Native Americans had Pemmican, Ancient Romans had Coppiette, people in various regions of Africa produced Quant’a, Kilishi, and Biltong. All these recipes are a bit different, but the core process is the same: Take a quality cut of meat, spice it, then dry it by sun, smoke, or time. Jerky is universal, and it’s as good a snack today, as it was for cavemen and pharaohs. The following recipes are easy to replicate with a pellet smoker or food dehydrator, turning last year’s deer into the perfect on-the-go snack.
1. Ginger & Garlic Smoked Venison Jerky
This whole-meat jerky recipe comes from Chef Jeremiah Doughty, of fromfieldtoplate.com.I made it on our pellet smoker grill at home and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s a bold, powerful, grown-up jerky for people who like big flavors.
Ingredients:
- 1-pound venison sliced thinly, 1/8 inch
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tsp. cracked pepper
- 1 tsp. dried rosemary
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- ¼ tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
Instructions
- Mix all the seasoning in a glass bowl or blender.
- Add sliced meat and make sure it is covered completely.
- Marinate for 4 to 24 hours.
- Set the smoker to 180 degrees (the “low smoke” and “keep warm” settings work, too).
- Remove meat from marinade, and place directly on the grill grate.
- After one hour, flip the jerky.
- Watch it until the jerky is dried yet still soft—around 2 to 4 hours.
- Remove from smoker, place immediately in a Ziploc bag, and place in the fridge. This step will make a soft “Store Bought” style jerky. It helps the meat stay tender and moist. If you want a dried hard jerky, you can skip this.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
2. Shea’s Simple Snack Sticks
My wife and I came up with this while trying to develop a case-less Slim Jim recipe for our food dehydrator. Mild, but flavorful, it’s quickly become our kids’ favorite snack. Make it in lamb casings with a sausage press and cure in a smoker, and it tastes even better.
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds of wild game meat
- 1-pound pork steak, or any fatty cut of pork
- 4 tbsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. #1 curing salt
- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp. granulated garlic
- 4 tbsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 3 tsp. sugar
- ½ cup of ice water
Instructions
- Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes.
- Add all the seasonings to the cut meat and mix.
- Run the seasoned meat through a meat grinder using a 4mm or ⅛-inch grinder plate—or whatever is the finest setting on your grinder.
- Run the ground meat through the grinder a second time.
- Add the ½ cup of ice water and knead vigorously until mixture is the consistency of bread dough.
- Bag in a Ziploc and let sit in the fridge for 4 to 24 hours.
- Remove meat from the fridge, and load it into a jerky cannon with a thin circular tip. A piping bag works, too. Make “Slim Jims” with the gun or bag, lining them up on a dehydrator tray.
- Dehydrate at 145-degrees for 3 to 4 hours. You’ll know they’re done when they snap in the hand rather than crumble.
- Finish in an oven for a few minutes at 160-degrees.
- Bag in a Ziplock and run under cold water immediately to stop the cooking.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.