jerky

[CDNOutdoorsman]

I have been experimenting making my own jerky and have come up with mixed results. I am hoping to find out what the most recognized cuts of meats are for making jerky. I assume eye of round is one of the most popular but what else do you guys use? how do you prep it? do you use a jerky slicer? With or against the grain? do you use a marinade or just spices? smoked or dehydrator? Any secret tips you may want to share?
Does anyone know what type of cut Wilhauk in Leduc uses? I realize these places keep their recipes as their secret but would just like to get started in the right direction. Their jerky seems moist to me so Im assuming they marinade it? Any idea on the wood they use in their smoker? Hickory?

I have tried ground meat with the jerky gun, sliced eye of round and I cut up some steaks too, don't remember the cut. I do know I need to write down my ingredients and measurements better as I am good at just throwing things in and not remembering if its something I would like to repeat... LOL

Hoping to have some wild meat this fall to try as well.
Thanks for any and all tips and recommendations.

Good luck to all hunting this fall.

[pikergolf]

I have had the best success making Ground jerky. I grind my own out of eye of round, fine grind or double ground med. I find the leaner the better. This is my own personal recipe which everyone seems to like. I dry it in the oven using the lem tray and racks.


Per lb

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 a Knorr beef bullion cube
1/4 scant tsp Prague Powder cure
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 Tbsp soya sauce
3 Tbsp water

Mix spices and other ingredience in a bowl. Mix into meat and refridgerate for 24 hrs. Use a jery connon to make strips. Bake at 185 convection until an internal temp of 160 is reached. Around 4 hrs.

I have also had good success using High Calibre Spice mixes available at CRT in Edmonton or Calgary.

[Rjunger]

I helped a friend do up some ground deer jerky a while back, we were able to fit most into the smoker, the remainder was dehydrated in the oven. I don’t recall what wood we used in the smoker, but everyone much preferred the smoked jerky. Did up some bear jerky, again, the wood smoke really makes it taste great.

[Grizzly Adams]

I've been buying sandwich steaks when they are on reduced sale. Perfect thickness, cut across the grain and takes marinade well.

Grizz

[AndrewM]

Really easy to over smoke it.
I don’t smoke mine at all. I use an Excalibur dehydrator. Have made in oven And smoker but easy to overdo and harder to control temps. It works though.
I cut across the grain if I want it tender or I use ground often as well.
I use mixes from high caliber or cabelas. Cracked pepper and garlic and teriyaki are my favourites. Tried many others and my own recipes but never near as good.
I use any beef, deer, moose roasts as long as they aren’t fatty. Sometime almost make the whole deer into jerky except for keeping premium cuts. My family probably goes through 40lbs a year. Can make it easy or difficult as you want.

[curtz]

I use the cabelas cracked pepper and garlic spice with ground moose, I smoke it with hickory. Big hit with family and friends. I made some the other day and for the heak of it I through in a hand full of brown sugar, it just gave it a touch of sweet with the peppery heat.

[calgarychef]

I’m not a jerky expert. I think people go wayyyy too far with spices and sugars of all kinds... maple syrup, brown sugar, Coca Cola all that crap.

Salt, pepper, light smoke..that’s what I like unless it’s biltong that’s got a nice flavour-coriander, pepper, salt and a bit of vinegar with no smoke.

[Dubious]

I’ve never had a home made jerky that knocked my socks off. Watching the time effort Flavours and money my friends have put in experimenting My mind mad been made up. The store bought types taste better take less money and time more tender and a lot easier to get in volume. I’m not talking about mcsweenies or jack links either I’m talking about Longview wainwright or red deer lake meats types.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

I’m not a jerky expert. I think people go wayyyy too far with spices and sugars of all kinds... maple syrup, brown sugar, Coca Cola all that crap.

Salt, pepper, light smoke..that’s what I like unless it’s biltong that’s got a nice flavour-coriander, pepper, salt and a bit of vinegar with no smoke.

Best jerky I've made was just pepper jerky, marinated in a freezer bag and rotated periodically.

Grizz

[bat119]

I make most of my jerky out of ground meat with a Jerky gun

For whole muscle jerky eye of round beef cut 1/4" thick with Hi-country original works best for me.

Very light mesquite smoke 15 mins max. takes about 4 hours at 160* to dry in my electric smoker

[CrisPbacon]

Inside round is my go to for jerky

[omega50]

Originally Posted by AndrewM

Really easy to over smoke it.
I don’t smoke mine at all. I use an Excalibur dehydrator. Have made in oven And smoker but easy to overdo and harder to control temps. It works though.
I cut across the grain if I want it tender or I use ground often as well.
I use mixes from high caliber or cabelas. Cracked pepper and garlic and teriyaki are my favourites. Tried many others and my own recipes but never near as good.
I use any beef, deer, moose roasts as long as they aren’t fatty. Sometime almost make the whole deer into jerky except for keeping premium cuts. My family probably goes through 40lbs a year. Can make it easy or difficult as you want.

I adjust the smoke in my Bradley by just scavenging a small handful of pellets from my pellet grill and dropping them periodically on the smoke generator plate.I rarely use the Bradley pucks as I find an off flavor in them.
Costs a couple of pennies and gives me great control of finished outcomes and a barely noticeable hint of smoke when desired.

For me owning a smoker is more about standing outside having a peaceful encounter with a beer than the actual taste of smoke. I especially like running the smoker on a fall day. Puts me in Harvest Mode

[AndrewM]

Originally Posted by omega50

I adjust the smoke in my Bradley by just scavenging a small handful of pellets from my pellet grill and dropping them periodically on the smoke generator plate.I rarely use the Bradley pucks as I find an off flavor in them.
Costs a couple of pennies and gives me great control of finished outcomes and a barely noticeable hint of smoke when desired.

For me owning a smoker is more about standing outside having a peaceful encounter with a beer than the actual taste of smoke. I especially like running the smoker on a fall day. Puts me in Harvest Mode

I am going to give a try in the smoker next time with just a few pellets as I like a hint of smoke but not overpowering. Will use my pellet tube as it seems to give a nice light smoke rather than heavy. Love the smell of my smoker running. The dehy makes it so easy to control temperature for even cooking throughout. Has anyone tried starting in dehy before you put into a smoker so the ground pieces would be firm?

[Bearbreath]

Mix ground meat with Cabelas jerky seasoning and put through jerky gun. Into dehydrator and perfect every time.

Tried slicing with my own seasoning but the other way is way better.

[Offwork]

I have a LEM jerky slicer that is run as an attachment to my LEM grinder. This slicer handles goose breast as fast as you can drop them in the spout and makes perfect 1/4” slices. Mostly use CTR jerky mix, peppered or teriyaki, but Local Peavy Mart has a good package mix called Nesco. Occasionally add a bit of liquid smoke & than Marinate for 12 or so hrs.

5 LEM jerky racks holds 10 lbs, which is usually 5 +/- geese. Put this in convection oven set at 170 F, prop door open with a towel or fork. Usually takes 8 hrs to get to bendable but not break stage and virtually no baby sitting or moving racks around. I think the key to this consistent results is the uniform slices and that the convection Oven fan has consistent heat which is around Meat evenly. Never fails.

Also made lots of ground meat jerky. mixup meat with spices, Marinate 8 to 12 hrs. Than put meat mixture on cookie sheet between 2 sheets waxed paper. roll out with rolling pin to 1/4”, than than freeze till good & stiff. Take whole sheet of jerky from cookie sheet and slice into long slices, of whatever width you want. Strip paper from slices and on jerky racks & into oven. Easy to make, and I have no wild ground meat handy, extra lean beef works.

For something different try pork loin with all fat Removed, either whole meat or ground. Very economic and quite mild taste.

Recently found a Frozen package of goose jerky from last fall stored in a ziplock bag. Not as good as freshly made. Maybe will have to vacuum pack any that I move to freezer.

[waldedw]

Ground is all I make anymore, easier to chew, dissolve the jerky spice in a cup of warm water and mix it into 7 lbs ground moose or elk, let it sit overnight, run it through the jerky cannon with the flat or round nozzle, 5 1/2 hrs at 160 in my jerky oven and out it comes, make over 300 lbs in the last, most of it got eaten by the grand kids, can't make it fast enough

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Thanks for all the tips and ideas. I definitely prefer my jerky done in the smoker, has such a great flavor vs the dehydrator. I think the issue that most guys have if its too strong is the type of wood/pellets they are using in their smoker. I use a blend of hickory, apple, cherry and maple. for me and all that eats my jerky, it is mild but just enough smoke flavor not to turn you off.
I just tried another batch today. I cut 4 flank steaks along the grain at least 1/4 inch thick.
I did a peppered, a Mexican and a sweet and spicy. All are good but the peppered and Mexican are the best of the 3. still haven't mastered it but getting better. Key is to pull it off at the right time, difficult with uneven cut pieces. Some are super dry and crunchy, thicker cuts are moist and chewy. I think my next purchase will be a jerky slicer.
And I will also try some ground again too.
Hoping to do some elk, moose and/or deer soon too.
Thanks and keep the tips and tricks/recipes coming.

[amosfella]

You might look at DnR Sausage in Calgary for some spice mixes. Also, if you have trouble with oversmoking or over cooking in the smoker, try a Pro-Q cold smoke generator. That should lower your temps for smoking.

The Bearded Butchers have some good butchering videos on youtube that have sections where they show how they make jerkey. Some from deer, elk, beef, etc.

I was thinking of doing some from the last pig I butchered, but I decided to do a ham, pepper, and garlic sausage instead. I have to smoke those yet, but the few done over charcoal with saskatoon twigs for smoke turned out very well.

[HuntWithABrittany]

I use Cabelas powders, but often times I will cut the cure amount down by half since I'm freezing/refrigerating the jerky anyway and it's pretty salty if you use the whole amount. To spread the cure/powder evenly (which in my opinion is really important) I lay out the meat on a big garbage bag and shake on the cure with one of those shakers that has 10 or 12 holes on top. A Cabelas dehydrator works great and doesn't burn the meat.

I just cut the meat in strips about 1/2" x 1/2" x 6" and remove all the fat, it still tastes the same as flat jerky but dries well and takes up less room on the dehydrator racks.

I always rotate my racks, both in position and orientation, and I take the pieces off as they get done because they always dry at different rates.

When you go to take them off when they are warm they should still be bendy/tender... they get a lot harder/tougher when they cool off, so I think the biggest mistake is over-drying.

[1894Cowboy]

I've made both smoked peppered and teriyaki jerky on my old-fashioned locomotive smoker, with outstanding results.

The key is to let the slices marinade overnight in big freezer ziplock bags, then pat dry and cook low and slow from 3-5 hours. I don't use wood chunks to smoke, just straight charcoal for heat is all.

For slicing I found a stainless steel hand-cranked meat slicer on Kijiji for $10. Works great.