Venison is naturally lean, which makes it great for jerky. This marinade is savory and peppery, with a little sweetness to balance the rich, gamey flavor. Wild game needs a bit more care, so follow the safety steps closely.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 3 lb venison roast (hindquarter cuts like round or sirloin), trimmed of all fat and silver skin
- 2/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp coarse black pepper, plus more for topping
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional, for smoky flavor)
Steps
- Keep the venison at 40°F or colder until you're ready to work with it.
- Trim off every bit of fat, silver skin and connective tissue. Venison fat tastes strong and goes rancid fast.
- Freeze the meat for 1–2 hours until firm but not frozen solid, then slice it 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, against the grain for tender jerky.
- Whisk the soy sauce, Worcestershire, brown sugar, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and any optional ingredients in a bowl.
- Put the strips in a zip-top bag, pour in the marinade, press out the air and refrigerate 12–24 hours, flipping the bag once.
- Drain the strips and pat them dry with paper towels. Throw away the used marinade.
- Heat the strips to 160°F before drying: bake on a rack-lined sheet pan in a 275°F oven for about 10 minutes, then check several thick pieces with a thermometer. Don't skip this step with wild game.
- Lay the strips on dehydrator trays in a single layer without overlapping. Sprinkle with extra pepper.
- Dry at 160°F (or your dehydrator's highest setting, at least 145°F) for 4–6 hours, until a cooled strip bends and cracks without snapping.
- Let the jerky cool completely, then store it in an airtight bag or jar.
Wild game safety
Deer meat can carry bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella, and it doesn't go through the same inspection as store-bought beef. How the deer was field dressed, cooled and stored matters a lot. Keep the meat cold and clean from the field to your kitchen.
The USDA recommends heating jerky meat to 160°F before drying, and this is extra important for wild game. Freezing the meat first can help with some parasites, but the USDA notes that freezing does not reliably kill all of them in wild game. Heating the meat to 160°F is the step to count on. Read the USDA's jerky and food safety guidance for the full details.
If you hunt in an area with chronic wasting disease (CWD), have your deer tested and wait for the results before eating the meat. Your state wildlife agency can tell you how.
Best cuts
Use roasts from the hindquarter, like the top round, bottom round, eye of round and sirloin tip. They're big and easy to slice. Save the backstrap for the grill. Scraps and trim can become ground jerky with a jerky gun; just make sure ground jerky also reaches 160°F.
How to tell it's done
Pull a strip, let it cool for 5 minutes, then bend it. Done jerky cracks on the surface but doesn't snap. Because venison is so lean, it can dry faster than beef, so start checking at about 3 hours.
Storage
- Room temperature in an airtight bag: about 1–2 weeks.
- Refrigerator: 1–2 months.
- Freezer: up to a year.
Variations
Teriyaki: use the marinade from our teriyaki beef jerky.
Smoked: after the 160°F step, smoke the strips at 160–180°F with hickory or mesquite for 1–2 hours, then finish in the dehydrator.
Hot and peppery: add 1 tsp cayenne and double the black pepper.
Gear for this recipe
- A dehydrator with a rear fan
- A sharp slicing knife or meat slicer
- An instant-read thermometer for the 160°F step
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