually top round cut right at 1/4 thick with all the fat cut off that I can get off.
I do four pounds at a time and smoke on my Traeger pellet grill depending on the day about 3-4 hours total.
Just had some BTW very good.