Big Game hunting is a big thing here in the Western US and Canada. So, whether you have come home with a deer, elk, moose, antelope, or a buffalo, you’ll find game jerky recipes for dehydrator, oven, grill, or smoker on this page and many other pages on this website to make homemade jerky.
The recipes on the page suggest leaving the oven door ajar while drying. Check out the information if you have a convection oven. Click Here – The Basics… A Trusty Oven
Jerky recipes for venison are probably the most sought-after recipes. If you haven’t seen the page on Tasty Venison, which tells you all the animals that come under the category of Venison, then take a quick read.
Below, you will find links to other pages with recipes for game meat as well as jerky recipes for ground meat of all types. Check them out. The first recipe on this page is for ground venison.
My last comment here is if you don’t want to use curing sugar or salt, which these recipes contain, you can leave it out or check out the page on ingredients as well as the all-natural jerky pages.
Tender Ground Jerky
- 10 lbs Deer, elk, moose, etc., ground (You can use a mixture of meats
- 2/3 c Curing sugar or curing salt in a pinch
- 1 tsp Cardamom
- 1 tsp Marjoram
- 1 TB MSG
- 1 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 2 TB Black pepper
- 3 TB Liquid smoke
- 2 TB Water
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
Begin preparation by deboning and removing the tendons and fat from the meat. It is essential that you remove all the fat, or it will go rancid.
Either grind the meat yourself or have someone grind it for you; a coarse grind gives the best results.
Mix the spices thoroughly and then add the spices a bit at a time while kneading the meat like bread dough. Put the meat in the fridge for at least 6 hours to allow the spices to work through the meat.
At this point, you prepare the meat for jerking. If you have an electric meat slicer, make the meat into logs about 4” x 14″; place the meat in the freezer until it is solid but not frozen, and then slice 1/8″ slices from end to end. You’ll end up with a big stack of circular patties.
If you don’t have a slicer, roll the meat out to a 1/8″ thickness between two pieces of wax paper. Remove the top paper, score the meat into strips, and place them in the freezer for about 45 minutes.
Remove the meat and break at the score marks. Place the jerky on wire racks and dry them in a 150° F. oven, leaving the door ajar so moisture can escape, and the heat does not build up.
Turn the jerky once or twice during drying and rotate the racks if the jerky near the elements begins to dry too fast. Meat should be left slightly pliable, which should take somewhere around 3 or 4 hours to get to.
Dehydrate yours to whatever point you like. Jerky can be stored for months in the freezer; the drier it is, the longer it lasts.
Colonel Stivers’ Beef, Deer, Elk, or Moose Jerky
This Recipe is by Hank from California
- 2 lbs. of flank steak
- 2/3 cup of soy sauce
- 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons of seasoning salt (recommend Lawry’s)
Slice flank steak diagonally with the grain of the meat into very thin slices (If slightly frozen, it slices more easily).
Combine ingredients and marinate the meat overnight for 12 hours. Be sure all pieces are covered (coated) with marinade.
Drain excess marinade. Place meat on paper towels to soak up the marinade. Meat should be squeezed as dry as possible in paper towels.
Place individual pieces of meat on a rack in the oven at 140° to 160° F for 7 to 12 hours or until meat is dry throughout.
Leave the oven door ajar (slightly open) during the drying process. Meat can also be hung in the oven by placing a wooden toothpick in each piece and strung from the rack.
Store finished jerky in an airtight container. It keeps for several months, but it is likely that it will be consumed by the master hunter, kids, or the cook within a few days.
HOT DAWG Deer Jerky
This is a marinade I made up several years ago. It is not for the faint of heart. However, you can alter the spice according to personal taste.
This will marinate about 10 pounds of venison.
Marinade
- 1 TB mint sauce
- 20 shakes of Frank’s red-hot sauce
- 2 TB Lea & Perrins steak sauce
- 1 bottle Allegro hot & spicy marinade
- 2 TB molasses
- 1/4 cup ground cayenne pepper
- 1/8 cup garlic salt
- 1/8 cup onion salt
- 2 TB seasoned meat tenderizer
- 1 tsp dried mint crushed
- 20 shakes of teriyaki sauce
- 3 TB McCormick Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
- 3 TB brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 20 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
Combine all ingredients in a plastic or glass jug and shake well. Place in fridge overnight and occasionally shake a few more times.
Take a deer back strap and slice it into 1/4-inch-thick strips going with the grain. A fillet knife works well for this.
Place venison in marinade and shake well to coat. Place in fridge overnight.
Remove from marinade and place in dehydrator for approximately 5 hours.
More Information and Recipes for Game Jerky
Dehydrating Meat in Your Home Oven
Big Game and Venison Jerky Recipes
Ingredients for Jerky – Game Meats, red meats, poultry, and pork…
A to Z Jerky – Just for fun… there are some animals that you didn’t know would make great jerky!