Smoking Deer
 

Just a general question about smoking deer meat. Do I have to put it in a dehydrator first to make a cured meat like jerky, or can i simply smoke the thin sliced meat and it will cure? I recently got a smoker and have been experimenting.

You have three things goin on; smoking, dehydrating, curing.

You cant smoke already dried meat

Curing is done with curing salts, Morton salt is a good one for do it yourself dudes.

You can dehydrate meat without curing it however it's a bit safer to cure it first. This one is opening a can of worms though, some like to cure others swear it's not necessary. Most commercial places that make jerky will use curing salts.

The last time I tried to smoke deer the dang thing wouldn't stay lit.

Yes you can smoke deer.

Buy one (or 2 or 3) of those Hi Mountain jerky mixes.
Slice the meat up at 3/16".
Pat it dry.
Layer it in a GLASS tray.....lay of meat and sprinkle of the above mix, repeat.
Leave in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Put it in the smoker...start low temp for first few hours
Then increase heat a bit every 1/2hr to no higher than 240F..but only for a short time at this temp.
Turn trays and flip over meat every hour.

Don't go too long.....waiting until it looks like dark brown is too long.
Vacuum pack and freeze what you are not planning on eating in the next few weeks. Stuff should last 2 weeks in the frig.....but never does...too good.

Read this,
http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.p...-basics.10171/
and this
http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.p...y-nepas.10165/
and lastly sign up for this free online course if your new to smoking.
http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse

How does the glass tray help??

It prevents the spices and juices from soaking into the counter top :)

Metal can give an off taste. I think the cure in the mix can react with some metals.

Don't use to much smoke the thin meat doesn't take much I only smoke 1 puck in my Bradley about 20 minutes.

The other half smoked one in the head yesterday. No meat damage :sHa_shakeshout:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...psbzm7jczo.jpg

Lmao ...thank you:)

Saw the thread title and figured ungulates have picked up some bad habits.

How old would a deer have to be to buy smokes legally anyways?

Great info thanks !

I acquired a large free smoker . Anyone know what type of alberta wood works well

Maple

birch is nice as long as you take the bark off. just finished my new offset reverse flow smoker and seasoned with birch. It smelled mighty fine.

My daughter wasnt so sure on Elk jerky. It started disappearing from the bag she said it wasnt her lol. As mentioned above it wont last long.

Maple, alder, diamond willow, apple, cherry, oak and hickory are the main ones that can be found locally. Just make sure you peel off the bark first or it will add a bitter flavor.