There are as many jerky recipes as there are people making jerky. This basic recipe is great “as is” but also a fine platform for tinkering.
Play around with the recipe all you want, but two guidelines should be followed:
Cure is found under multiple names. A couple are “Prague Powder #1” or “Instacure #1”. They may be available from your butcher but are easily found online. No matter what the name, cure is a pinkish 1:16 salt/Sodium nitrite mixture (6.25% sodium nitrite).
Some recipes just call it “pink salt” but don’t get confused — that term is also used nowadays for salt mined in the Himalayan mountains, which naturally bears a pink color but is NOT, repeat NOT a cure.
This recipe works equally well with ground or sliced venison. If substituting domestic meat, use only lean cuts. When slicing, try to make the thickness consistent. I prefer 3/8″, which is a bit on the thick side and takes longer to dry. I think 1/4″ is more normal, some even try for 1/8″.
Accurate slices come much easier with a jerky slicer. I started with an old-style one like this but found it slow and fussy. Then I bought this expensive attachment for my grinder, which works great. But if I had it to do over again I’d probably try this less expensive manual one.
Many cuts will work but I find round roasts are the best. Trim the meat well before slicing. Traditionally jerky is sliced with the grain, but you can always slice against the grain if you prefer your jerky crumbly rather than chewy. Of course ground venison works great too and people love it, but I prefer the traditional sliced.
Play around with the recipe all you want, but two guidelines should be followed:
- Keep the ratio of salt and soy sauce to meat accurate
- If you will be smoking the jerky, use a cure.
Cure is found under multiple names. A couple are “Prague Powder #1” or “Instacure #1”. They may be available from your butcher but are easily found online. No matter what the name, cure is a pinkish 1:16 salt/Sodium nitrite mixture (6.25% sodium nitrite).
Some recipes just call it “pink salt” but don’t get confused — that term is also used nowadays for salt mined in the Himalayan mountains, which naturally bears a pink color but is NOT, repeat NOT a cure.
This recipe works equally well with ground or sliced venison. If substituting domestic meat, use only lean cuts. When slicing, try to make the thickness consistent. I prefer 3/8″, which is a bit on the thick side and takes longer to dry. I think 1/4″ is more normal, some even try for 1/8″.
Accurate slices come much easier with a jerky slicer. I started with an old-style one like this but found it slow and fussy. Then I bought this expensive attachment for my grinder, which works great. But if I had it to do over again I’d probably try this less expensive manual one.
Many cuts will work but I find round roasts are the best. Trim the meat well before slicing. Traditionally jerky is sliced with the grain, but you can always slice against the grain if you prefer your jerky crumbly rather than chewy. Of course ground venison works great too and people love it, but I prefer the traditional sliced.
>> Hover here for the USDA position on safe jerky processing <<
(Excerpted from the USDA “Jerky and Food Safety” document)
Illnesses due to Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 from homemade jerky raise questions about the safety of traditional drying methods for making beef and venison jerky. The USDA … recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F before the dehydrating process. This step assures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat. But most dehydrator instructions do not include this step, and a dehydrator may not reach temperatures high enough to heat meat to 160 °F or 165 °F.
After heating to 160 °F or 165 °F, maintaining a constant dehydrator temperature of [no less than] 130 to 140 °F during the drying process is important because:
the process must be fast enough to dry food before it spoils; and it must remove enough water that microorganisms are unable to grow. Why is it a food safety concern to dry meat without first heating it to 160 °F?
The danger in dehydrating meat and poultry without cooking it to a safe temperature first is that the appliance will not heat the meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F — temperatures at which bacteria are destroyed — before the dehydrating process. After drying, bacteria become much more heat resistant.
Within a dehydrator or low-temperature oven, evaporating moisture absorbs most of the heat. Thus, the meat itself does not begin to rise in temperature until most of the moisture has evaporated. Therefore, when the dried meat temperature finally begins to rise, the bacteria have become more heat resistant and are more likely to survive. If these surviving bacteria are pathogenic, they can cause foodborne illness to those consuming the jerky.
Illnesses due to Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 from homemade jerky raise questions about the safety of traditional drying methods for making beef and venison jerky. The USDA … recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F before the dehydrating process. This step assures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat. But most dehydrator instructions do not include this step, and a dehydrator may not reach temperatures high enough to heat meat to 160 °F or 165 °F.
After heating to 160 °F or 165 °F, maintaining a constant dehydrator temperature of [no less than] 130 to 140 °F during the drying process is important because:
the process must be fast enough to dry food before it spoils; and it must remove enough water that microorganisms are unable to grow. Why is it a food safety concern to dry meat without first heating it to 160 °F?
The danger in dehydrating meat and poultry without cooking it to a safe temperature first is that the appliance will not heat the meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F — temperatures at which bacteria are destroyed — before the dehydrating process. After drying, bacteria become much more heat resistant.
Within a dehydrator or low-temperature oven, evaporating moisture absorbs most of the heat. Thus, the meat itself does not begin to rise in temperature until most of the moisture has evaporated. Therefore, when the dried meat temperature finally begins to rise, the bacteria have become more heat resistant and are more likely to survive. If these surviving bacteria are pathogenic, they can cause foodborne illness to those consuming the jerky.
| Servings |
lbs raw meat
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Ingredients
- 3 lbs venison — Whole muscle roast, trimmed well and sliced, or ground
- 1 Tbsp salt — table or canning/pickling
- 1 tsp cure — Instacure or Prague Powder #1
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper — fine ground
- to taste black pepper — coarse ground. Partially for appearance.
- 2 liquid oz soy sauce — ( 2 oz = 1/4 cup)
- 2.7 liquid oz Worcestershire sauce — (2.7 oz = 1/3 cup)
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper — to taste, this amount is a suggestion only. I usually double it.
- 1 Tbsp liquid smoke — Optional. Omit if drying with smoke.
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Mix ingredients except meat well in a glass, plastic or glazed crockery bowl.
- Add the meat and mix. With sliced meat take care to see that all meat surfaces get covered. This can take a little manipulation.
- Cover and store in the fridge from 1-3 days. Mix a little a couple of times a day.
- Place meat on the drying racks of your smoker or dehydrator. If using an oven try a cooling rack. If using ground meats you should use a "jerky gun" designed to extrude the jerky into uniform thickness and width.
- Dry in either a smoker, a dehydrator, or a low oven with the door very slightly propped open. Use only dehydrators with a fan and a thermostat. For safe processing, start with 160°F until all the meat has come up to that temperature - an hour should be plenty. Then drop to 150°F and dry until it is has a firm texture, but before it cracks when bent. The time varies widely depending on humidity, thickness, and your smoker or dehydrator. 4-8 hours is typical. Check it periodically.
- If there is any fat pooled on the surface, pat the pieces dry with a paper towel while still warm. Let cool before packaging.
- Jerky can be stored long term in many ways. Best is refrigerated in a sealed jar or plastic bag.
Recipe Notes
USDA instructions for safe Jerky processing available at:
fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/jerky-and-food-safety
View online at KillerNoms.com/jerky
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Your the best site out there for recipes .I found u a few years ago and corned a bunch of my venison.I just turned a bunch of hunting buddies on to you..I dropped a nice 8 yesterday can’t wait to brine. I also pickled the shank meat and smaller pieces w/silverskin and smoked em Cubed there a big hit.
Thanks for the kind words Chris. Your shank process sounds interesting!