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Deer Jerky Seasoning

Started by Qweaver, December 02, 2009, 04:53:02 PM

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Qweaver

We are going to make jerky tomorrow and we'd like to use our own seasoning.  We'll be grinding the meat and using a jerky gun to form the strips.  We like our jerky with a southern Texas taste...i.e., a little zingy and hot.  My uncle always makes a lot of jerky each year and it's really good, but he uses Walmarts seasoning and it's a little bland for us.
Suggestions?
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

ADAMINMO

Tony Chacheres Creole seasoning , Red Pepper and black pepper. Thats what we use around here.

Magicman

Be sure that it has a "curing" agent in it.  If not, you have only "dried" the meat.  All commercial jerky mixes have cure in them.  One very important step in many of the receipies that is not being done and that is using some kind of cure.

If you're not curing your jerky then you are just cooking it and it should be kept like any other leftover meat.

If you're not using a cure and say want to take a bunch of your jerky to deer camp for two weeks , then you are risking getting you or someone else sick.

Without cure even in the fridge things will start to grow on the meat that you won't see or taste within 36 hours and even faster out in the field.

Curing is preserving.  To jerk beef/venison is preserving it and should always be done if you plan on storing your jerky for longer periods of time or shipping it to loved ones, etc.

All store bought jerky mixes contain cure, so if you don't use those then Morton make a product called " Tender Quick " that you can buy and there may be others available on the market . You would just add this product to your current mix and away you go.

Again, small batches that will be gobbled up in a day or two don't sweat it. But if large batches and long time storage is in cards get some cure.
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moonhill

Magicman, are you sure on this "curing agent"?  I don't have a lot of experience with venison but fish I do.  Is there a difference between fish and venison? 

I have dried many pollack just salted and peppered to keep the flies at bay, hanging by the tail on the clothes line.  My Dad stashed one in a cookie tin and forgot about it for ten years.  My brother found it while cleaning up the shop....... he ate it, a ten year old dried fish, and survived.  For the most part the fish were just stored in mason jars, pull one out and peel the skin off like a candy bar.

Qweaver, does the jerky gun mash the meat or just cut it into fine strips? 

Tim 
This is a test, please stand by...

Magicman

Quote from: moonhill on December 02, 2009, 07:46:35 PM
Magicman, are you sure on this "curing agent"? Tim 

I'm sure enough.  I'm simply passing along information that is readily available with a little research.  What one does with it is their decision.

Tender Quick contains

Salt,Sugar

0.5% sodium nitrate
(perservatives) see below
0.5% sodium nitrite

propylene glycol

Propylene glycol (PG or MPG) is a colorless, odorless liquid1 which is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 21 CFR ยง 184.1666, for use as a direct food additive under the conditions prescribed. It is approved by the U.S. FDA for certain indirect food additive uses.2 PG is used in cosmetics and as an excipient (inert solvent or carrier) in pharmaceuticals. PG has a wide range of practical applications such as antifreezes, coolants and aircraft deicing fluids; heat transfer and hydraulic fluids; solvents; food; flavors and fragrances; cosmetics and personal care products; pharmaceuticals; chemical intermediates; plasticizers; and thermoset plastic formulations.3 See Product Uses.
PG is not acutely toxic (single dose, high exposure). It is essentially non-irritating to the skin and mildly irritating to the eyes. Numerous studies support that PG is not a skin sensitizer or a carcinogen.4 See Health Information.
Occupational and consumer exposure is possible because PG is used in a variety of consumer items. See Exposure Potential.
PG is not volatile and is miscible with water. It is not expected to bio-accumulate and it is not acutely toxic to water organisms except at very high concentrations.5 See


Sodium nitrate/nitrite
Sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and its close relative sodium nitrite (NaNO2) are preservatives that you find in lots of processed meats. Stuff like salami, hot dogs, pepperoni, bologna, ham, bacon and SPAM all normally contain sodium nitrate as one of the ingredients. Fresh meats generally do not contain any added chemicals, so the question is, "Why is sodium nitrate added to all of these processed meats?"

There are two reasons for adding these chemicals to processed meats:

They preserve the color of the meat (meaning that it looks pink like SPAM rather than gray like cooked hamburger). You have probably noticed that nearly all meats that contain sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite remain pink or red even though they are cooked during processing.
These chemicals inhibit botulism to some degree.
The jury is out on how harmful these substances are. Sodium nitrite reacts with stomach acid and other chemicals in the stomach to produce nitrosamines, which have been shown to cause cancer in animals when consumed in large quantities. However, there's not much sodium nitrate/nitrite in meats, and we consume sodium nitrate/nitrite from other foods as well, so it is not clear that they are harmful in the quantities we get from meats. Some people recommend that small children and pregnant women avoid these chemicals altogether just to be safe. Since neither canned chicken nor tuna have any redness to protect, they generally do not contain nitrates
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

LeeB

Lots of black pepper, brown sugar, soy sauce, worshestishire sause, mollasas, paprica, tabasco sause, a touch of chili powder, tenderquick. Seems like I put something else in there but I can't remeber what. I never use a recipe, just whatever feels good.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Fla._Deadheader


Used to leave large chunks of muscle whole. Bought a slicer and would block up the big pieces, to be able to cut, like sawing boards off of cants.

  Slice thin, made up a batch of mix using "Swamp Gator" or "Bull Gator" (it's hotter), brown sugar, Soy Sauce, Lemon pepper, and salt. Let it soak over night in the fridge. Stir it a couple times, so all is wetted.

  Next day, fire the smoker, and, before placing strips on the wire racks, add Sliced Apple wood pieces and the sawdust to the water pan.

  Never needed Cure, the stuff never get past 5 days in the fridge, and, I'm talking POUNDS of strips. Anyone that had a taste BEGGED for more. Never had enough Deer to supply the friends AND US.
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Qweaver

My uncle shot us another nice doe yesterday.
The girls and my uncle are down at the shed skinning and quartering it right now.  We will be making jerky all day long.  They bought jerky seasoning kits yesterday but we are also going to make some with our own concoction which will include Morton tender quick.  I've used it for years as part of my brisket rub.  Thanks for the suggestions.
Quinton
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

LeeB

'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Magicman

Sounds like he needs to share the jerky..... food6
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

LeeB

'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Don_Papenburg

So what did the cowboys use ?  grandma and grandpa never had tenderquick or sodium nitrate.  Cowboys used to  cary jerky with them as did the mountain men and trappers . It was a staple  on the frontier .   Did they salt the heck out of it or was it smoked real good or both?
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Qweaver

OK, jerky is all done and we made a bunch.  Over 15 lbs of ground deer.  Both of the deer were excellent.  We had back strap for lunch and it was just perfect. 
We used  Kroger Hickory and Mesquite seasoning for all of it and we added Tony Chacheres, worcestershire, and red pepper flakes to 5 lbs.
The mesquite is definetly better than the Hickory but our added ingrediants batch was by far the best to out tastes...but all three of us have lived it south Texas for the last 32 years and have learned to love spicy food.
We had a great time working up the deer yesterday and Uncle Lowell killed another doe today and plans to get another tomorrow.  It's hard to accept how many deer there are this year.  They are really fat but many will starve this winter.  I plan to feed during the worst of the winter and deer will be our main meat this winter.
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

LeeB

If I had a half a pound of venison foor every dollar's worth of corn I put keeping 'my' herd alive I would be able to feed half the county. I spend a lot of money keeping the little darlings alive and harvest very few of them. Them corn fed, spoiled, little cuties sure do taste good though.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

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