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Looking for a great recipe for homemade venison jerky made with ground venison? I’ve got you covered! This recipe for pemmican style homemade venison jerky is satisfying, flavorful, easy, and delicious.
More Than A Keto Snack. This Jerky Is A Special Treat!
If you’re a hunter, or you’re married to a hunter, you’re always on the lookout for tasty recipes that make great use of the venison stored in your freezer. This recipe is one my husband, who is the hunter in our family, prepares all by himself. It’s more than just regular jerky. It’s pemmican style homemade venison jerky.
Venison jerky is a great take-along snack for a hunt, I’m told, but my family also enjoys it as a high protein snack for around the house. And frankly, we snarf it down so fast, that it’s more than just a snack. We think of it as a really special treat.
Why is Homemade Jerky Better Than Jerky You Buy In A Store?
Homemade venison jerky is especially desirable in *my* estimation, because not only is it more delicious than what’s commercially available, but when the jerky was made in your own home, you actually KNOW what’s in there, because YOU MADE IT! And after watching some horrific mystery-meat videos in my time, that’s pretty important to me.
What Does Pemmican Style Jerky Mean?
This recipe is a pemmican-style jerky, meaning it has added fat (from the bacon) and fruit (dried Craisins). Regular jerky is usually made from lean meats: fats cause jerky to go rancid, sooner. The recipe we used called for an optional ingredient that could be added in as a preservative, to allow the jerky to last longer: 1/2 t. of Instacure. We didn’t feel we needed to add that, since my husband’s jerky gets gobbled up quickly, but, if you also decide to omit the Instacure, be sure to refrigerate your batch of jerky, if you anticipate that yours might not disappear as quickly as ours does.
I understand that amongst some hunters, there’s a bit of a competition as to who makes the best jerky. If that’s been your experience, too, I highly recommend you try this recipe that my husband makes, which he found in Hank Shaw‘s wonderful cookbook, Buck, Buck, Moose. We adapted his recipe ever so slightly, by replacing one of the ingredients he called for – paprika – with smoked paprika, which is one of *my* favorite ingredients. We also used 2 lbs of venison, rather than 1 3/4 lbs. that his original recipe called for, because that’s the size package of ground venison that our processor packages for us. Hank Shaw’s recipe for homemade venison jerky is my favorite recipe for jerky that my husband has tried so far.
In this picture, you can see the meat/spices mixture has been cohabitating in the fridge, and is ready to be made into jerky, using the jerky gun, and the dehydrator.
To make this recipe of Pemmican-Style Homemade Venison Jerky, we used ground venison. You’ll also need two special pieces of equipment, that you see pictured in these photos: a jerky gun (which is a lot like a caulking gun), and food dehydrator. But now: on to the recipe!
Pulling the jerky gun’s trigger, you squirt the mixture directly onto the dehydrator’s trays.
Almost done, but not quite.
Here’s what our last batch looked like when it was done. You can see the bits of bacon fat and craisins in this image. I love to eat jerky while it’s still warm! The smell of it being dehydrated is amazingly delicious, and it’s hard to wait till it’s done!
Pin this so you’ll know where to find it when you need it!
The Recipe for Pemmican-Style Homemade Venison Jerky
Homemade Venison Jerky, Pemmican Style Recipe
Homemade Venison Jerky: A delicious recipe for pemmican style homemade venison jerky that will please anyone looking for a high protein paleo friendly snack.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground venison
- 1/4 lb. bacon
- 1 c. Craisins
- 2 T. sea salt
- 2 t. freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 t. freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 T. onion powder
- 1 T. smoked paprika
- 2 T. sugar
- 1/4 c. water
Instructions
- Finely chop the bacon, so that it's the texture/size of your ground venison.
- Finely chop the Craisins. Put all the ingredients into a large bowl, and mix well with your hands, until everything starts to stick to itself. (We wear latex gloves.)
- If you have a vacuum sealer (we do), seal the mixture and set in the fridge, so that all the flavors begin to mingle and enjoy each other. (24-48 hours). ( If you don't have a vacuum sealer, pack the meat and spice mixture into a lidded container and press some plastic wrap directly onto the surface, shielding it from oxygen. Refrigerate same amount of time.
- When the time in the fridge is up, separate the mixture into two or three chunks (depending on the size of your jerky gun). Pack it in and squeeze out lengths of jerky onto your dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 150º until the meat is mostly dry, but still chewy. The time required will vary from dehydrator to dehydrator.
Notes
Note: if you don't think you'll be eating it all quickly, and are concerned about keeping the fat from going rancid, you can always freeze it.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 180Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 1037mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 18g
More Venison For YOU! Because You're Such A Deer.
Santa knows you've been a good person. Also, since he doesn't want you feeding on his OWN herd, he wanted you to have MORE venison recipes out of regular deer. So here ya go!
Yes, you can use this recipe with beef, as well. And it's AMAZING!!!
Pretty close to my Mom's favorite recipe to serve company: Beef Stroganoff on Wild Rice. But mine's made with Venison.
It doesn't have to be St. Paddy's Day for you to enjoy a delicious Shepherd's Pie. (Find out why I almost titled it Poacher's Pie.)
This is truly a gourmet, Italian recipe. You'll LOVE it! And yes, you can substitute beef, if you prefer.
haralee
Friday 24th of February 2017
Our neighbor hunts antelope which is very lean too. I haven't tried jerky yet but maybe next year since I bought the dehydrator this past season. Love the idea of adding the bacon!
Susan Williams
Friday 24th of February 2017
I would love to know how this works with antelope!