I did something right this year and bagged a nice buck. ###Back in WI, almost all of my relatives turn a good portion of their venison into GROUND jerkey. ###I've always done slab style. ###I've got a grinder so I only need a press. ###Anyone else tried it ? ###Comments?
Hey Duke,
### ###Nice name - mine too. ###A press is kinda like a caulking gun or spritz cookie gun (for those of you with nice grandma's). ###You load the tube with ground meat and pull the trigger. ###The nozzle on a jerky press has a slot. ###Out comes a 1/8" X 1" slab ready for the dehydrator - you cut to length. ###They're in Cabelas.
Sorry QALHNTR, but my name isn't Duke. ###I couldn't think of a name so I used my favorite college team name. ###My name is Brett.
As far as the press or shooter I am planning on trying it too this year. ###I reccomend you use High Moutian Jerky cure. ###It is very good. ###Be sure to follow the directions carefully though. ###We just bought one too we usually just cut up the meat in slabs too.
I make jerky pretty regularly, and use my own marinades. I much prefer the texture of strips, to ground meat, but I don't deer hunt anymore, so my venison is usually scrounged from friends, and I can't be too picky. Almost any kind of game or fish (shark and Albacore are great) will do; just be sure to salt and pepper well, and get rid of as much fat as possible. I initially made the mistake of picking up one of those cheap dehydrators on sale at Harbor Freight Sales. With no fan, the jerky took a long time to dry, and dried very unevenly. One part was like tree bark, and splintered in your mouth, while the other end was still wet, and spoiled. Get a dehydrator with a good fan, or use the oven and turn the meat like crazy. A convection oven ###might work pretty well.
Merry Christmas to ME!
Well, I'm on my way to jerkey heaven. ###I got a dehydrator for Xmas, an American Harvet 1000. ###It's the same that all of the relatives have found to work the best. ###1000 watts with a great grid/fan system. After 13 years of marriage, I'm pretty picky about my gifts but it does make it easy for the wife when I give her the part number and 800 number.
Dear duke,
please inform me of the completion time and date, of the first batch, i may just have to stop by the shop and do a
unnessesary service call. ill bring the silver bullets
and razor sharp teeth for jerky.
p.s...dont forget the weekend of april 18th, we should be in hog heaven!!!!
OK Chain-Doggy,
### ### ###Went to Wally World on Friday night and picked up a press ($12) and 18 packs of seasoning. ###Ran a load last night. ###Probably a poor choice - but I used some of the hog sausage. ###A little too salty for my taste but the kids love it. ###One piece left. ###I'll send some your way.
I recently bought an American Harvest jerky shooter kit at Wally World for $12. ###It comes with season packs in it and you can also buy them separately. ###We marinade the ground deer overnite in a half bottle (5 oz.) of teriyaki sauce. ###Afterwards mix 1 pack seasoning to 1 lb. g. deer. ###Shoot out in strips and dry to desired texture. ###This is the best recipe we have found. ###If anyone has a good one to share we would be glad to try it. ###
I've seen the "shooter" at Walmart, and was wondering if anybody uses it in a normal oven?
I don't have a dehydrator, and don't see getting one in the near future, so I'd have to use my oven. ###Any tips on making jerky in the oven (ground or sliced - doesn't matter)
I've done it a few times in the oven. I set the oven at 175 to start and then backed it down to "warm" after fifteen minutes or so (it needed a kick start). ###I left the door cracked. ###It takes a LONG time this way. ###The dehydrator only took 4 hours to do about 40 strips. ###The oven was all day.
I use the "Jerky Shooter" and all of it is dried in the oven. ###I can do about 25 strips in 1hr and 45min at 200 degrees with the door closed. ###I turn the strips halfway through the process and it works great...
Let me know ###how the grind jerky comes out. ###I have been making the strip type for about 10 Years now. I would like to know the benifit from grinding. Seems like an extra step to me.
I tried ground jerky this year after years of cutting the meat in strips. I already have a large supply of ground deer from each deer for burger, meat loaf,tacos, so I bought a shooter and tried it for jerky. It is much better in eveybodys opinion that has tried it. It is less work we just get out the ground deer put it in a shallow dish pour the teriyaki sauce on it. After a couple hours put in shooter and press out strips. No cutting each strip and trimming fat and ligament off. takes about 5 minutes to shoot 3 lbs. of jerky out. just did a load today Hmmmm good!
###TRY IT YOU"LL LIKE IT!
I've made a "ton" of jerky in both the dehydrator and the oven and some of the best was made in the oven.
Like DUke said above, I recommend getting some Hi-Mountain jerky cure. It comes with some pretty detailed instructions on making jerky. Using their instructions, it only cooks about an hour and a half in the oven at 200 Degrees. Takes a while to "cure" though.
The mixtures they sell actually "cure" the meat intead of just taking all the moisture from it. The meat will turn pink (just like bacon) when it is cooked. and you don't have to cook/dry it for very long. This makes for some easy to chew jerky.
If you look closely at their jerky board, it is just a cutting board with 1/4" lip on one side and a 3/8" lip on the other side. A friend made one for me in exchange for some jerky. It makes the whole muscle cuts of jerky easier to do. All you need is a knife that is long enough to go across the board and still have some room to move it back and forth to cut the meat.
After that, once you have cured your meat, take some toothpicks, stick them through one end of the meat strips and hang them from an upper rack in your oven (I recommend putting a drip tray under the meat to keep from smoking up your wife's kitchen) Cook for 1 1/2 hours and you're done.
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