I must mention that I cook without measuring anything. The amount of salt is something I've never measured, but through time, I've just realized how much to add. Sorry. If you add tender quick at a rate of something like a quarter cup per 2 pounds of meat, you'll be close. In my opinion, just dust each piece of meat, both sides, and mix it with all the other ingredients and you'll be fine. You'll also through time, master what is best for you, your family and friends.
Start out with the flesh. I only partially thaw the meat so it cuts evenly. In this case, wild turkey and whitetail deer. 1/4 inch slices, cross grain, and you'll be just fine.
Once you salt this meat, it will start pulling moisture out immediately. By adding brown sugar, and liquid smoke, and dealing with partially frozen meat, you'll notice you have a wet brine. Perfect! This wet meat goes into a ziplock and you mix everything once again to get an even brine throughout the entire batch. I'll actually flip the meat halfway through its 24 hour brine time. 24 HOURS!
I space my piece just enough so air in the oven gets between the pieces, and they dry. You are not cooking this. You are drying it. I always spray my racks with food release, so the meat doesn't stick. Many different racks on the market, but you can hardly go wrong with cookie-cooling racks. Temperature? 180 to 200 F. It is essential to allow the moisture to leave the oven, so the door must be cracked. I use my convection setting, so there is normally a oven door button that must be pressed in, so the fan spins, while the oven door is cracked. I take a folded up dish towel and put it over the button, and push the door against it, so the door has a small gap, and the fan still spins. I also put foil on the bottom of the oven to catch the drips, and keep momma happy.
I normally rotate my racks halfway through the drying process in the oven, and normally (depending on the humidity in your home) is about 3 hours. I like mine dry, so I will just see how it looks, and determine if it needs more time. I've dried it five hours in the past, especially when the meat is thick.
I like mine to air cool before putting it in a ziplock, and cooling it overnight in the refrigerator. Jerky allowed to cool overnight just seems better. The salt/sugar combination sort of caramelizes the jerky?
I'm not sure if I've missed anything, but I'll comment as I post pictures during the tutorial, so give me a few minutes, and if you have questions, I'll try to answer. I don't expect the guys who know the process to give two turds about this, but this is a truly unbelievably tasty jerky, even if it seems rudimentary to some of you?
Here are the ingredients. Brown sugar, coarsely ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, Tender Quick, and liquid smoke.
Will add some brown sugar and pick up some 2-gallon zip locks... For other marinading!
Also, wild Turkey jerky is on the list now!
Will pin to my favorites!
Thanks!
I have not tried this on ground jerky. The recipe however is an oven made summer sausage recipe that I modified for jerky. I think the only hiccup might be finding the accurate salt amount. Give me a few minutes, and let me see if I can find the correct measurement somewhere. Edit: found the recipe for the summer sausage. It calls for 2 tablespoons of Tender Quick for 2 pounds of ground meat. I however found that recipe just a bit salty, so just a little less on the salt in my opinion for using the shooter. Again, I've never made my jerky that way, but I'm sure it will work just fine.
