Many hunters have a one-track mind this time of the year – deer hunting. While some hunt for sport only, many take the opportunity to stock up on meat. Venison is a delicious meat, can be stored in the freezer or home-canned and used in any way beef can be used. It’s a more healthy meat and less in fat. Something my family looks forward to every year is deer jerky. Deer jerky is very easy to make in your dehydrator.
-Cut meat into strips 5-inches long by 1-inch wide by 1/2-inch or less thick. Do not cut against the grain; cut lengthwise with the muscle. To make your meat easier to cut, you can partially freeze it, although it isn’t necessary. Partially frozen meat is always easier to cut.
-Rinse your strips of meat until the water runs clear.
-Next, you marinate your meat. You may want to experiment with different marinades to come up with the one you like best, but the following marinade recipe is especially formulated for deer jerky and is guaranteed to make mouth-wateringly delicious jerky.
-Whisk all ingredients together thoroughly. Marinade will have a strong taste. The stronger it tastes, the more flavor your jerky will have. More seasoning is required to create a stronger flavor because the heat of the drying process weakens the spices and therefore; the taste.
-Thoroughly immerse meat in marinade, stirring to be sure all surfaces of the meat are immersed.
-Refrigerate, covered, for 24 hours, stirring 2 to 3 times. You can use a gallon freezer bag to marinate or any covered container.
-After meat has marinated for 24 hours, remove from marinade and thouroughly drain using a colander or place meat on a cookie rack over a pan to drain, turning meat to drain both sides.
-You may want to line the bottom of your dehydrator with tin foil to catch drippings, but drippings are usually small and easy to clean up, it isn’t a necessity. Some dehydrators have pre-set temperatures and need only to be plugged in. If yours has a setting, 130°F – 140°F is the ideal temperature for drying meats.
-Arrange meat in a single layer on each dehydrator tray, close but not touching (to allow air circulation).
-Drying time will depend on how thick your meat is cut and also on the type of dehydrator you have. It is essential that you diligently rotate the trays and turn the strips of meat over several times during the drying time. When it has dried enough, the meat will be brown, hard and dry to the touch. If you like your jerky a little softer, dry for a lesser amount of time, but it should be eaten within a few days as it may not be 100% dried out.
-Allow jerky to completely cool to room temperature before storing.
-Store your jerky in plastic ziplock bags, jars with lids, or any sealable container. Very dry jerky can be stored in sealable containers for up to 6 months. Softer Jerky can be stored for short periods of time in the refrigerator and longer periods of time in your freezer.
