Can I use this for ground jerky?

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bsparker

bsparker

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Happens every year, I have some ground venison still in the freezer. I like clearing it out before the next hunting season. It was processed at the butcher (wife still doesn't want me bringing it home and processing it myself...another topic). When they ground it they put beef fat in it. Every jerky I've made has been sliced with as little fat as possible.

Am I correct in my understanding that ground venison with ground fat should not be used for jerky?

If I shouldn't use it, any recipes for ground venison welcome! Looking for new ideas.
 
bsparker said:
If I shouldn't use it, any recipes for ground venison welcome! Looking for new ideas.
Click to expand...
I've posted this recipe before, but believe me, it's so good it's worth repeating:
1. Mix ground venison 50/50 with ground pork OR your choice of ground pork sausage - I use whichever one is on sale.
2. Mix in (again your choice) some seasonings - I like ground sage and/or store-bought Italian seasoning. But really - it's your choice, so season to your taste.
3. Form the ground venison/pork sausage into patties (about 2oz. each) and fry them up.
4. Dab the excess oil off them with paper towels, put them on a cookie sheet sprayed with just a little cooking oil, and put the cookie sheet full of fried patties in the freezer.
5. The next day, scrape the patties off the cookie sheet and transfer them to a gallon zip-lock bag. Put them back in the freezer - they won't sick together because they're frozen.

Now comes the GOOD part:
1. Take a pre-cooked, frozen patty out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave for about 22 seconds.
2. Put the now warm patty in a biscuit - I use my own sourdough/buttermilk biscuits, but "grand" sized store bought pop-up biscuits work well too.
3. Put a slice of pepper-jack cheese in the biscuit on top of the warm patty.
4. Put the whole thing back in the microwave for about 14 second - until the cheese just starts to droop.

A venison sausage with pepper jack biscuit goes very well with a small glass of V-8 juice, or some pineapple for breakfast. And it's heaven on Earth with some chips and an ice-cold, crisp lager for lunch. Enjoy!;)

Edited to add: When your grandsons are out to the house, don't let them know that there are venison sausage patties in the freezer, or there won't be!:D
 
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The fat can go rancid more quickly; that is the only reason I know of to trim meat for jerky.

But if you plan to eat the product within six months or so, the fat should be no problem.

Look up pemmican for more details.
 
Personally I wouldn't use it to make jerky. I would use it for chili, speghitti, hamburgers or give it away to family or friends.

When we start harvesting deer I start making jerky from day one. We have two dehyderators going every day. I freeze it and it will last all year, I just unthawed a pack last night.
 
My brother bought the ground meat jerky gun. I don't know what holds the meat together but it dpes stay together. I perfer sliced meat over ground meat. Once we harvest a deer I have two electric dehyderators going every day. I hand slice the meat so it is sliced in to different thickneses.
The larger slices go on the bottom rack on up to the thinest slices on the top rack.
As they dry I keep rearrangeing the jerky, the close to be done meat goes up to the top rack. And new brined meat goes on the bottom rack.
If useing the cheap round electric dehydorators put alluminum foil on the bottom (cut out for the round heating element). It makes cleaning the unit so much easier.

Most of the meat we use for making jerky is the trimmings then the tougher cuts of meat.
Fat left on the meat is not your friend, it will get rancid on you.
When prepping jerky follow the directions and you will be Ok.
Some people use their oven for drying the meat, here again I like the $35 Walmat electric dehyorators.
 
Ground meat with beef fat makes fine jerky. Mix in the spice you want, flatten it the way you want and dry it on the dehydrator to desired dryness. It does still dry out and it works fine. I’ve done it fifty times. It also freezes well once this is done

The jerky guns work pretty well but there are
Other ways of flattening it
 
Until age and teeth problems took over jerky was a favorite. In the north East there was a family that was know for their jerky. they attended all the New England gun shows with a big set up. Not cheap but an amazing variety, looked forward to it at every gun show. Maybe the ground variety would be easier to chew. :)
 
A lot of the fat melts out in the dehydrator and can be blotted off with a paper towel. The commercial jerky gun recipes are specified using ground beef, and you know it has a lot more fat than venison.
 
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Highland Lofts said:
All the instruction on making jerky I have read always say to.temove all fat.
I'd like to see one that says to leave the fat on the meat.
Click to expand...
Here’s the first 4 that come up with Google. This is a pretty popular way to make jerky. It’s not my favorite method but I’ve done it a bunch of times and it is good. Getting fat out of grind is not an undertaking many would even attempt. I actually like to leave the fat on while making jerky from whole meat but I’m sort of a weirdo

https://www.jerkyholic.com/jerkyholics-original-ground-beef-jerky/

https://littlehousebigalaska.com/2015/01/easy-ground-beef-homemade-jerky.html

https://www.allergyfreealaska.com/ground-beef-jerky/

https://www.food.com/recipe/hamburger-beef-jerky-171634
 
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pairof44sp said:
The fat can go rancid more quickly; that is the only reason I know of to trim meat for jerky.

But if you plan to eat the product within six months or so, the fat should be no problem.

Look up pemmican for more details.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try a batch and see how much fat comes out of it in the dehydration process. I usually do a batch here and there, and with my boys it's gone in a week.

I'll give pemmican a shot, appreciate the heads up on that one. I hadn't heard of or tried it.
 
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