Smokin-It User Forum!
Recipes => Jerky => Topic started by: will615 on January 29, 2018, 07:39:46 PM
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Is there a difference in smoking times for venison and beef ? I made jerky from an eye of round roast and it was wonderful. When I tried the same temps and times with venison, the result was pretty unremarkable. The beef was sliced 1/4" thick by the butcher. The venison was "butchered" by me and the thickness varied. The outside temperature was much warmer on the venison day. The batch of venison was twice as big as the beef. Both batches got smoke at 145 degrees for 2 hours, then 5 hours at 145 with the dryer fan. Hi mtn seasoning and cure both times. Your thoughts please. Thanks!
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Will,
What do you mean the results were "unremarkable?" I know when I've made venison jerky, with varying thickness slices, I just had to watch it more, and remove thinner slices as they were done. The seasoning wasn't an issue, though. BTW, I brine cure my jerky and don't use mixes. Maybe you can clarify how we can help?
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Will:
Venison is a much more leaner meat than beef is. I have only used ground venison to make jerky with but I would imagine that the venison strips would dry much faster than the beef and would not need to dry as long as the beef would.
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I make whole muscle venison jerky all the time and as with you the cuts to tend to vary in size. But, as Tony said, you just have to watch these closer and pull them out as they are done.
My last batch really filled up the smoker, so it took a long time. But, I bet I started pulling jerky off after 8-9 hours and wasn't done with the last bigger pieces until about 16+ hours.
I have tried the brine cures and they are not for me. I love the Hi Mountain and Hi Country seasonings and also really like the Excalibur Colorado Jerky Seasoning (https://www.waltonsinc.com/colorado-jerky-seasoning) from Waltons Inc.
The last batch that I made was Hi Mountain Pepper Blend (https://www.himtnjerky.com/Pepper-Blend-Jerky-Kit.html) and it turned out awesome.
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Tony, Thanks for the response. The jerky was tougher and had less flavor than the beef. I'm still eating every single piece but it's nothing special. I think the brine you suggested would help. I am a bit intimidated by the equilibrium brine spreadsheet! I have used your pork brine recipe for chicken wings and it worked great. Thanks for your advice!
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Once you do an equilibrium brine, it will all make sense, even Martin's calculator! The results are just so darn predictable!