I've been busy turning the last 12 lbs of my ground venison (last meat left of my 2013 deer) into jerky for my elk trip. Anyway, I've used 3 different store-bought spice/cure mixtures and they're all crap. Waaaayyyy too salty. I could cut the total amount of spice used in half, but then I've be losing out on the actual flavor also. It's too late for this deer, but looking forward to next year I'd like a get a spice mix together that isn't all salt, or make one of my own. Anyone have any good ideas?
I got this one from some hunting website recently .... might even be this one ... I wanted to try one that didn't come in a jar or plastic bag .... I didn't use ground meat and smoked it instead of using a dehydrator .... might work for ground meat also ... I smoled it for 3 hours .... 1st hour no smoke 140 2nd hour smoke 160 then raided it to 170 for the 3rd hour Venison Jerky Makes about fifty 6-inch strips Ingredients 3 lbs venison, trimmed of fat and sinew and cubed 1/2 cup water 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons hot chili powder 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon ground black pepper 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon cayenne 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
have you tried the Cabelas jerkey mixes? I love the peppered jerkey mix. I usually do whole meat jerkey though not ground, that might be the difference.
I have not tried Cabela's yet. The only difference in the mixes I used as far as ground vs. whole meat strips was the total amount of meat it would season at a time. And I like the flavors; I could just do with about 1/3 of the salt. I actually like the consistency/texture of the ground strips very much. Plus I don't really eat deer burger all that much so this is a good way to get rid of a lot of pounds at one time.
I also use the Cabelas Jerky mixes .... the Hot and Sweet one is the best one for me ..... I have some here w/ me today @ work to black mail someone w/ ..... they are not salty and taste great .....
I dont know if this will work with ground, but my jerkey recipe is super simple and really really good. Equal parts soy sauce and worchestershire sauce, few cap fuls of liquid smoke and 1-5 cap fulls of daves insanity hot sauce (depending on your bravery)
I have a few on my web site that are real jerky mix's. Back in the day it was all just made with a little salt and pepper. But really good ones like ours have more seasonings than salt thats what makes them sooooo good. Call in an order and mention Bowhunting forum and get 10% off plus a free gift until supplies last. Ask for Ben he can hook you up with the one just to your liking.
