# Ground Venison Jerky, New Approach Success!!!



## tallbm (Dec 6, 2020)

Here's the Q-View then the writeup:






















So I think I may have reached the end of my jerky evolution hahaha.
This was the last 10 pounds of my 100% ground venison I had form last year's hunt [no hunting this year :(  ]

Yep that is 10 pounds flattened into 4 sheets and loaded into the smoker on q-mats.
The meat was roughly just over 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick when smashed into sheets.
I smashed it flat onto parchment paper into rectangular shape that would fit onto my q-mats.  No rolling pin just my hand with a glove on it smashed onto a sheet of parchment paper for each rack I was loading.

Before I took this leap I was doing the same BUT then taking a butter knife and forming my jerky strips before it went into the smoker.  The problem is that left a lot of little pieces of meat that turned into jagged edges or points which is not friendly to the mouth.   So after seeing someone post where they did think sheets and then cut with meet scissors I decided to take the leap and try it myself.
I won't be doing my jerky any other way!

This was done with 2 packs of LEM's Original Jerky seasoning.  One pack was super old and the other pack was newer.  It seems the newer seasoning is different from the older seasoning.  I like the older one better as the new one has some sort of black flecks of something in it that kinda taste strong and I dont like them.  I'm not sure what it is or maybe I'm taking a ton of fennel or something in the new seasoning that wasn't an ingredient in the old seasoning.   Either way they came out good but I will be avoiding that flavor going forward.

*My Evolution:*

A long time ago I did whole muscle jerky in a dehydrator which was good but takes some effort with slicing and is way tougher in the teeth.  I discovered ground meat jerky and it had so many advantages over sliced whole muscle jerky I switched to it.
I hunt and processing having a to of 100% of venison jerky was awesome since I could substitute it for anything ground beef that I eat AND still be able to do jerky when I wanted... Max flexibility here.  Doing ground meat jerky I bought a jerky gun.  It was nice but even the largest jerky cannon out there doesn't take even 2 pounds of meat and it's slow loading and messing with it.  Plus there is more stuff to clean and not all of it dishwasher safe.
Next I saw people rolling out ground jerky into sheets so I gave it a shot and worked well but I would make my jerky strips using a butter knife to separate the meat with a butter knife.  This left jagged points and areas of the jerky where the meat dehydrated so that was a downside.  The upside was that I didnt use a roller and just smashed with my hand so WAY FEWER things getting dirty and having to clean up and the jerky process was WAY faster than the cannon.  The jerky came out great as well
Finally,  I have now done the whole sheet jerky which is even faster on time AND I just cut my strips to size with meat scissors.  I can do a 10 pound batch of jerky faster than I could do jerky in any way I would do it before.  Also this jerky is thicker which I was confident would work because the jerky cannon would do "tubes" of jerky which was this thicker or more and it came out fine.  I have now confirmed it is all good to go AND I can load 10 pounds of meat into the smoker for doing nice big sized batches making it more bang for the buck with all the trouble and mess :)
*Cook/Smoke Info:*

Smoker Temp 200F
Applied smoke 3-4 hrs (mix of char oak, mesquite, alder)
Took roughly 5-6 hrs (i didnt time it I just put it in around 2-3pm and pulled around 7-8pm when done)
Rotated racks periodically (3 times total?) to evenly dehydrate the sheets


Anyhow thanks everyone for the inspiration and helping me get to this point.  Now I just need to get back to deer hunting next year for more venison and I need to stay away from whatever the hell that seasoning is that I've encountered in 2 different jerky packs I've had on hand because I do NOT like the taste of it.
After I am done with all this jerky seasoning I was gifted or came came with equipment I will focus on my own simple jerky seasonings.  I haven't had to because I had all of these packs to go through haha.

Let me know if you have any questions about this adventure :)


----------



## JLeonard (Dec 6, 2020)

Looks like its gonna be delicious. Only question I have is.,,,,,,,Where do I line up for some?   
Jim


----------



## pa42phigh (Dec 6, 2020)

Looks great love the color


----------



## Winterrider (Dec 6, 2020)

That does look excellent.
 I was rolling out in one gallon zip lock bags but I could only get the 5# in the smoker then. I may just try flattening as much as possible and then maybe lay another piece of parchment paper on top to get it all uniform at least enough to cover the q-mats. I also gave up on the jerky canon, works good but time consuming.


----------



## Brokenhandle (Dec 6, 2020)

Sure looks good to me! And much faster

Ryan


----------



## tallbm (Dec 7, 2020)

JLeonard said:


> Looks like its gonna be delicious. Only question I have is.,,,,,,,Where do I line up for some?
> Jim


Hahahaha I'm afraid there won't be any life by the time u get in line :P


pa42phigh said:


> Looks great love the color


Thanks!  Yeah it has a great look to it.  Nothing special on my end just the color of cure and venison :) 



Winterrider said:


> That does look excellent.
> I was rolling out in one gallon zip lock bags but I could only get the 5# in the smoker then. I may just try flattening as much as possible and then maybe lay another piece of parchment paper on top to get it all uniform at least enough to cover the q-mats. I also gave up on the jerky canon, works good but time consuming.


Yeah my approach was to make sure I could get 10 pounds in and knowing how thick the tube jerky is I wasn't afraid of just having 4 sheets of this stuff as even as my eyeball and hand could flatten it haha.  Just know that you will lose some meat sticking to the parchment paper but its just the cost of doing business :)




Brokenhandle said:


> Sure looks good to me! And much faster
> 
> Ryan


Oh yeah much faster than any other method I have tried.
I think the only thing that MAY speed it up would be to use 2 gallon bags and see if they were big enough to fill and roll out.  It would get more uniform and be faster but not sure if the size would match what I need.  Maybe next time I'll experiment with it :)


----------



## pineywoods (Dec 7, 2020)

Smoker Temp 200F
Applied smoke 3-4 hrs (mix of char oak, mesquite, alder)
Took roughly 5-6 hrs (i didnt time it I just put it in around 2-3pm and pulled around 7-8pm when done)
Rotated racks periodically (3 times total?) to evenly dehydrate the sheets
It looks great. Did you leave it in the smoker the entire time or did you switch to a dehydrator after you applied the smoke?


----------



## chopsaw (Dec 7, 2020)

Looks good . I agree , nice color .


----------



## tallbm (Dec 7, 2020)

pineywoods said:


> Smoker Temp 200F
> Applied smoke 3-4 hrs (mix of char oak, mesquite, alder)
> Took roughly 5-6 hrs (i didnt time it I just put it in around 2-3pm and pulled around 7-8pm when done)
> Rotated racks periodically (3 times total?) to evenly dehydrate the sheets
> It looks great. Did you leave it in the smoker the entire time or did you switch to a dehydrator after you applied the smoke?


Smoker the entire time.  I do have an oven convection fan installed in my MES so I'm sure that helps things out some but I don't imagine an MES without a fan installation would fare too much differently.  Just allot a good amount of time to do it like 8 hours and you should be in the ball park.


----------



## dave in indiana (Dec 7, 2020)

Adding that to my "to-do"list!  Great write up and photos.


----------



## Bearcarver (Dec 7, 2020)

Tall---Genius!!!
Nice Job!!
Love It !!
Like.

Bear


----------



## tallbm (Dec 7, 2020)

dave in indiana said:


> Adding that to my "to-do"list!  Great write up and photos.


Thanks!  I look forward to seeing what you make :)


Bearcarver said:


> Tall---Genius!!!
> Nice Job!!
> Love It !!
> Like.
> ...



Thanks!

Oh towards the end I cut the sheets in half in the smoker and rotated the middle part to the outside.  Forgot to mention that.  At that point it was already whipped and is a logical thing to do :)


----------



## zwiller (Dec 8, 2020)

Just got a jerky gun and it came with nozzles for this kind of stuff and has me curious.  Is the end product like the Jack Links beef steak things at the gas station?


----------



## disco (Dec 8, 2020)

Looks great! It nice when you get it the way you want. Big like!


----------



## tallbm (Dec 8, 2020)

zwiller said:


> Just got a jerky gun and it came with nozzles for this kind of stuff and has me curious.  Is the end product like the Jack Links beef steak things at the gas station?


Yeah for the most part.  Your jerky will be a lot purer and less greasy than those.  I think they do extra things to make their jerky shelf stable hence there's having like an oil layer.  Theirs is also a "chunkier" texture than what you will make.  I'm not sure how they do that, I'm guessing a bigger grind. 
You will love what you make and if like a lot of us you won't go back to sliced muscle jerky due to how good this stuff is and how much less of an overall hassle it is.  
Pro tip, don't do bother with ground meat that has more than 12% fat.  You have to wipe the fat/oil off a few times during the smoke/dehydration.  Costco sales 88/12 so you can get by with it but the leaner the meat the better.  With my 100% Venison burger grind I have no such issues at all :)



disco said:


> Looks great! It nice when you get it the way you want. Big like!


Oh yeah it is.  Thanks Disco!


----------



## Fueling Around (Dec 8, 2020)

Great post C

Sorry to hear no hunting this year.
I passed up 12 deer on opening day.  Never saw them again even after giving them a 5 day rest.

I detest the jerky others have given me that came out of a "cannon".

You and 

 Winterrider
 have me rethinking ground meat jerky


----------



## tallbm (Dec 9, 2020)

Fueling Around said:


> Great post C
> 
> Sorry to hear no hunting this year.
> I passed up 12 deer on opening day.  Never saw them again even after giving them a 5 day rest.
> ...


Oh man! I hope you get some shooters soon.
Ground jerky is the only way for me now.  When procing 9-14 deer/pigs at once it becomes a matter of practicality to be as efficient as possible.  Making jerky from 100% venison ground really helps me keep my processing as efficient as I can make it with my setup and practices.

Feel free to buy 1 pound of 90+ ground beef (leaner the better)  when it is on sale and give it a shot!  You will likely want to find a tried and true seasoning recipe vs buying jerky seasoning pack that may be hit or miss with flavor but since it's all small scale experimenting you can go either way.  It's not like you may ruin a ton of meat :)


----------



## Fueling Around (Dec 9, 2020)

Deer hunting is done for the season.  I got out for the 2 weekends of rifle (center fire), but never got out for muzzle due to health issues.
Forgot to ask if you used the Rooibos tea in the seasoning?
My wife drinks it all the time.  Maybe if I told her it is in the seasoning ....


----------



## tallbm (Dec 9, 2020)

Fueling Around said:


> Deer hunting is done for the season.  I got out for the 2 weekends of rifle (center fire), but never got out for muzzle due to health issues.
> Forgot to ask if you used the Rooibos tea in the seasoning?
> My wife drinks it all the time.  Maybe if I told her it is in the seasoning ....



Its still goin here.
No hah no Rooibos in the seasoning,  just had it on the counter.  If i drink any caffeine I cant sleep so only non-caffeine teas and drinks for me :)


----------



## zwiller (Dec 10, 2020)

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.


----------



## tallbm (Dec 10, 2020)

zwiller said:


> 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 (Dec 10, 2020)

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

Warren


----------



## HalfSmoked (Dec 11, 2020)

Thanks for the like tallbm it is appreciated.

Warren


----------



## zwiller (Dec 11, 2020)

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 (Dec 13, 2020)

zwiller said:


> 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 (Dec 13, 2020)

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 (Dec 13, 2020)

zwiller said:


> 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 (Dec 13, 2020)

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?


zwiller said:


> ...
> 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 (Dec 14, 2020)

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


----------



## zwiller (Dec 15, 2020)

Fueling Around said:


> 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 (Dec 15, 2020)

Fueling Around said:


> 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 (Dec 15, 2020)

zwiller said:


> 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.  


tallbm said:


> 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°.


----------

