Hunting & Fishing Deer Meat - Getting old???

[CleanMoostang]

So I scored my first buck last year, not to mention my second year actually hunting. Got a nice 8pt and it got me hooked..

Now, Ive cooked some of the meat, but not all of it. Make steak strips out of the back straps I think it was, and put the rest in freezer bags and labeled them in the freezer where they have been since last season.

Now, I have never made jerky, but love to eat it. No one else in my household likes deer meat so I am wanting to just turn everything I have left in to some jerky.

Is it too late and my meat is getting bad?

And if not, can you guys explain to make home made deer jerky? Dont have a dryer and all of that other good stuff...But been told it can be done in a normal oven.

 

[Outdoorsman9]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

The meat should be fine. You can doit in a normal oven but its a long process using low heat. Google would probably be a good guide.

 

[Fisky]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

It should still be fine. You'll want to trim off the outsides if there is freezer burn.

You can make some good jerky in the oven. Buy jerky wracks though, you can get a lot more in there with them. Go as low as the oven can go and crack the door. Cooking time depends on how thick you cut it and how low of a temp your oven goes.Just keep an eye on it and you'll konw. You want it pliable when you bend it, not to snap in half.

The meat will be a lot easier to slice both by hand or with a slicer if it's half frozen or more.

Lots of jerky seasoning kits online, as well as easy homemade recipes. Trial and error to see what you like. Personally I prefer a wet cure to dry. It is less work and seems to make more evenly flavored jerky, and doesn't dry out as much.

If you overcook it, quickly throw it in some ziplocs while still warm and put it in the fridge. The condensation created there can usually help to moisten it back up as long as it's not fried to a crisp.

Google!!

 

[gutshot53]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

Should be okay.

 

[DirtyDave]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

Meat should be just fine. www.Cooks.com has tons of good recipes. Go on there and search "venison jerky"
You can also make sausage. Pretty low cost if you get a hand-crank grinder. I do 10 lbs at a time in my hand grinder, any more than that and your arm will probably fall off. Tons of sausage recipes out there too. I have been doing mostly Chorizo and Spicy Italian lately. Key to sausage is use 30% bacon in the grind (7lbs venison + 3lbs raw bacon ground together = 10 lbs of sausage)
I have never taken anything to a Butcher, do it all in the garage.

 

[topgun99]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

I do my jerky in the oven also. You can usually buy drying screens at walmart as well as some different dry jerky flavor and cure kits. Look on your local grocery store isle in the same section as A1 and you will find some liquid marinades...haven't tried them yet but plan to. I set my oven at 200 and put the handle of a wooden spoon in the door to keep it open a crack and dry it for about 2 hours. Keep the thickness of the meat to 1/4 inch or less. Just make sure that when you take it out to let it dry on the racks for a while before bagging it up or it will develop condensation in the bags and mold quickly. My wife and daughter love it. Also as far as how long before it goes bad in the freezer depends on how you package it. I use a vacuum sealer and freezer bags and have eaten some three years later with no difference in the taste. A friend fills his bags with water and freezes it that way and swears it will last a long time that way.

 

[topgun99]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

Oh yea...if you tenderize the meat with a tenderizing mallet before cutting your strips it will make it easier to soak in the marinade or cure and make the jerky alot more tender.

 

[MDM]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

My favorite way to process venison is to can it. Cube it up, stuff it in quart jars with 1-2 beef bullion cube and process it in the pressure canner for 40min at 10 lbs depending on you altitude. It keeps for years and tastes like the most tender chunks of roast beef you ever had. I think it's best right out of the jar at room temp. Good stuff. I also grind some and make 5lb batches of summer sausage in the smoker when the mood strikes, but the stuff out of the jar is just awesome. You would never be able to tell if it was venison or beef.

 

[CleanMoostang]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

Awesome, thanks guys.

As for preserving the meat, I just didnt know what a normal freezer would do for me. Ive worked with a few guys on the local strip jobs in my area who have pressured jarred some of theirs, and according to one guy, I had some of his elk stew that was almost 13 years old. Very good stuff also.

Once again, thanks I will attempt to make you guys proud this evening!

 

[jhedg]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

Still fine, I just had some 3yr old Deer Tacos last week

 

[ggmanning]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

Google Jerky Shooter. Both Bass Pro and Cabelas have a version of it. It is basically a big caulking gun that you load with seasoned ground meat. Best, easiest and most store like jerky method i have found. We typically make at least 2 deer a year into jerky. As for keeping meat get a vacuum sealer. We eat deer year round and it keeps it very fresh from season to season. Never canned it but I need to try that.

 

[rookie67]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

With my left over meat I slice it at 1/8 inch ans slow cook it at 180 degrees in my smoker. tried various seasonings as well as just pepper. Best jerkey I ever had.

 

[HajjWhisperer]

Re: Deer Meat - Getting old???

I use high mountain jerky kits and smoke the shit out of it. Vacuum sealer works for keeping it longer and you could always grind it up with bacon and make burgers.