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Ground venison or ground elk can be seasoned and dried for delicious homemade venison jerky. This homemade jerky is perfect for snacking and for packing for whenever you’re on the go!
Jerky is the perfect snack food for hiking, skiing, school, road trips, and just everyday nibbling. We often use venison or elk to make our jerky We live in an area where hunting is prevalent we always have plenty of wild game.
My husband and all three kids are hunters. We usually end up with several freezers full of game meat. Not only do they hunt, but Rod and the kids butcher and process the meat as well. We grind a lot of the meat into burger.
Since we have so many hunters, we end up with a lot of ground venison and elk burger in our freezer. I mean A LOT! Rod often makes jerky from elk or venison roasts sliced thin.
One day we discovered a jerky gun at a store and we decided to give it a try. In the end the only real difference between sliced jerky and burger jerky is the burger jerky tends to be easier to take a bite and chew. It’s a great way for us to use up some of that burger in our freezer!
A jerky gun resembles a caulking gun. And the process is pretty similar to caulking, except you’re shooting out meat.
Rod makes jerky quite regularly. The only problem is try to nail down an actual recipe from him! Over the years I have finally convinced him to keep a notebook with his recipes. He has a three ring binder and jots down what he does each time.
He’s perfected a lot of recipes from homemade bacon and hams to smoked fish and of course jerky.
I understand why it was hard for him to write things down. This is how Rod works – a little red wine, some brown sugar, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper, more red wine. Give a little taste – add more salt, onion powder – give a little taste. That’s hard to capture in a recipe, but he’s finally captured a master recipe.
Use this recipe as a master and then you can decide to cook like Rod does and try a little of this and a little of that.
Jerky marinade
Jerky marinade is flavored with liquid and spices. With ground meat, marinade for at least 4 hours. For sliced meat, marinade for at least 8 hours.
A complete list of ingredients and measurements can be found below. Just scroll to the bottom!
- Red Wine – Add a ton of flavor. Use whatever you have on hand
- Brown Sugar – A little sweetener goes a long way
- Teriyaki – Helps balance the flavors
- Whisky – Well, why not? It was in the recipe my husband made!
- Spices – Onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and you could also add red pepper flakes for a little kick!
The marinade is heated so the sugar and salt are dissolved in the liquid. Once cooled, the marinade is poured over the meat and then combined. This is a job best done with your hands. Just dive right in and really mix everything together until all the liquid is fully incorporated into the meat.
Using the jerky gun
Dry in dehydrator. Drying takes 4-8 hours. The time varies depending on your dehydrator, how thick your strips of meat are, and how many trays you’ve used. We often need to rotate our trays so we get an even dry with all trays. Even with rotating, we still have some trays that dry quicker than the rest.
Store in a paper bag at room temperature for up to a week (if it lasts that long!) Or place in a freezer safe bag and freeze until ready to use.
Tips
- Spray your trays lightly with a nonstick spray before adding meat. This helps prevent sticking.
- Rotate your trays after a few hours
- Test your jerky to determine when it’s done. Remove a strip from the dehydrator and let it cool. The exterior should be dry and when you bend the jerky, it should be flexible, not crumbly. It’s okay to dry longer than this point if that’s your preference.
Variations
- Use ground venison or ground elk
- Can use ground beef, but make certain you select the leanest ground beef you can find
- To make with a roast, slice into thin strips. Marinade for at least 8 hours. Remove strips from marinade and place on dehydrator. Discard remaining marinade.
- For spicier jerky, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
More wild game recipes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Be certain to check out all my Wild Game Recipes!
Venison Jerky
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 pounds ground venison (or elk)
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup teriyaki
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon whisky
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients, except for meat in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until brown sugar has dissolved. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. Pour marinade mixture over ground venison.
- Combine until marinade is fully mixed into ground meat.Cover and refrigerate for 4-24 hours.
- Use a jerky gun to make long strips on dehydrator trays.
- Dry at 145-165 degrees for 6-8 hours.
Notes
- Spray your trays lightly with a nonstick spray before adding meat. This helps prevent sticking.
- Rotate your trays after a few hours
- Test your jerky to determine when it’s done. Remove a strip from the dehydrator and let it cool. The exterior should be dry and when you bend the jerky, it should be flexible, not crumbly. It’s okay to dry longer than this point if that’s your preference.
- Use ground venison or ground elk
- Can use ground beef, but make certain you select the leanest ground beef you can find
- To make with a roast, slice into thin strips. Marinade for at least 8 hours. Remove strips from marinade and place on dehydrator. Discard remaining marinade.
- For spicier jerky, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally posted in February 2015. The recipe and images have been updated.
9 Comments
David @ Spiced
November 23, 2020 at 3:52 amAh, I do enjoy making jerky, and we’ve made venison jerky a couple of times! However, I’ve only made it in whole cut form before. I’m intrigued by the burger jerky gun! What a fun tool…I’m thinking that might need to end up in my list of kitchen cools pretty soon. 🙂
Kimberly @ KimRidge Farm
March 10, 2015 at 2:19 pmThis is such a great idea! The ground deer is easier to chew. Some fats in the ground meet adds that sweet, rich, nutty flavor. I usually don’t follow recipes precisely. I wonder is the marinade should be mild because it concentrates during dehydration?
I am going to pull out some ground deer from the freezer and try this. I know, it won’t last no matter what. We love deer jerky.
Haven’t had beef in years. Deer is our kind of red meet.
Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Kathy
March 10, 2015 at 8:20 pmWe always taste the marinade as we mix it up. You don’t want it to be diluted. The flavors should be strong, but not overly powerful. Jerky doesn’t stick around long in our house either!
Amy (Savory Moments)
February 17, 2015 at 1:37 amThis looks great! I haven’t had jerky in a long time. My husband didn’t get a deer this last season, but hopefully next one and we can give this a try. Thanks for stopping by my blog! 🙂
Kathy
February 16, 2015 at 7:02 pmThanks Amy! You can easily make the jerky with beef….until next year when he gets a deer.
Vanessa @ Vanessa Baked
February 16, 2015 at 12:13 pmI love this! My husband is a hunter and we always have venison in the freezer. Such a great idea using ground venison. Pinning this for later!
Kathy
February 16, 2015 at 1:06 pmThanks Vanessa. I hope you get a chance to make some!
Lori from LL Farm
February 16, 2015 at 3:30 pmIt has been a while since I have had deer jerky…my dad used to make it a lot. My family also does our own butchering. It’s always just been a way of life, but as I get older and have fed my family throughout the years, I see the many benefits of it. Thanks for sharing this.
Lori from LL Farm
Kathy
February 16, 2015 at 4:23 pmI never had game meat until I met my husband. It took me awhile to get used to the taste and how to cook with it. It’s on our menu regularly now.