Had to make room in the freezer.

[Spook]

Wife purchased a Cabela's meat slicer and dehydrator for me last year. Grabbed a nicely packed and frozen doe roast from last year and decided to put both tools to the test

I gotta say, damn good jerky. Batch of smokehouse and a batch of Hawaiian. 

Yummy yummy and tender as hell. Only downfall, now I gotta fill the freezer. 

[Spook]

Please don't mind the picture. It's not burnt, it's just the color of the marinade. :-/

[Taylormike]

Nice job, looks good! 

[wolc123]

I just finished defrosting and cleaning our big freezer in the basement to make some room.   I managed to pack about 70 pounds of remaining venison from last year, and roughly the same amount of fish from this year, into the two upstairs refrigerator freezers.  I had to take a big turkey up to the inlaws place in the Adirondacks last weekend to make room for that.    Now that it is defrosted and cleaned, it is time to start filling it back up.  Hopefully, the deer will cooperate over the next couple months.    

Edited October 18, 2017 by wolc123

[growalot]

I  Need to do the same. With the garden not doing as well as last year and taking venison to our daughter I can repack and defrost one of the upright freezers. Though I just bought 4 big packs of chicken breasts on sale I have to bag up and vac seal..

Jerky looks good, bet it tastes great..

[Spook]

Yahhhh it came out amazing. Beers and jerky at my place!!!! Lol. 

A tad to tough but heyyyy, still tastes great. I'd prolly only do 2 hours next time with the thin cuts I used. 

[wolc123]

9 minutes ago, Spook said:

Yahhhh it came out amazing. Beers and jerky at my place!!!! Lol. 

A tad to tough but heyyyy, still tastes great. I'd prolly only do 2 hours next time with the thin cuts I used. 

My brother in law makes some great jerky from grind.  He mixes half venison half beef for the best results.  More beef is too moist, more venison is too dry.  50/50 makes it just right.   He raises beef, but has yet to kill a deer, so he is completely dependent on others for that part.  I will set him up with a little as soon as I kill my next deer.

Tough jerky is usually the result of using poorer cuts and/or not aging the carcass properly before processing.  

[Spook]

Thanks for the info. 

I've  never tried a grind yet. Last year I got on a jerky kick. I'd buy every on sale London broil at the market and slice it super thin then toss it into the dehydrator. I'm not huge on venison roasts so that all got turned into jerky also.

I had it down to a science but I over did this time not taking into consideration the ultra thin slice with the meat slicer. 

[wolc123]

15 minutes ago, Spook said:

Thanks for the info. 

I've  never tried a grind yet. Last year I got on a jerky kick. I'd buy every on sale London broil at the market and slice it super thin then toss it into the dehydrator. I'm not huge on venison roasts so that all got turned into jerky also.

I had it down to a science but I over did this time not taking into consideration the ultra thin slice with the meat slicer. 

The nice thing about using the grind is that you can use the "lesser" cuts, like front shoulders, neck, and rib-meat.  I like to cook the "prime" stuff like back-straps, medium rare on the grill, even though it would probably make very tender jerky.   

My brother in law mixes the ground venison and beef and uses a stainless steel "grease-gun" type tool to squeeze it into little strips that go in the dehydrator.  He makes a few different varieties.  The kids and I like the cayenne flavored the best.   I have had some that others have made from straight ground venison and it is not nearly as good.  

Edited October 20, 2017 by wolc123

[Spook]

I'm going to Cabela's in Delaware tomorrow. I think u just sold me into a jerky gun lolol. 

[Spook]

21 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

My brother in law makes some great jerky from grind.  He mixes half venison half beef for the best results.  More beef is too moist, more venison is too dry.  50/50 makes it just right.   He raises beef, but has yet to kill a deer, so he is completely dependent on others for that part.  I will set him up with a little as soon as I kill my next deer.

Tough jerky is usually the result of using poorer cuts and/or not aging the carcass properly before processing.  

When you say 50/50 beef..... is he using pre ground beef or is he grounding up steaks????

[Hock3y24]

cabelas peppered jerky mix, half beef and half venison jerky is phenomenal, i make it in 10 lb batches.

[Hock3y24]

5 hours ago, Spook said:

When you say 50/50 beef..... is he using pre ground beef or is he grounding up steaks????

i used eye of round and trim all the fat off. or you can just get any lean non marbled cut, also you can get lean ground beef if you want but tends to be more expensive, you want as little fat as possible or it will go bad quicker. 

[Spook]

That's now on the shopping list. Thanks for the info bud. Gotta grab up a grinder, gun, and casing filer. Best part is... kid and fiancé love jerky and snack sticks so I won't even get yelled at .

[WNYBuckHunter]

Looks pretty good. I cleared out most of the roasts in my freezer about a month ago and made a bunch of jerky. I am not a fan of using ground for jerky, I like whole muscle cuts. If I wanted beef jerky, Id make it out of all beef, If I want venison jerky, its all venison. Ive gotten mine pretty much down to a science at this point. First, I do not use those premade seasoning packets EVER. They are horrible. I have a few recipes that originated from a website thats no longer around, and Ive modified them slightly to suit my taste. I always use the freshest seasonings as possible along with sea salt instead of table salt. I use a slicer to cut the meat into 1/4" thick slices. Make sure you pay attention to the direction of your slicing. With the grain of the meat is going to make for a tougher, more chewy piece of jerky. If you cut across the grain of the meat, it will be easier to chew. Its much faster and easier to slice if you thaw the meat, then put it back into the freezer for 3-4 hours to firm it back up a tad, but not completely freeze it all the way through. Once you have your slices, set them aside, get a large mixing bowl and mix up the marinade. Put the slices in the marinade, making sure that they are all fully immersed in the liquid. Put a cover on it and let it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days. I use an older, round type dehydrator, where you stack the trays on top of one another. Do not let the slices touch each other and make sure theres room for air to move through each tray, meaning dont completely cover each tray. 6 hours is the magic number for most of the slices. To avoid some getting too dry, youll want to shuffle the top trays to the bottom at the half way mark. When I make large batches, Ill break each one up into 2 lb portions and vacuum seal the ones I wont be using right away.

[NYBowhunter]

On 10/17/2017 at 10:18 PM, Spook said:

Please don't mind the picture. It's not burnt, it's just the color of the marinade. :-/

No worries, anyone that does their fair share of smoking jerky knows thats the color of a perfect peice  of heaven...lol...gotta make a new batch, kids and family are hounding me. I must make like 30# to 40#  of that stuff throughout the year. Its an excellent snack,  enjoy!!!

[NYBowhunter]

11 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

Looks pretty good. I cleared out most of the roasts in my freezer about a month ago and made a bunch of jerky. I am not a fan of using ground for jerky, I like whole muscle cuts. If I wanted beef jerky, Id make it out of all beef, If I want venison jerky, its all venison. Ive gotten mine pretty much down to a science at this point. First, I do not use those premade seasoning packets EVER. They are horrible. I have a few recipes that originated from a website thats no longer around, and Ive modified them slightly to suit my taste. I always use the freshest seasonings as possible along with sea salt instead of table salt. I use a slicer to cut the meat into 1/4" thick slices. Its much faster and easier to slice if you thaw the meat, then put it back into the freezer for 3-4 hours to firm it back up a tad, but not completely freeze it all the way through. Once you have your slices, set them aside, get a large mixing bowl and mix up the marinade. Put the slices in the marinade, making sure that they are all fully immersed in the liquid. Put a cover on it and let it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days. I use an older, round type dehydrator, where you stack the trays on top of one another. Do not let the slices touch each other and make sure theres room for air to move through each tray, meaning dont completely cover each tray. 6 hours is the magic number for most of the slices. To avoid some getting too dry, youll want to shuffle the top trays to the bottom at the half way mark. When I make large batches, Ill break each one up into 2 lb portions and vacuum seal the ones I wont be using right away.

Cant agree anymore, not sure why others use ground to make jerky. Whole roasts are the only way to go. I use a brine, with lots of different seasonings (NEVER store bought prepared jerky seasoning). My jerky sits in the brine overnight in the fridge, then slowly smoked for 18 to 20 hrs. People cant get enough of that stuff. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

23 minutes ago, NYBowhunter said:

Cant agree anymore, not sure why others use ground to make jerky. Whole roasts are the only way to go. I use a brine, with lots of different seasonings (NEVER store bought prepared jerky seasoning). My jerky sits in the brine overnight in the fridge, then slowly smoked for 18 to 20 hrs. People cant get enough of that stuff. 

I havent perfected smoking it yet, and my smoker just took a crap so it will be a while before I try again.

[Five Seasons]

how'd you like the slicer? i have an old dehydrator and i tried manually slicing some a few years ago and realized i just wouldn't get consistent jerky that way. some were too tough. I have an ancient commercial slicer that weighs a million pounds and just not worth trying to get to work. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

1 minute ago, Belo said:

how'd you like the slicer? i have an old dehydrator and i tried manually slicing some a few years ago and realized i just wouldn't get consistent jerky that way. some were too tough. I have an ancient commercial slicer that weighs a million pounds and just not worth trying to get to work. 

If you ever want to unload that million pound slicer, let me know. Im looking for a bigger one than what I have now.

[Five Seasons]

 

2 hours ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

If you ever want to unload that million pound slicer, let me know. Im looking for a bigger one than what I have now.

the thing is awesome, it just takes up a lot of space. i think it's from the 60's. commercial grade and no documentation available for how to run it lol. I plan to tinker with it in the fall, the only issue is that it's a 2 man lift to get it anywhere and i don't have the table space to just keep a slicer out year round lol. i'll let you know.