Sunday, February 26, 2012

DIY: Venison Jerky

I'm getting ready to embark on a wild, grand, amazing adventure. This involves a whole lot of trust in Jesus for the details to figure themselves out. More on that adventure coming soon, but in the meantime I'm gearing up for the trip by preparing myself with some healthy snacks.

I just completed a great batch of homemade, no nitrate, all-natural VENISON JERKY! It is oh so good and inspired by this post. I've actually made homemade jerky before but it's been a while and in that jerky I used those packets of cure and seasonings that came in a box. The same seasonings are still hanging out in the farm's pantry, but after I read the ingredients, I decided heck to the no will I put all that crap in my jerky.
















Here's what went into mine:

Batch #1: Chipotle style

  • 1.75 pounds ground venison
  • 1 Tablespoon salt, (Preferably sea salt, but I used canning and pickling salt)
  • 1 Tablespoon chipotle spice rub, (mixture of salt, brown sugar, chili pepper, garlic, onion, etc.)
  • 1/2 Tablespoon smoked black pepper
  • Several dashes of smoked paprika
Batch #2: Italian style
  • 1.75 pounds ground venison
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon oregano
  • 1 Tablespoon basil
  • 1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 Tablespoon smoked pepper
I mixed these both up by hand and pressed into a rimmed baking sheet. I then used a piece of wax paper over top of them and a rolling pin to roll out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. These then went into the oven set at the lowest temperature possible, 170 degrees for me. I left them in the oven overnight for about 8 hours, got up this morning and flipped them and let go for another 2 hours. It really depends on how thick the meat is as to how long they will take. Remember after taking them out of the oven and cooling they dry out and harden even more. 

These are super tasty and I'm excited for my meaty treat perfect for a long traveling road trip!

1 comment:

  1. You made jerky!! You are so amazing. Yay for adventures!

    ReplyDelete