Deer Jerky Recipe

Wow! I had low expectations for this recipe, but it turned out to be fantastic. I made a few tweaks by skipping the liquid smoke and adding 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. Despite only soaking for about 12 hours overnight, the dish still came out delicious. I used my Ronco food dehydrator for the process. Apple cider vinegar is a great addition for food safety, along with pink curing salt. This time I used the salt, but next time I'll try ACV for preservation. Overall, a great recipe that exceeded my expectations!

I swapped out ketchup for Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and added extra pepper and light brown sugar to my deer jerky marinade. After letting it sit covered for 48 hours, I finally dehydrated it and served it to my family. They devoured it without realizing it was deer jerky, mistaking it for my usual beef jerky. When I eventually revealed the truth, they were shocked and possibly still in disbelief. For the next batch, I plan to add some heat with extra pepper to create an even more amazing jerky experience.

I accidentally increased the amount of onion, garlic, and pepper to 1/2 tsp each while mixing, but it turned out great! My husband loved it. A tip for those using their oven: make sure to use an oven thermometer. I had never checked my oven's temperature before and found out it runs higher than what I had it set at. Even though I programmed it to 170, my thermometer showed 180, so I had to slightly open my oven to lower it to 160-170. Additionally, I've seen some comments about a 'gamey' taste. This taste is often due to not aging the deer meat long enough before butchering. Another helpful tip is to marinate the jerky for 3 days before drying. It makes a huge difference.

This dish turned out excellent! I substituted half a finely diced regular onion for the onion salt as I didn't have any on hand. I added kosher salt to enhance the flavor, as meat tends to benefit from a saltier taste. I also utilized stainless steel cooling racks on top of old cookie sheets to reduce oven clean-up. Can't wait to prepare another batch soon!

I experimented with a new jerky recipe by using 2 parts soy sauce and 1 part Worcestershire sauce, along with jerky cure but no salt in the second batch. I marinated the meat for 24 hours and then used a dehydrator. The result was the best jerky I've ever made!

When it was time to hang the venison jerky on the oven rack, I discovered that using bamboo skewers instead of toothpicks made the process much easier. I also incorporated fresh garlic alongside garlic powder and onion powder in the marinade. I applied the same marinade to a wild turkey breast, and the result was fantastic, both in terms of flavor and texture.

I substituted ketchup with Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce and used hickory flavored liquid smoke in this recipe. It was my first time trying this recipe and all my jerky turned out fantastic!

Lacking in taste

Amazing dish made 5 times in the past month! I substituted Himalayan salt with onion powder and added 1/4 tsp of cayenne powder.

We have been using this recipe for quite some time. We omit the ketchup and add more pepper, about 1/2 teaspoon. The result is absolutely fantastic.

Outstanding

I tried out this recipe with my 9-year-old daughter. I was looking for something simple to follow and easy to prepare so that she could participate and this recipe was just right. It brought back memories of when I first made it as a young girl. We'll be using the dried venison to make a traditional dish called pimikahn, also known as pemmican. Thank you for sharing this recipe!