Honey BBQ Venison Jerky

Here we are taking some ground venison and turning it into one of the best snacks you can find! Ground jerky is definitely easier to make, and tends to have a softer bite than traditional jerky strips. I am doing a Honey BBQ style here, but the method should be the same for all styles of ground jerky. You don't need a dehydrator to make great ground jerky! If you have an oven or smoker then you can make some fantastic jerky at home! This is one of my favorite ways to use all of my venison and I highly recommend you give this one a try!

YouTube Instructional: https://youtu.be/hIFcbM-34qI

Ingredients:
1067g Ground Venison (appx 2.25lb)
1/2 Tsp Pink Salt #1
21g Salt (2% of meat weight)
3 Tbsp Honey Granules
1 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
3/4 Tsp Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder

Step 1: Grind your meat

Grind your meat to a fine mix. If using venison, you are good to go. If you are using beef, I would recommend using leaner guts to grind, or if buying ground, try not to go fattier than 90/10.

Step 2: Mix the meat

Add in all of your dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

For salt content, start at 2%. You may find it too salty or not salty enough. You can adjust up or down, but 2% of meat weight seems to be the middle ground for most preferences.

Step 3: Cure the meat

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put into the fridge overnight.

This will allow the cure to start working.

Step 4: Stuff your jerky gun

Now you don’t need a jerky gun, but it does make all of your strips uniform.

If you don’t have a gun, you can flatten the ground jerky in a big square until its your desired thickness. Then cut it into strips

If using a jerky gun, stuff your gun with as much of our meat mixture as you can

Step 5: Form the jerky

You can either use the tube or flat horn on your jerky gun

Form long strips onto a few wire racks that will fit into your oven or smoker

Step 6: Smoke at 180

Get your smoker up to 180 degrees

Smoke until the internal temp is around 160 and the texture is the consistency you are looking for (3-4 hrs usually)

Allow them to cool and cut to the size you want

Enjoy!