Ground Venison Jerky, New Approach Success!!!

[tallbm]

I deliberately hid my opinion of the beef steaks... LOVE them. Very much would like to replicate. Thanks for the cliff notes: fat content, larger grind, etc. My favorite is the pepper one and 99% sure there is no way to hit that pepper note with spices and will need an extract or an oleoresin as I see on the ingredients.

Yeah I'm a huge fan of jerky and my favorite is also the pepper sticks!
I buy really good coarse black pepper that is super flavorful and actually has some heat to it at times. I would imagine a really good and fresh pepper may get you somewhat close to what you are wanting.

Even if you cant get the "chunkier" texture you can definitely get the thickness handled. My sticks are almost as thick as those bought in the store or gas station maybe 1/8 or 3/16 of an inch skinnier. I would just need to make a thicker meat sheet and/or dehydrate less if I wanted thicker.

I would like to find a go-to general/original "jerky" seasoning. I may just use the Lem's Original Snackstick seasoning which does not have those black flecks and that stronger taste or seasoning I don't care for. I think it may be some kind of fennel, fennel seed, or something in that family which is totally unnecessary for an "original" jerky flavor. I could always just go salt, pepper, garlic, and onion but I like having a 5 pound option I can easily pick up that comes with cure in the case I run out of cure I get everything in one shot. Or when my brother decides he wants help making jerky I can tell him to buy a pack and be done with it haha.

 

[HalfSmoked]

For sure a fantastic idea and now it is tried and proven. So any errors I would make would be on me.

Warren

 

[HalfSmoked]

Thanks for the like tallbm it is appreciated.

Warren

 

[zwiller]

Thanks. Huge pepper fan and fresh is the only way. Night and day difference. Like basil or cilantro. Just grabbed another pepper steak last night and making something even remotely similar would be killer. Been researching this ground jerky stuff and see many guys are like me (no deer and cheap SOB) and use 80/20 and just deal with it. I might stick to it until I dial something in as $2lb here.

Not sure if you tried Owens mixes but last year I was in the Christmas exchange and was gifted probably the best jerky I ever had and was told it was Owens. It was seriously hard to stop eating... I ordered a bunch but have not run any yet. Heads up though, I think all or most have the smoke in the mix so... Although I have dehydrator I might still use MES just no smoke.

I will definitely do your method if I ever get up to that size but my batches are normally 1kg/2.2lbs. Having used a caulk gun from and young age I probably HAVE used one for 10K hours so I might be able actually say I am a master with it so using a jerky gun is second nature to me.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks. Huge pepper fan and fresh is the only way. Night and day difference. Like basil or cilantro. Just grabbed another pepper steak last night and making something even remotely similar would be killer. Been researching this ground jerky stuff and see many guys are like me (no deer and cheap SOB) and use 80/20 and just deal with it. I might stick to it until I dial something in as $2lb here.

Not sure if you tried Owens mixes but last year I was in the Christmas exchange and was gifted probably the best jerky I ever had and was told it was Owens. It was seriously hard to stop eating... I ordered a bunch but have not run any yet. Heads up though, I think all or most have the smoke in the mix so... Although I have dehydrator I might still use MES just no smoke.

I will definitely do your method if I ever get up to that size but my batches are normally 1kg/2.2lbs. Having used a caulk gun from and young age I probably HAVE used one for 10K hours so I might be able actually say I am a master with it so using a jerky gun is second nature to me.

I saw a guy online once use something like 80/20 in his oven and his approach was to turn the oven heat up so he intentionally fatted out the meat hahaha. He had them in "tube" form rather than sheets or sticks.
He had a pan to catch all the fat and after they let go of their fat he pulled them out and wiped them down and let em cool a bit then he went about it again, wiped em down and turned the heat down to then dehydrate it.
It seemed to work but main looked like a pain to me hahah.

Personally I would just buy some leaner beef when its like $2/lb, trim it and grind it and then problem solved. Briskets are $1.97/lb this week at kroger so I would just use that and trim all the fat off and use the good fat for making sausage :)

I'm actually thinking about making my 1st chicken sausage because boneless skinless chicken breast is on sale $0.97/lb and I have plenty of pork and beef fat and if I want to use beef fat I can also buy and trim a brisket too hahaha.

I need to post and ask about making chicken sausage from breast meat and adding pork fat. I need to know what to expect and what sausage would be best to make :)

 

[zwiller]

As fate would have it my Sam's carries 90/10 for $2.68 so that is what I will use. I should have asked, you still mix and extract proteins like sausage when doing this ground jerky, right? Was talking to lady in my office and they do it like you in sheets and says she likes to use a pizza cutter to cut hers. Everyone knows about ground jerky except me...

Around here bone in chicken thighs run cheap. $.59/lb. I just ran some weisswurst that was 50/50 butt/thighs. I kept most of the skin on the chicken. Turned out perfect. Breast+pork fat could even be better... BSCB are $3/lb when on sale here. I swear most people have an issue with the bones. I plan to run TONS of chicken sausage. I want to convert my family to sausage.

 

[tallbm]

As fate would have it my Sam's carries 90/10 for $2.68 so that is what I will use. I should have asked, you still mix and extract proteins like sausage when doing this ground jerky, right? Was talking to lady in my office and they do it like you in sheets and says she likes to use a pizza cutter to cut hers. Everyone knows about ground jerky except me...

Around here bone in chicken thighs run cheap. $.59/lb. I just ran some weisswurst that was 50/50 butt/thighs. I kept most of the skin on the chicken. Turned out perfect. Breast+pork fat could even be better... BSCB are $3/lb when on sale here. I swear most people have an issue with the bones. I plan to run TONS of chicken sausage. I want to convert my family to sausage.

Yeah 90/10 for that price is a decent option for ya. Not many leaner options.
Just know that you will get some "sweat" on yours which is just that bit of fat coming out. You can wipe it off periodically and it won't cause any problems. I've done plenty of costco ground meat in jerky.
Yeah just mix the jerky seasoning in like you mix seasoning in for sausage. I think this is where I lose my "chunky" texture but I would rather it taste amazing vs have a certain feel or look.
A pizza cutter may work well after it is all done in sheets, I've heard of it and it's not a bad option.
I'm going to stick with my meat scissors because I don't have to dirty a cutting board to use a pizza cutter, I'm only dirtying the scissors in this case hahha :D

That's awesome you get chicken thighs for that cheap. Today they are also $0.97/lb but that isn't too common. The boneless skinless breast is often on sale for $1.67/lb and every few months $0.97/lb so knowing that I'd like to get the breast sausage going knowing who my local sales have been going!
I did buy a pack of the thighs for dinner tonight and for lunch during the week. I made like an enchilada bake with them but no tortillas, I'm watching my carbs and sugars :)

 

[Fueling Around]

My favorite meat sticks are jalapeno cheddar from my friend's meat shop. Problem is he charges a lot of money.

Have you tried shredded high temp cheese in the sheet method is that not possible without a casing?

...
Not sure if you tried Owens mixes but last year I was in the Christmas exchange and was gifted probably the best jerky I ever had and was told it was Owens. It was seriously hard to stop eating... I ordered a bunch but have not run any yet. Heads up though, I think all or most have the smoke in the mix so... Although I have dehydrator I might still use MES just no smoke.
...

Which flavor of Owens jerky seasoning?

 

[Winterrider]

The pizza cutter trick did not work very well for me. Meat scissor worked good.

 

[zwiller]

Which flavor of Owens jerky seasoning?

Sorry I missed this... He sent 2 kinds. My favorite was a mix of hickory and chipotle. The other was mesquite. Both killer and way better than the usual stuff you can buy. I can get some Amish stuff that is killer but this stuff bested it. One thing I forget is the Owens stuff is designed for the dehydrator and contains smoke flavor.

 

[tallbm]

My favorite meat sticks are jalapeno cheddar from my friend's meat shop. Problem is he charges a lot of money.

Have you tried shredded high temp cheese in the sheet method is that not possible without a casing?
Which flavor of Owens jerky seasoning?

I've never put any high temp cheese in it but I bet I could if I dehydrated at a lower temp than 200F. Would be interesting :)

 

[Fueling Around]

Sorry I missed this... He sent 2 kinds. My favorite was a mix of hickory and chipotle. The other was mesquite. Both killer and way better than the usual stuff you can buy. I can get some Amish stuff that is killer but this stuff bested it. One thing I forget is the Owens stuff is designed for the dehydrator and contains smoke flavor.

Thanks Sam
I just had some whole muscle venison from my buddy. He used ? package from Walmart and finished in Traeger. No smoke flavor or aroma. I think a Owens blend would pair well with pellet pooper.

I've never put any high temp cheese in it but I bet I could if I dehydrated at a lower temp than 200F. Would be interesting :)

High temperature cheese goes well above 200°.