Funky tasting deer jerky

[berolak]

Wondering everyones thoughts on my first ever batch of deer jerky... I shot my first buck (whitetail) on closing day last November. It wasn't an ideal shot, and it was partially a gut shot. I have very little experience around game, but while I was dressing it with a buddy I noticed a bit of a smell. I'm not sure if the smell is because the buck was rutting, because of the gut shot, or that's just normal, but it did smell 'off'. Fast forward to making the deer jerky, and it tastes like it smelled when I skinned it. FWIW I used High Mountain 'Cajun' cure & seasoning and did it in a dehydrator.

I've had a fair bit of deer jerky, and never noticed this taste to it. Like I said, do you guys figure it was just a rutting buck, or possibly the gut shot, or are dehydrators no good for deer jerky??

[Rackmastr]

Near impossible to say without smelling it ourselves or seeing it handled. It could be either, but comes down to how you handled the meat if it was gut shot, and if you kept any meat that had any stomach contents on it, etc. There is a distinct difference in 'rut/gamey' flavour and gut shot tainted meat, but that may be tough to distinguish as a first timer. Bring it to an experienced friend and ask them what they think would be a start.

Sorry cant offer a ton of help as most will be just guessing I'd imagine.

[Bigbuzz]

If it smells like "swamp" it is likely the gut shot effect. I have used the High mountain cures, they work well(a little salty)
Gut shot and run a distance and the meat will likely have an off smell and taste.

[berolak]

I understand smell is hard to convey over the internet

'Swampy' is a good word. And it did manage to run away for a few minutes. My instinct is that it is from gut juice, so perhaps I will just stick to ground meat which has tasted fine so far. In the meantime I'll work on my accuracy for next season.

[Rackmastr]

Originally Posted by berolak

I understand smell is hard to convey over the internet

'Swampy' is a good word. And it did manage to run away for a few minutes. My instinct is that it is from gut juice, so perhaps I will just stick to ground meat which has tasted fine so far. In the meantime I'll work on my accuracy for next season.

Often any meat that stomach/gut contents have touched will be ruined and needs to be cut away. When possible, a good washing of a carcass before handling helps as well to contain the tainted meat to the chest cavity.

Depending where you cut your jerky meat or how you handled the meat that was touched will play a big role.

Happens to even the most experienced, its just the handling that often is a bit easier to manage IMO

[covey ridge]

Originally Posted by berolak

I understand smell is hard to convey over the internet

'Swampy' is a good word. And it did manage to run away for a few minutes. My instinct is that it is from gut juice, so perhaps I will just stick to ground meat which has tasted fine so far. In the meantime I'll work on my accuracy for next season.

I find it interesting that the ground tastes OK but the jerky is off. I have found that it takes only a small amount of off meat mixed with the good to ruin a whole batch.

The way it stands I would suspect that the jerky was contaminated and the ground was not.

[ghostguy6]

Was the jerky meat left out any longer than the ground? Ideally you meat should remain under 40*F up to the point you start dehydrating it. Over 40*F without cure for no more than 4 hours before the bacteria can start to take hold. This includes time defrosting outside the fridge if your meat was previously frozen. Dehydrators rarely if ever reach the 165*F to properly kill bacteria in under a minute but rely on a combination of time and lower heat ( lets say 130*) to draw the moisture out of you food. It may look done on the outside but still be unpasteurized on the inside. To rule out any possibility of bacteria in you finished product you should follow this pasteurization chart. The temperature should be taken at the thickest part of the meat. I know this isn't possible with jerky but you can estimate here because the meat should be thin enough to become a uniform temperature throughout.


You didn't specify if you jerky was made from ground venison or from whole muscle. Ground meats must always be cooked to a safe temperature. The inside of whole muscle is considered to be sterile if left undisturbed. This means the outside where you did your cuts may be contaminated or if you inserted a meat thermometer, poked with a fork or tenderizer, but the inside should be sterile.

[Sneeze]

Even though we are a few thousand years removed from sniffing carcasses before eating -

Our nose still works well to tell us something is wrong and not a good idea to put in our mouth.

[AndrewM]

Make sure you trim all the fat and muscle off as much as you can. That's probably the source of your flavour.

[kman35ca]

I did my first batch of deer jerky on a dehydrator this year. And in all honesty, the meat wasn't handled the best(my fault,clumsy). But I didn't have any funky smell coming from the deer.
But the dehydrator did a great job. I used the exact same seasoning as well, good stuff. I was a lil worried about it getting up to temperature, so I ended up over doing it a touch in the dehydrator. But it was just a lil tough, which I didn't mind. And was some of the best jerky I ever had. Mine was also from a average size mulie doe.
I'd probably have to guess, it's from the gut shot. Contaminating the meat.

[sns2]

One just never knows these things. I had a whole deer one time that was totally inedible. Harvested just fine. Same as always, but the meat had a very foul smell right to the deepest part of the muscles. Have no idea what caused it. It just was rancid. Mulie doe.

[covey ridge]

Originally Posted by sns2

One just never knows these things. I had a whole deer one time that was totally inedible. Harvested just fine. Same as always, but the meat had a very foul smell right to the deepest part of the muscles. Have no idea what caused it. It just was rancid. Mulie doe.

I was once with an older but new hunter that took seven shots at a jumped mule buck. The deer swam a creek and dropped dead on the other side. I offered to field dress. The deer was wet and once opened I notice he was unusually hot and had a smell that would gag a maggot, Later at the farm while skinning the smell did not get any better but it was also noted that there was no bullet holes. The fish cops concluded that the deer was probably sick or injured and the stress of the chase and swim did him in.

I think that most wild game animals are in optimum health but for sure there must be some sick and diseased animals that are harvested.

Once I get my game hung and I get cleaned up a bit I get my nose right in there and give a good sniff. The poster that suggested that if the nose tells you that something is not right it is probably not fit to eat is bang on. All the cooking skills and the spices in the world will not fix contaminated meat.

The nose knows

[oilngas]

see what other have asaid re; tempertures of meat, handling, cooling etc. I carry a small "instant read" thermometer and now use it religiously. I was surprised on how long on a coolish day it takes for for say "inside the hams next to leg bone" to get out of the danger zone. Also read any one of numerous books about sausage making and the internal, handling, mixing tempertures must be paid attention to.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by sns2

One just never knows these things. I had a whole deer one time that was totally inedible. Harvested just fine. Same as always, but the meat had a very foul smell right to the deepest part of the muscles. Have no idea what caused it. It just was rancid. Mulie doe.

A buddy gave me some jerky this winter and I couldn't eat it. Had a faint taste of gasoline. Not sure if it was contaminated with gas or if that is a sign of bad meat. I didn't have the heart to ask him cause I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Plus he takes all my perch to feed his dogs. Saves me from burying another 100 in my potato patch.

Fingers crossed the skunk and/or raccoons don't come back. What a mess.