Half of my venison jerky is gray?!

[Whatle]

First time for 2 things for me.. vertical smoker(used a smoke tube since running low temp) and marinating/ curing with a liquid mix(smokin gun from scheels) well my sliced deer came out good but probably a 1/3 to ¹/2 came out gray instead of dark red like normal!? Same dryness and still tastes good just wondering what couldve happened.. my thoughts was i didnt mix it enuf and not all got cured tho even those pieces were still plenty salty

 

[thirdeye]

I think you are correct. I bet your cure was not distributed evenly. Beef can look somewhat pale or bland before processing into jerky, so a curing agent is used more for flavor, texture and color. Safety wise, a curing agent will protect you if long, low temperature smoking (or drying) times are used. But usually you are out of the danger zone in an hour or two.

Here is some jerked beef with cure just going in to the dehydrator. And then when it comes out.