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Jerky, the ultimate meat snack. Beef leather. Chewy, savory, spicy, sweet, it’s my favorite thing to gnaw on when I’m on the road. Making your own deer jerky at home is a snap: Slice, marinate, dry, eat. You’re going to love this venison jerky recipe, which was praised as the “One Jerky to Rule Them All” by Petersen’s magazine. It’s won lots of awards.
Here are a few tips and techniques for making really good deer jerky.
I’ve made venison jerky a lot in recent years, and I’ve come to learn that nuances matter. How thick do you slice the meat? Across the grain or with it? What do you marinate it in? Or do you do a dry cure instead? How long is enough? How long is too long? Dry in an oven, smoker or dehydrator? Again, how long?
This deer jerky recipe is the culmination of those years of tinkering.
Tips for Better Deer Jerky
Use hind leg roasts that are mostly free of sinew for a nicer venison jerky. If you use gnarlier cuts, you will be chewing a long time.
Slice thickness determines whether you will have chewy jerky or the really brittle stuff you need to moisten with your saliva before you can even begin to eat it; this latter stuff will last forever at room temperature. The thicker jerky is more fun to eat, but doesn’t last as long.
Either way, if you can slice your venison partially frozen, it will make things easier.
Slicing your venison across the grain makes it easier to tear with your teeth, but the shorter strands are a little less satisfying as you gnaw them. Slicing with the grain can make for a challenging chew, but the fun lasts longer this way; African biltong is cut with the grain.
Venison Jerky Marinades
Pretty much every deer jerky recipe uses a marinade of some sort; the exception is the simplest of all jerkies, Mexican carne seca. Brining, marinating or dry curing is virtually freestyle. So long as you have ample salt (or something salty, like soy or Worcestershire) you’re in business.
Long-time readers of this site know I am not normally a fan of marinating meats because marinades penetrate only about 1/8 inch into the meat per day. See my article on venison marinades for more on this. (Most of those marinades will work for jerky, incidentally.)
But considering that I slice my venison jerky thin anyway, marinating works here. How long? Longer than you think you might need. Seasonings in jerky tend to fade a lot with the drying process, so you really want them to get in there.
Drying Venison Jerky
As for the drying process, a dehydrator beats an oven hands down. Even a low oven cooks the meat a bit too much, leaving it crispy. Of course, if you like crispy, go for it.
I prefer to dehydrate my deer jerky at about 145°F to 155°F. This leaves the meat in the danger zone for bacteria at the outset, so I use Instacure No. 1
, which protects the meat as it slowly cooks in the dehydrator. You don’t need this if you use an oven. And you can skip the curing salt if you dehydrate hotter, at about 160°F.
You can also dry your venison jerky in a smoker. Set it as low as it will go, 165°F in my Traeger, and use whatever wood makes you happy. For this recipe, I prefer mesquite. (I also have a smoked venison jerky recipe specifically designed to be smoke-dried.)
Chipotle Deer Jerky Recipe
Through a lots of trial and error I’ve come up with this, my favorite deer jerky recipe. It’s not complicated, which is a bonus, and it really packs a lot of flavor into the meat.
The key to this is the chipotle in adobo. Don’t worry, it sounds more esoteric than it really is. It’s basically smoked jalapenos canned in a rich, spicy adobo sauce. There are several makers of this magical stuff, and the little cans are widely available in Latin markets and in really any supermarket that has a “Hispanic” section. If all else fails, you can buy chipotles in adobo online.
You mix them with soy sauce, onions and garlic, a little sugar and let it sit in the fridge for up to two days. The longer the venison marinates, the spicier and saltier it will be. I let the deer jerky marinate for a day.
Don’t rinse off the marinade, just wipe it off with a paper towel, then dehydrate or smoke until it’s dry, but still bendable, usually about 6 hours.
The end result is a chewy, slightly thick deer jerky loaded with an almost “spicy BBQ” flavor. It’s an addicting flavor — I ate three pieces one after the other, unconsciously, as I was trying to evaluate the flavor. That instinctive taking another bite is always a good sign.
Want to do a different route? Use my duck jerky recipe and substitute venison. Works great.
Chipotle Deer Jerky
Ingredients
- 5 pounds venison roast
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 head garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 7 ounce can of chipotles in adobo
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 teaspoon of Instacure No. 1 (optional)
- 2 tablespoons salt
Instructions
- Put the soy, sugar, onion, garlic, chipotles and the adobo sauce, lime juice, curing salt and enough water to fill the can of chipotles into the blender and blend until smooth. Taste it (it will be a bit zippy), and add salt if you need it -- the marinade should taste pretty salty.
- Cut the venison roast against the grain into roughly 1/4 inch slices.
- Mix the marinade into the meat really well. The slices are going to want to stick to each other, so you need to use your hands (wear gloves if you are very sensitive to chiles) to make sure each side of every slice gets well coated with this marinade. It's enough for a full 5 pounds of meat. Pack the mixture into a non-reactive (plastic, ceramic, stainless steel) container, cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, and up to 48 hours. How long you take it depends on your personal salt tolerance and on whether you plan on storing the finished jerky for months or not. If not, go less salty.
- When you are ready, lay the meat on dehydrator trays in one layer. Don't let the slices of meat touch. Set the dehydrator to 160°F for 2 hours, then drop the temperature down to 145°F until the jerky is ready. You know this because the jerky is still sorta pliable, but when you bend it, the meat starts to fracture and crack a little -- this is how I like my jerky. All told, the jerky should be ready in about 6 hours. You can, if you are planning to store this at room temperature for a long time, dry it until the meat is brittle.
- If you are using an oven, set the oven as low as it will go and use something to prop open the door, which lets air circulate inside the oven. If you have a convection oven, use it.
- Store it in the fridge for uh... a long time. Or freeze it until the Second Coming. I vacuum seal packages of it and take them on road trips. They've been fine for weeks at room temperature this way.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe did 6lbs venison best ever !!!
Smoked in my converted 1950 refrigerator to smoker
hunt fish and stay in the woods
What should my jerky look like after dehydrater.
Very good recipe, thank you for sharing this. I halved the recipe for 3lbs of venison but used a full 7oz can of chipotles in adobo and used Morton Tender Quick instead of instacure. It turned out fantastic! It really seem to hit its peak flavor after about 5 days, which is something I have noticed with just about all the jerky I have made this winter. Anyone looking to add smoke flavor should consider a cold smoke generator in conjunction with a dehydrator. Sure, you can smoke and dry the meat at the same time in a smoker, but frankly I don’t have the time to tend to my smoker and keep the temp perfect for 10 hours. I have been using something called an A-Maze-N-Smoker that burns hardwood sawdust with great results. Cold smoke in any grill or anything, really, a cardboard box would work as this thing produces about as much heat as a cigar burning. Then dehydrate for another 6 hours and you have perfect smoked jerky.
Trying my first batch here tonight. Doing half the batch with 24 hours and second half wth 48 in fridge to try difference.
Recipe looks awesome thanks 🙂 Hank.
A side note to the guy who uses smoked salt , I read and have tried this before and it works good is take your normal table salt and put it in the smoker next time cold smoking something like cheese. When the top gets brownish stir and repeat and then store when finished with smoker. I put it right in my salt shaker at the stove, find it doesn’t add much difference in cooking but smells great when you shake it out and I bet on jerky would work well as it’s not cooking the flavour away.
Food for thought.
David: I don’t know, you’d just have to monitor it. And pink salt is Instacure. Just a different brand name…
Hank, awesome recipe. If I am using an oven, is the drying time about 6 hours as well? Can I use pink salt instead of instacure? Thanks!
Yup, I only did about 30 hours in the marinade. Thanks for the info on what acid (Worcestershire) worked. I thought it woke up the “heat” as well as adding an additional dimension of flavor.
I just pulled a batch off the dehydrator this morning. 6 hours was too soon – ended up taking about 9 to be pliable and not brittle. Might just be my dehydrator.
I bought a 12oz can of chipotle peppers and decided to use the whole thing. The jerky came out great and is very spicy – but delicious. Next time I will do the recommended pepper amount; however there is nobody that would call this batch bland.
HorseDoctor: You must be used to some powerful jerky! I too found this kinda bland when I marinated for my usual time, i.e., 12-24 hours. That’s why I wrote the recipe for a full 48-hour soak. What you’re getting with the Worcestershire soak is acid, which is what is brightening the flavor. Not a bad idea…
This looked like a great recipe. I just did a 7# batch. I followed directions exactly and was very surprised to find it much blander than I was expecting. Just a tip if anyone else finds it the same. I shook the entire batch with about 1/4 cup of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and gave it an additional hour in the dehydrator and that really “woke it up”! Will add that to the original marinade next time. Fabulous!
I find that my oven works fine for jerky. I can do larger batches in the oven and it takes less time to dry. I place the wet jerky on cake drying racks placed on a cookie tray. The tray helps keep the oven clean. I set the oven on “bake convection” at 175.
Works great and I have no problem with the meat cooking or getting too dry.
Michael: It’s a safety measure that also affects the color and to some extent flavor of the jerky. Most of the commercial jerkies use it. You really only need it if you are drying the meat in a low temperature environment, and even then I’ve done it without using the curing salt and was fine. Think of it as an insurance policy against botulism.
Hi,
You’re blog is great! Quick question, how important is Instacure No. 1? My dad and I have been making venison jerky for years and I’ve never come across something like this.
Thanks!
Jared: I don’t much like the ground meat style of jerky, so I don’t have a recipe for it. Sorry!
Hank – could you recommend a variation using ground venison? I’m not sure if a marinate would work, but dry spices would do the trick.
Thanks! Love the blog.
I always tell people to start simple and embellish as they learn the process. I never use preservatives but I also store my jerky in the fridge in any case. It never lasts very long with two kids in the house… Something basic like soy and brown sugar with some black pepper and crushed pepper flakes is a good start. I agree that dehydrators beat ovens, hands down. Smokers are even better but you have to 1) keep the temp low and 2) remove excess marinade (or even pre-dry it, like you do with cured salmon). One trick to give your dehydrated jerky a smoked flavor is to add some smoked salt (I get Oaxacan oak smoked salt at my local grocery). Final tip: my niece can’t handle soy. I made a batch for her using reduced balsamic vinegar instead of soy sauce. It was sublime.
Janine: Well, then this recipe won’t work for you. Use this recipe instead, using venison.
Erik: I kind of shake off a little excess, but I don’t wipe it off. And I am working on smoking the meat first, but haven’t perfected it yet. Will post another recipe when I do.
Hi Hank-
Do you wipe the excess marinade off the meat before you dehydrate, or just lay the meat on the rack and let the marinade dehydrate into the meat? Also, do you ever smoke the jerky for an hour and then dehydrate to get some smokiness in the jerky?
Your website is awesome!
Thanks,
Erik in Minnesota
Faboulous recipie Hank
Have bee a “silent” fan for a couple of years now; thanks to you I am a more accomplished omnivorous hunter angler gardner cook.
With regards to this recipie, may I ask for some help in preparing this for people who absolutely cannot physically tolerate even mild “spicy” as in chipotles etc…in their food.
Thank you
One of the better descriptions of jerky I’ve seen in quite a while Hank.
I agree with you on the majority of your points, especially the brining/marinating. I typically slice and start marinating on a Sunday afternoon, leaving it in the fridge until Tuesday evening.
That said, I do pull the meat out an massage it to make sure the marinade has swirled its way around every morsel
And yes, dehydrator beats the oven. I tried it once in the oven and it just wasn’t the same. And although I’ve never smoked jerky, I may someday.
I don’t hunt, but will use this recipe for my next batch, or at least a portion of it. My tried and true recipe is a fan favorite at my bowling center on a weekly basis.
🙂
Cheers from Southwest Ohio,
Michael