How to Make Venison Jerky, Smoked Venison, Curing Game Meats and More

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Canning Ground and Chopped Venison at Home

Here's how to preserve (can) ground and chopped venison, based on information from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (see references at the bottom of the page)

Field-to-Refrigerator

Use care when field dressing the deer. Contaminating the carcass is one of the most common errors hunters make. Refrigerate the carcass as soon as possible for best quality; usually within 3-4 hours after killing if the air temperature is above 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Aging Venison

Aging will help dissipate the game taste and permit natural occurring enzymes to tenderize the tissues. Proper aging also firms the meat, giving it better cutting quality. Aging should be conducted between 32 - 35° F for 7 - 10 days. Never age at room temperature. Venison may be cut within 24 hours after the kill and still be acceptable for aging. Improper storage facilities increases risk for spoilage.

Curing/Smoking Venison

Homemade venison jerky was responsible for an outbreak of foodborne illness several years ago. Therefore use only "new" and updated processing recommendations as suggested below. And see the note from MSU extension. That sais, drying is the world’s oldest and most common method of food preservation. The word “jerky” came from the Spanish word “charque.”

Basically, removing moisture from food prevents enzymes (bacterial, fungal, or naturally occurring) from contacting or reacting with it. But simply drying meat may not result in a safe jerky. product. In 1995, a Salmonella outbreak caused by jerky affected 93 people in New Mexico, even though the jerky had been dried at 140°F for 3 hours and held at 115°F for 19 hours. Jerky must ALSO be heated to 160°F to kill the pathogens. The USDA’s current recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160°F and poultry to 165°F before the dehydrating process. This step ensures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat. But most dehydrator instructions do not include this step, and a dehydrator may not reach temperatures high enough to heat meat to 160°F.

Hot Pickle Cure Jerky

Yield: Five pounds of fresh meat should weigh approximately two pounds after drying or smoking.

Directions

1. Slice 5 lb. of meat (¼ inch thick strips) with the grain. Use lean meat free of fat and connective tissue.
2. Spread out meat and sprinkle on 3 tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 2 tablespoon sugar. Put the meat in a pan or dish and let stand for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Pound the meat on both sides to work in the spice. Optional: Dip strips of meat in a liquid smoke solution (five parts water to one part liquid smoke) for one to two seconds for added flavor.
4. Make a brine by dissolving ¾ cup salt, ½ cup sugar, and 2 tablespoon ground black pepper in a gallon of water. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar.
5. Bring the brine to a low to medium boil. Immerse the fresh meat strips (a few at a time) into the boiling brine until they turn gray (one to two minutes). Remove meat from the brine, using clean tongs or other utensils that have not contacted the raw meat.
6. Spread out meat on a clean dehydrator rack or on a clean rack in the top half of a kitchen oven. If you use a kitchen oven, open the oven door to the first of second stop. Heat at 120 to 150 F (lowest oven temperature) for 9 to 24 hours or until the desired dryness is reached.
7. Remove jerky from oven before it becomes too hard or brittle. Properly dried jerky should crack when bent in half but should not break into two pieces.
8. Store jerky in clean jars or plastic bags, or wrap it in freezer paper and freeze. If kept dry, properly prepared jerky will last almost indefinitely at any temperature, but is quality deteriorates after a few months.

Venison Jerky FAQs

1. How do I know my venison jerky is dried properly?
   The jerky will be as brittle as a green stick; it won't snap clean as a dry stick does. Be sure to test it after cooling because it will be pliable when it is still warm.
2. Can I safely make a meat jerky without salt?
   Making low-salt jerky is not recommended. The salt binds the moisture in the meat and thus any bacteria on the meat are more quickly killed because they do not have water available to them.

 

MSU Extension says:

the meat has to be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit to kill bacteria which may be present. For jerky, this means it is not enough to dehydrate the meat in a dehydrator and consider it safe. According to the Quick Guide on processing Jerky and Compliance Guideline, humidity must also be added during the cooking cycle. This can be achieved by adding wide, shallow pans of water to the oven throughout the cooking cycle. Use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the center of the largest, thickest cut of meat. If the meat is thin cut, you can simply wrap a piece of meat around the probe.

Careful use of ingredients is also necessary. Most at-home processes include using a spice pre-mix that comes with the curing agent (sodium nitrite) diluted with salt in a separate container. The cure portion is typically pink in color. Make sure to follow directions about the order of addition very carefully and never add more than described.

Other sausage recipes

1. Guide to Home Sausage Making from the University of Connecticut
2. Fresh Game Sausage by University of Minnesota
3. North Dakota University - making sausage
4. North Dakota State University has a nice PDF guide of tips about making and preserving sausage and jerky

References and Cooperative Extension Game processing resources

1. Handling wild game meats, Clemson University
2. Penn State has a complete guide to processing wild game and fish PDF
3. The Hunt is On: Know the Basics of Venison Preservation UGa
4. Wild side of the menu No. 3 preservation of game meats. (Marchello M, Beck P. 2001. Wild Side of the Menu No. 3. Preservation of Game Meats. Fargo, ND: North Dakota State University.
5. Preserving Game Meats. Clemson, SC: Clemson University Preserving game meats (Hoyle EH. 1999.
6. National Center for Home Food Preservation,
   September 2002- Brian A. Nummer is Project Coordinator with the National Center for Home Food Preservation, Department of Foods and Nutrition, College of Family and Consumer Sciences and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, The University of Georgia, Athens. This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 00-51110-9762.
   National Center for Home Food Preservation
   208 Hoke Smith Annex
   The University of Georgia
   Athens, GA 30602-4356
   
   Tel: (706) 542-3773
   Fax: (706) 542-1979