Wild Duck Jerky or Goose Jerky
February 29, 2012 | Updated June 22, 2020
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Who doesn’t love jerky? I mean, really. It is a staple in the duck blind, and goose or duck jerky is a perfect use for “off” ducks like spoonies, fishy divers or snow geese. Once the fat is removed, there’s no fishy flavor.
But there is jerky and there is jerky. Some people run their meat through the grinder and use a “jerky gun.” This is fine, but it is not traditional jerky, which is always whole cuts of meat. Thickness is up to you.
Really thick slices need long drying times and result in a very hard product. If you’ve ever heard of biltong in Africa, that’s what this is. I ate lots of biltong when I was in Zimbabwe and South Africa in the 1990s, and I’ve developed a taste for thick jerky. But you can cut yours thin if you’d like.
This recipe makes a jerky that is dry enough to store at room temperature — although the fridge is best for really long storage — but pliable enough to keep it meaty.
What follows are my flavorings: As long as you keep the ratio of meat to water to Worcestershire sauce to salt the same, you can vary the other flavors. You need enough salt to draw out moisture and help with preservation, and the Worcestershire sauce adds both extra salt and vinegar, which is also a good preservative.
I designed this recipe for a dehydrator, but if you don’t have one, set your oven to “warm” and put the meat on a wire rack set above a rimmed cookie sheet; the sheet catches any drippings. I also leave the oven door ajar for air circulation.
The porcini powder in this recipe is made by grinding dried porcini in a coffee grinder. You can buy dried porcini in most supermarkets. Or you can skip it.
As for the meat, while it is a duck jerky recipe, it will also work with any skinless goose breast, or with venison, elk, antelope, goat, lamb or beef.
Goose or Duck Jerky
Ingredients
- 3 pounds skinless, de-fatted duck or goose breast
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Instacure No. 1 (optional)
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon porcini powder (optional)
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Slice the duck breasts into roughly 1/4 inch thick strips. Mix remaining ingredients well in a large bowl. Put the meat into the marinade and massage it all around to coat evenly. Pour everything into a seal-able plastic bag or container and set in the fridge. Marinate for at least 24 and up to 72 hours -- the longer it is in the mix, the saltier the meat will get, but the more flavorful it will be. During the marinating process, massage the meat around in the bag to keep all the pieces in contact with the marinade.
- Remove the duck from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Either follow your dehydrator's instructions for making jerky (I dehydrate mine at 140°F), or lay the strips on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet. Set the rack in an oven set on Warm until the meat is dried out, but still pliable, about 6 to 8 hours. Store either in the fridge indefinitely, or at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Slice with or across the grain?
Pat: Up to you. I prefer across the grain.
Luke: Yes, and the wood is up to you. I like fruit woods a lot.
Would you follow the same basic guide for a smoker and if so what wood would you use?
If my friend and I are making in the oven on the lowest heat roughly how do you know when its ready and not too dry?
Nick: Just check it. You want it to slightly crack when bent. Don’t dry it to the brittle stage.
Is this for the oven?
Jagger: If you want to dry it in an oven, do it on its lowest setting.
This is the first time we have made any kind of jerky. We have a dehydrator we are borrowing from friends but don’t know how long to have it in.
Bobbie: Until its dry. Everyone’s will be different. But it should take at least 4 hours or so, and sometimes up to 8. You are looking for the meat to still be bendable, but still very dry. If you dry until it gets brittle, the jerky is still edible, but not as good.
Will this work with a smoker? And I see insta cure is optional. I have it, that helps with preservation, correct?
Alex: Yes, instacure helps prevent botulism. If you dry in a smoker, then definitely use the instacure.
Will be trying this recipe today. Wondering if It would be ok to throw some ducks and some mule deer together in one container to marinade. Shouldn’t make any difference, should it?
Thanks a bunch, as always!
Hank – In the Sept 2016 issue of Field & Stream there is a menu for Scotch’d Venison Jerky. It sounded interesting to me. Any idea how something like this would work for duck? I made your recipe last year and it was great. But I’m thinking it would be fun to try another recipe this year. But I don’t want to ruin some good duck
I had two Canadian geese breasts brining that we didn’t end up using for dinner so I marinated for half the amount of time. Turned out great! My oven only goes down to 170, so I did an hour at 170, turned it off an hour, an hour at 170, off an hour. Four hours total.
I was wondering what would if I could tenderize the jerky with a mallet before putting in maranade? I like chewy jerky!
I just found your site today and I have been wanting to jerky some Canada goose we have in the freezer from last season. Now I’m going to use your recipe instead of the mix we bought from Wholesale Sports.
Also, we have a mulie that just found our freezer yesterday!! Yippee! We love venison, for sure!
Am looking forward to trying your recipes!
I’ll let you know how things turn out.
How long do you dehydrate at 140?
Annie: Until it’s ready, usually about 4 to 6 hours. Everything depends on how think your jerky started at. As I mention in the post, you want it mostly dry but still pliable, not so hard it snaps.
Can I substitute soy sauce for the worcestershire? Great recipe now I’m experimenting. Thanks!
Firwave: Yes, but add a little vinegar, too.
Hi! I’ve been following your site for a while now and finally
got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Huffman Texas!
Just wanted to say keep up the fantastic job!
Hank,
I don’t own a dehydrator, but I do own an electric smoker. What temp would you consider “warm” to use an oven, or in my case the smoker? I’ve wanted to make Jerky for a while, but haven’t tried it yet. Also, have you tried this with divers? I have a few goldeneye remaining from this past season. My remaining puddle ducks have a cherry sauce in their future.
Dave: You could smoke dry them, and it would be excellent, especially for the goldeneye, which need all the help they can get. 😉
To salty ! Went about 30 hrs . Also pretty game . Very surprise. These were wigeon. There not game when I cook them on the rare side and I don’t do nothing to them but garlic pepper and fry or BBQ Them. Disappointed. Will try again do my own marinated.
Do you slice the breasts lengthwise or across? And can you skip the porcine powder ?
Mike: I like lengthwise, but it’s your choice. And yes you can skip the porcini powder.
Hank first off thank you for the two amazing books you have wrote. I made this receipt today from some Canadians I got this season. However, I was not able to fond the porcini powder so I left it out. Sadly this jerky taste like fish and pencil eraser. I can figure out why. I marinade for 30 hours and had leached the blood out the breast before slicing and marinade. Any idea how to fix?
Aaron: Weird. Fish?! Never heard of that with a Canada goose. Divers sure, but not geese. Hmmm…. maybe shred it and serve it with eggs and chiles?
I did this with goose. Very good jerky. Because I used dried thyme from my own garden, it was a little too much. I’ll reduce the quantity next time.
I tried your recipe for roasted wild goose and it came out good. Too wild and gamey for my wife but ok for me. I think I overcooked it though. I used the slow roast approach as the Canada goose was about 8 lbs (my guess as I did not weigh it). I cooked it at 325 F for 2 hours. After the temp got to 145 F. I took it out for 10 minutes, put it back in the oven at 450 F until the skin crisped (this took about 15 minutes). Is there a rule-of-thumb for minutes/lbs that I could use, or should I just try to get the meat to the 145 F?
Question about the goose jerky. Should the skin be left on the breast meat and should each slice include a piece of the skin?
Ken: For jerky you need to remove all skin and fat, which can go rancid over time.