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The following guidelines
and secrets were written using deer as the "main" ingredient.
These guidelines were equally well with beef.
We'll start with some of the basics first, then get into the actual
recipe. (And I know of a least 50 different recipes for making deer jerky,
so I will just give you a basic one to start with. You can add or subtract
many of the ingredients as you experiment.)
1. I'll be talking about making "whole muscle" deer jerky. This
is not the same as ground and formed or hamburger type jerky.
The best piece of deer meat for jerky is the top round out of the deer
hind quarter or ham. This is the oblong shape muscle along side the
"thigh" bone. You could also use the boneless loin, but I don't
because it is really the best cut of the deer (expect for the tenderloin,
which is THE best).
2. If you don't have some kind of mechanical slicer, I suggest you buy one
or take the deer top round to a butcher shop for slicing. Rival and
Chefs'Choice are two companies who make food slicers for retail sale. The
reason why you need one? To make really good jerky, the jerky meat needs
to be the same thickness throughout the meat, one-fourth of an inch thick
is standard. It is impossible to cut the top round by hand consistently at
one-fourth of an inch.
Here's a good tip: freeze the deer top round about one hour in your
freezer before slicing, this will make it easier to slice!
I personally slice the meat across the grain. I think this is about 50/50
in the real world. Half the people say to slice it with the grain, the
other half against the grain. I've done it both ways many, many times, and
it seems that if you slice against the grain, the jerky is not so hard to
chew when it is dried. (And for people with bad teeth, like me, that is
worth trying slicing against the grain!)
3. I always use a rub for my "cure" for deer or beef jerky. Some
people use some type of liquid, such as soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce,
but I think the jerky tastes better without liquid. This is because you
are trying to remove all of the moisture out of the meat when you make
jerky, so why add extra to it.
4. As for as what seasonings
to use? I basically use salt, black pepper (fresh ground), red pepper
(powder and crushed), garlic salt or powder and sodium nitrite (more about
sodium nitrite in #5 step).
I mix the ingredients in a sealed one gallon container and keep in the
freezer between uses. Roughly, I personally use: 50% table salt; 25% black
pepper, 10% ground or powered red pepper, 10% ground garlic and 5% red
pepper flakes. This is my formula for what I call "Traditional"
jerky. I also
make a Bar-B-Q, Cajun, Peppered, and Hot jerky, by adding different
seasonings to this base.
5. Sodium nitrite, also called curing salt, is used VERY sparingly. The
recommendation from the government is 6.25%. This breaks down to 4 oz. per
100lbs, or 1 oz. per 25 lbs. Some people don't use curing salt to make
their jerky, but I HIGHLY recommend to for food safety. (A close
approximation would be 1 tsp. per 5 lbs. of meat.)
6. I sprinkle the seasoning on both sides of each jerky strip. (Sorry, but
I still just "eyeball" this, so I can't give you any exact
measurements.) I place the seasoned jerky strips in a plastic container,
cover with a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap loosely, and place in the
"refrigerator" for 20 hours. (I don't recommend over 24 hours, I
think this makes the meat mushy and less flavorful.)
7. I then lay the jerky strips on stainless steel screens in my smokehouse
for 6 to 6.5 hours at 150 to 165 degrees and smoke with Hickory
Sawdust. (You can also
hang the jerky strip with hangers if you don't have any screens
available.) A close approximation to this would be place in your oven for
about the same time and temp., and remember to leave the oven door
slightly open. This helps in moving air over the strips and drying the
meat.
That's about it. If you make a larger batch of jerky seasoning, you can
easily and safely freeze what you won't use in the immediate future. It
will last over a year easily.
Properly dried jerky is chewy and leathery. It will
be as brittle as a green stick, but won’t snap like a dry stick. To test
for the jerky for the proper dryness, remove a strip from the oven or
dehydrator. Let it cool slightly, then bend the jerky; it should crack,
but not break.
When the jerky is sufficiently dry, remove the strips
from the drying racks and put them on a clean surface. Pat off any beads
of oil with absorbent paper towels and let the jerky cool. Put the cooled
jerky strips in an airtight plastic food bag or jar with a tight fitting
lid. Pack jerky with the least possible amount of air trapped in the
container. Too much air changes the flavor and can make the jerky rancid.
Label and date the jerky packages. Store containers of jerky in a cool,
dry, dark place or the freezer.
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