Deer Jerky

[WV Sawmiller]

   I made my first batch of jerky of the year out of one ham, the brisket and some trimmings off last weeks deer. There was 17 lbs of ground meat. i ran it through a course grind twice and a fine grind once. I mixed powdered jerky mix with Pepper and Sweet teriyaki mix and let it sit in the reefer downstairs overnight. I put it in my jerky gun, a souped up caulking gun and ran it in my dehydrator at 160 degrees for 8 hours. A tray or two I will re-run as it still felt more rubbery than I was comfortable with. Most was perfect and would bend almost completely then snap in two. I am running the second batch now - about half a dehydrator full plus a tray of banana chips for a trial run. I 'll get about 8 quart bags of finished jerky out of the 17 lbs of meat.


 Thin strips out of the jerky gun ready for the cooker


 Finished batch ready to unload.


 Ready to eat or pack for future snacking.

[DPatton]

Let me know if you need my shipping address ;D ;D ;D. Looks good.

[Chuck White]

Now that'll make your mouth water! 

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I havn't made jerky in years.
Looks great!

[mike_belben]

That looks good.  Ive just been marinating trimmings and dehydrating them directly without grind but i bet yours is a lot better!  

Whats your seasoning consist of?  

[WV Sawmiller]

Mike,

   I made a batch several years ago where I cut the meat thin on a slicer, marinaded in my own mix and cooked it. Was pretty good but a lot of work and the pieces were thick and thin and not as consistent. We don't like thick and thin on our lumber or our jerky. :D Ground with the jerky shooter provides much more consistent results. It lays better on the trays without falling through and cooks through better. I find I do need to move the trays around as evidently they cook more in some positions than others. I put 2 trays back in for 2 more hours for safety concerns. They were still a little rubbery after 8 hours while the rest were stiff.

   Final yield was 9 quart ziploc bags full and all very consistent. I did 3 bananas on an empty tray and they were good too but takes too long for me to try making a separate batch of them. It took about 10 hours cooking on 160 degrees do them. I guess I could do about 40 bananas at a time

[thecfarm]

I say ready to eat!! Meat,the only food group.  ;D

[mike_belben]

Vegetables?  Thats what my food eats.  
;D

[breederman]

We make a fair amount here too. Jackie has a couple guys that bring front shoulders for her to make into jerky, she charges a 50 % split 😁just finished up the last beef jerky we made. That was sliced not ground.

[WV Sawmiller]

   As I mentioned I find the ground jerky is easier to consistently make. My 12 y/o granddaughter gave her seal of approval on this batch today.

I say ready to eat!! Meat,the only food group.  ;D

Vegetables?  Thats what my food eats.  
;D

Guys,

    I tell people I did not fight my way to the top of the food chain to eat lettuce. :D

[breederman]

We grind venison because we usually add ground beef or something to it like you.

[WV Sawmiller]

   If I were grinding for burger or sausage I'd have added some ground pork, a fat Boston Butt or some fatty sausage (for bulk sausage - I have not tried stuffing any yet) but I could not see any real reason to add fat to jerky so I just used venison. I thought about using the round tip adapter to make round sticks but I figure the flat sticks have more surface area and process faster and more completely.

   I usually mix deer to pork in about a 4:1 ratio when grinding for burger or sausage. 

[petefrom bearswamp]

Reading this thread makes me want to try to find my long misplaced dehydrator

[mike_belben]

And then clean it.. The part that makes one misplace it to begin with!  

[WV Sawmiller]

    I washed and air dried the 10 plastic racks out of my Gander Mountain dehydrator yesterday and wiped out the inside good. When dry I put it all back in the box till the next time. The instructions say always run it about 45 minutes at 110 degrees to be sure it is dry before starting use. 

    If I had some of that good looking pork Mike was showing I'd go shoot another deer or two (We have antlerless season starting today, muzzle loader season next week and most of the rest of the month for antlerless or buck with a bow or ML so plenty more opportunities) and make some burger and maybe even try stuffing and smoking some sausages. 

[mike_belben]

I thought i was finally gonna get to chase bambi today.   Nope, schools cancelled.  Mr mom again.  

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I thought i was finally gonna get to chase bambi today.   Nope, schools cancelled.  Mr mom again.  

Take em huntin with you!

[mike_belben]

If i could train them to actually shut up and stop whining or fighting over anything you can possibly create a dispute over, id consider it. 

Really though, stands are where i go to escape them.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   That's one of the big reasons I built a couple of shooting houses. Of course I enjoy being out of the weather but I can take the grandkids along. The last one I took carried her IPad along and played games on it till the deer came out. Her grandma always packs them a bunch of snacks and treats. Honestly when my feeder went off at 7:30 am she grabbed her goodies and started munching just like the deer do. I did have to remind my wife to use Glad Wrap instead of the noisy factory wrapping they originally came in.

   I stocked up on more jerky makings and we are having an antlerless season so I will go back again this afternoon to the same stand I killed the 6 point in last week and see if I can harvest another big doe. Muzzleloader season is all next week with either sex. Several more antlerless days before the end of the month when the season goes out.