It’s a great snack to pack with you on a hike or into the tree for an evening sit.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs of venison or elk meat
- ⅔ cup of soy sauce
- ⅓ cup of lime juice
- ⅓ cup of vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of red chili flakes (or depending on how spicy you want it)
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
Directions
I recommend slicing the meat across the grain about ¼ in thick. A trick for making it easier to slice the meat is to only partially thaw the meat before you begin cutting. Once you have all your jerky strips cut, it’s time to prepare the marinade to soak your venison in.
In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, garlic powder and chili flakes. Once that’s all been mixed up, pour the marinade into a gallon zip lock bag and then add your meat to the bag. Let the meat sit in the marinade refrigerated for at least 24 hours.
Once the meat has spent at least a day basking in the marinade, it’s time to dehydrate the meat.
Oven Directions
1. Turn heat on oven to its lowest temperature (150-170).
2. Place meat onto oven racks or clean metal screen. Be sure to place a drip pan or tinfoil on the lower rack to catch the dripping marinade. You can also hang the meat with toothpicks from the oven racks for larger batches.
3. Leave the oven door cracked open to allow steam to escape. Let jerky dry for approximately 3-6 hours or to desired dryness. Oven drying times will vary, so make sure to check the dryness of the jerky every hour or so. Do not leave your oven on, unattended if you are making jerky, plan to be home to watch it.
Smoker Cooking Directions
1. Heat smoker to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place meat onto smoker racks.
3. Add water soaked wood chips (flavor of your choice) to a heat source once the jerky dries out a bit and is tacky to the touch(about halfway through the drying process). This will add a smoky flavor.
4. Dry at 180 degrees for approximately 3 hours.
5. Keep a close eye on your smoker. It can be challenging to maintain a perfect temperature of 180 degrees.
6. Smoker drying times will vary, so make sure to check the dryness of the jerky every hour or so. Do not leave your smoker on unattended, if you are making jerky, plan to be home to watch it.
