Venison Jerky
Salty and savory, this venison jerky uses fish sauce to kick up the umami flavor and red pepper flakes and white pepper for heat. This recipe is for 1 pound of jerky, but for our family of 4, I usually make 2-3 pounds. If you don't like heat, leave out the white pepper and red pepper flakes. This recipe works with elk and antelope too.
Equipment
Food Dehydrator
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Venison Steaks Top round and flank cuts work well with jerky.
- 3 tbsp Fish Sauce Try this Red Boat Fish Sauce.
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
- 1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 tsp Curing Salt
Instructions
- Slice venison steaks 1/4 inch thin against the grain.
- Add remaining ingredients to a large plastic bag. Squeeze the bag to mix the ingredients together. It won't look like a lot of ingredients for the amount of meat, but trust me it'll be good.
- Add the sliced venison to the bag, seal, and swish the bag around to get the marinade into the meat.
- Refrigerate overnight turning the bag over once.
- Add the jerky in a single layer on the dehydrator racks leaving space between each jerky strip. Insert the racks back into the dehydrator.
- To start, turn the dehydrator to 160°F to bring the jerky up to a safe cooking temperature for 2 hours. After the initial 2 hour cook time, it will be safe to lower the temperature to 140°F for the remaining cook time of 3 hours.
- After 3 hours of total cook time, check to see if any smaller pieces are done. You can test for doneness by bending the jerky and seeing a white break line. Done jerky should be chewy, and does NOT snap in half completely. If it snaps in half it is overdone.
- Let jerky cool in the dehydrator after cook time is done. This will help prevent condensation from building up in the storage bag.
- Store jerky in a big plastic bag or container that is sealed. If you won't be eating the jerky within the month, you can seal it in a vacuum seal bag and freeze for later use.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!