# Jerky Recipes



## archeryrob (Jul 31, 2020)

I have to kill a bunch of mountain deer on a family friends property. They eat a lot of Mountain laurel and other less tasty stuff and you know the You are what you eat thing.

So I am looking for more Jerky recipes to try. I will be cutting up whole deer for them and probably trying making my first smokehouse jerky. My wife has a banging Back pepper recipe and a teriyaki recipe, but I am looking for more ideas out there.

Suggestions? Recipes?


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## Gecko10 (Jul 31, 2020)

Wow! It's legal to do that in your state? Here, Fish and Game would be all over you, like white on rice.


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## thirdeye (Jul 31, 2020)

My thoughts on jerky are:
1. Don't disguise the meat you are working with.
2. I prefer a dry cure over a wet marinade.

The exception to thought #2 is.....  a lot of my friends make a marinated jerky that I really like! So on occasion I go that route.  For ideas I like to visit JerkyHolic.   Mix up the flavors, jerky is like sausage that you don't have to cook.  This is my standard style of jerky.


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## Winterrider (Jul 31, 2020)

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						OFG Jerky
					

I love jerky. It is so handy to have around for golf games, road trips or just snacking. I have been working on my jerky making and have tried several different methods and seasonings. I have finally settled on my go to base recipe and this is it. So, I have dubbed it OFG Jerky!  I start with...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				



Disco's  OFG jerky is excellent

Another very good is Bloody Mary Mix from either Waltons or Owens BBQ


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## archeryrob (Jul 31, 2020)

Gecko10 said:


> Wow! It's legal to do that in your state? Here, Fish and Game would be all over you, like white on rice.


Legal to do what? I am in Maryland in Region B and we get 10 does per season (bow, Muzzy and Rifle) and three bucks if you buy the extra stamp). Do I know anyone shooting that many? No, I might even have to give away deer this year to make this lady happy. Down near Baltimore they made does Unlimited again this year. Urban areas are over loaded.


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## crazymoon (Aug 1, 2020)

AR, Here is my favorite recipe  from Eldon Cutlips book and a little of my tweaking.This is for five pounds:

2 T salt

1tsp cure #1

2tsp chili powder

1T black pepper

1T white pepper

1T garlic powder

1 cup soy sauce (I use lite to cut back on salt)

1 cup Worcestershire  sauce

3 cups cold water

1 small v8

1T onion powder

2 swirls of molasses

1T red pepper flakes

marinate for 2 days and mix/shake around once and awhile


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## archeryrob (Aug 2, 2020)

thirdeye said:


> My thoughts on jerky are:
> 1. Don't disguise the meat you are working with.



It doesn't say where you're from, but mountain deer around here are not as good as valley deer which eat a lot of corn and soybean. Mountian deer eat mountain laurel and black oaks and none of that contributes to "the best" venison. I want to disguise this meat. I will probably cure some also as that did the trick for canada geese.

Thanks Crazymoon, but what is a  swirl of molasses? I ordered his book. Its cheaper on Amazon than his own store, with shipping.  
*Sausage And Jerky Handbook*


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## thirdeye (Aug 2, 2020)

I'm in Wyoming and we have mule deer, whitetail, elk and moose.  I will agree that deer feeding in valleys where we have loads of native grasses, or raiding farm crops are much better tasting. 







 We have another animal that has a very unique flavor, especially if not cared for as soon as they are harvested.... pronghorns (aka antelope, aka speed goats). They are prairie dwellers and eat grasses, shrubs, sage brush and the like.   Some people will definitely disguise the flavor on these guys, and some won't eat them period.


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## archeryrob (Aug 2, 2020)

I have figured out if I you eat geese you'll eat anything. I have farmer that will not take any geese we shoot.  The wife told me "You take them ALL on home. I don't want to even try eating one of them again."

Jerky was what I used to do with geese before curing them into easy pastrami with TQ, Black pepper and some onion and garlic powder. I couldn't give them away before and now I got people asking for some of the goose pastrami.

I can only eat so many snack stick and bologna. The girls just don;t gravitate to it. But leave jerky around and its gone.


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## thirdeye (Aug 2, 2020)

I was an upland bird hunter for many years, both for the sport and the table fare. And I live in the central flyway for geese and ducks... but can count on my hands the number I've harvested.  I just don't like to eat them roasted, smoked etc. I have had goose jerky and it's very good.


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## crazymoon (Aug 3, 2020)

archeryrob said:


> Thanks Crazymoon, but what is a swirl of molasses? I ordered his book. Its cheaper on Amazon than his own store, with shipping.


 AR, That is my add and I just pour a swirl on top of the brine,it's thick enough to sit on top for a swirl effect around the bowl.I like Cutlips book and hope you do as well!


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## FFchampMT (Aug 18, 2020)

thirdeye said:


> I'm in Wyoming and we have mule deer, whitetail, elk and moose.



Right?  I'm in MT and went "What the heck is a mountain deer and valley deer??"

Antelope are pretty gamey for a lot of people, for the most part we ate the loin and everything else went to jerky and snack sticks. Some magic can be worked with raspberry/blackberry sauces for fresh cuts but you can't escape that sage-y taste too much.


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## archeryrob (Aug 19, 2020)

Well that is exactly how you might describe mountain deer out here.  There is a noticable difference between the mountain and valley deer in table fare. Mountain deer are in woods, fields and yards and it affects their taste. Valley deer live in the farm area and better food and hence better flavor from corn, soybean, wheat, oat, rye and sorghum.

We live in the valley between South and Fairview Mountains where route 81 is located. We hunt a farm in the valley and get our steaks and all from them. Then a friend came to us with "Hunt my place and kill them all" and they live near the bottom of South Mountain. The deer are noticeable smaller from the poorer nutrition and limited food sources.


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## indaswamp (Aug 20, 2020)

archeryrob said:


> It doesn't say where you're from, but mountain deer around here are not as good as valley deer which eat a lot of corn and soybean. Mountian deer eat mountain laurel and black oaks and none of that contributes to "the best" venison. I want to disguise this meat. I will probably cure some also as that did the trick for canada geese.
> 
> Thanks Crazymoon, but what is a  swirl of molasses? I ordered his book. Its cheaper on Amazon than his own store, with shipping.
> *Sausage And Jerky Handbook*



Hey rob, I cut the meat to 40% venison and 60% pork; it makes excellent sausages and snack sticks. I just went through 45lbs. of canada goose meat making snack sticks, you could do the same with those mountain deer....would be better than jerky I would think.



archeryrob said:


> I can only eat so many snack stick and bologna



Ah...I should have kept reading....


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## archeryrob (Aug 20, 2020)

Yea the problem is I, me, is the only one eating snack sticks except when my son comes home and takes some. I open them and start eating them and to get rid of them sometimes its me and the dog eating them. I make my wife's favorite, Lebanon Bologna, and she hardly eats it.

My daughter gets on these eating kicks and avoids stuff like that and tells me to make more. You know how young girls are, eat salad all day so you can eat chocolate and ice cream at night.   She even had the nerve to call me today and said she wanted to can pickled eggs and to cut the calories add stevia instead of sugar for sweet pickled eggs. I said loudly "No, No, No, This is sacrilegious! Eat sweet eggs with sugar or make dill eggs. Eat less if you want to cut back. You're just going to make something no one, including you, will eat and waste a bunch of eggs."


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## tallbm (Aug 20, 2020)

Hey Rob this sounds like a lot of enjoyable hunting and harvesting!

I'm gonna throw out something a little different for you to chew on.
Have you ever made Jerky from ground meat?  

I much prefer it these days to sliced whole meat jerky.  It tastes just the same but with the added benefits of being softer on the chewing and its MUCH easier to manage when you want to make jerky.

Every year I hunt I keep about 30-40 pounds of 100% pure ground venison with no fat added.

If I want to do jerky I thaw it out and mix with seasoning + cure then roll into sheets.  I then separate like 1.5 inch strips using a butter knife and onto my silicon veggie grill mats they go and into the smoker for jerky!  Being so lean they jerky up like a champ.  No need to semi freeze slices and pull out the slicer etc.  

If I want to make sausage I grind up some pork fat and go 80/20  pure venison to pork fat and make sausage.
If I want to make venison pastrami sandwich meat I grind up beef fat and mix 80/20 pure venison to beef fat and make formed pastrami "loaves" to smoke and slice for sandwich meat.
If I want spaghetti or taco meat I just cook the meat as is.
If i want burgers with fat I again mix with beef fat.

You can see the flexibility and just so you know I keep about 5 pounds of ground beef and pork fat on hand so I can just mix it and go :)

If you are processing these animals u just add it to the grind step which is quick and then u always get enough to make any amount of jerky you want.  No need to scrimp and scrounge for whole roast cuts to hit a certain weight.  All good roasts as well as good scraps (front legs) can be turned into jerky with no issue.

Let me know how this sits with you as an option or maybe something to experiment with to compare like 5 pounds against your sliced jerky method :)


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## sandyut (Aug 24, 2020)

Winterrider said:


> Disco's OFG jerky is excellent


OFG is my go to!  In fact i dont make any other kind.


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