Easy Homemade Venison Jerky
Venison Jerky is a quick and easy way to make a delicious, healthy, low carb snack your family will love.
Jerky is a favorite snack at our house.
My family enjoys jerky so much that it rarely lasts very long when I make it. Today I am going to share with you my tips and how I make venison jerky for my family. This method and recipe can also be used with beef or other game meats.
Making jerky at home is super easy and the results are so much healthier than what you can buy in the store.
Jerky is one of those things that always catches someone in my families attention near the check out line in the store. So they are always wanting to buy it. I am tempted too but when I read the ingredient list it usually changes my mind. I am so glad that I can make jerky at home and leave out all of the questionable ingredients and the sugar. You can easily make healthy jerky at home too. All you need are a few ingredients and an oven or dehydrator. The prep time is pretty short and the oven or dehydrator does the rest of the work for you.
Drying meat is nothing new.
People have been drying meat or making jerky for thousands of years. It is one of the earliest forms of meat preservation. Dried meat is great to have in your emergency preparedness stash. If properly dehydrated it keeps for a long time and rarely spoils.
It is also the perfect healthy snack to grab when you are on the go. It is perfect to take hiking or camping because it is so light weight and doesn’t spoil easily.
What cut of meat should you use to make jerky?
For my jerky I used a venison roast, but I have also used other cuts of meat. Roasts, back strap, tenderloin and even stew meat can be used.
Preparing your meat.
The most important thing for you to do when using venison is that you make sure to cut out and remove all of the white fat that is on the meat. Fat in your meat can cause your jerky to spoil. In venison there is also a clear/white film over some of the meat that needs to be removed. When using venison you need to remove it all because if you don’t, it will cause your meat to have an off taste. It took me several years of cooking venison and not being happy with the results before I learned how important it is to remove all of the white. Once you have done this step you are ready to get started.
Ingredients you will need for making jerky.
- Soy Sauce
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Ketchup
- Salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
Also don’t try to skimp on the salt. Salt is an important part of the preservation of the meat.
Steps to Making Jerky
- After trimming your meat slice it into 1/4″ slices with the grain of the meat.
- Prepare your marinate with the included recipe.
- Marinate meat f0r 1-24 hours.
- Place in dehydrator or oven for the specified time.
- After a few hours check regularly to make sure you don’t over dehydrate.
- Enjoy!
Venison Jerky
Ingredients
- 1 pound Meat
- 4 T Soy Sauce
- 4 T Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 T Ketchup
- 2 T Water
- 1/4 tsp each Garlic powder, onion powder, & black pepper.
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Add all of the liquid ingredients to a bowl. Next add the dry ingredients. Mix well then add the meat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator. You need to marinate your meat for at least 1 hour. I like to marinate mine overnight.
- After marinating, drain your meat then place it on the tray of your dehydrator. Don't overlap your meat, leave space around each piece so that it gets good air flow.
- Dehydrate your meat according to your particular dehydrator instructions. Be sure to check your meat often so that you do not over cook it. You want it to be bendable without breaking. If you don't have a dehydrator you can use your oven at around 200 degrees. Check often to make sure that you don't overcook it.
- If you plan to store this for very long, store it in the refrigerator. At our house it doesn't last long enough to refrigerate.
- Enjoy!
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This makes jerky look so much easier than I thought!