How to Make Venison Jerky: Brine, Cure and Dehydrator

Short answer:

I make jerky the same way every time. Strips, a wet brine that sits for a couple of days, and the dehydrator. No smoker, no oven, nothing fancy. The thing that makes or breaks it is flavor. Bland jerky is a waste of a good deer, so the seasoning is heavy on purpose and the brine gets time to work all the way through the meat.

What cut of deer makes the best jerky?

The hindquarter rounds. Eye of round is the classic. It's lean, the grain runs one way, and it slices into long, even strips. Top round, bottom round and sirloin tip all work just as well. Pick big, clean muscles you can trim of every bit of fat and silver skin. Save the shanks, neck and odd scraps for the grinder. Here's how I sort my trim.

Use deer, elk, moose, antelope or lean beef. Never bear or wild hog. They can carry trichinella, and jerky never gets hot enough to kill it. More on that in bear and wild hog safety.

How thick should you slice it?

1/4 inch. Partly freeze the meat first and it slices clean. Cut with the grain for chewy jerky you have to tear, or across the grain for something more tender. Either way works. That's just how you like it.

Trim off every bit of fat you can see before it goes in the brine. Fat goes rancid in storage and keeps the strips from drying.

Weigh the meat after you slice and trim it. The salt and cure are measured off that weight, so weighing the whole roast beforehand throws the cure off.

How do you brine venison jerky?

There are two ways I do it, and they work differently.

A seasoning brine (hickory, mesquite). Stir the salt, Cure #1, brown sugar and seasoning into a small amount of ice cold water until it turns into a thick brine. Put the strips in a zip bag, pour it over, press out the air and work it until every strip is coated. Then it goes in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. That's when it comes out best. 24 hours is the bare minimum, and 3/8 inch strips need at least 28 hours. Turn or squeeze the bag once or twice a day so every strip stays coated.

Because the salt and cure are weighed to the meat, the extra days build flavor without making it any saltier. Don't add more water than the recipe calls for. It just waters the flavor down.

A soy sauce marinade (teriyaki, black pepper, sweet heat). These get their salt from the soy, so there's no water added and no weighed salt. 24 hours, turning the bag 2 or 3 times. Don't let them go past 48 hours. The soy has soaked all the way through by then, and longer only makes them saltier.

Keep it below 40°F the whole time. Never on the counter.

Do you need cure for venison jerky?

Every jerky recipe I make uses Cure #1, at 0.25% of the meat weight. That's about 1.1 grams per pound. The strips sit in a brine for days and then spend hours warm in the dehydrator, and cure is what protects them through that. It also gives jerky the red color and cured flavor you expect from good jerky.

Base the cure on the weight of the meat, not the brine. The full math is in How Much Cure #1 Per Pound, and Cure #1 vs Cure #2 explains why jerky is a Cure #1 job. If you have a recipe written around a salt-based cure mix, don't swap it for Cure #1 by weight. Here's why.

Do you rinse jerky before dehydrating?

No. The strips go straight from the bag to the trays. With a seasoning brine, spoon whatever's left in the bag over the strips so none of the seasoning goes to waste. With a soy marinade, let the extra drip off and throw the leftover marinade away. Never reuse it.

Lay them out so they don't touch. Crowded trays dry unevenly.

What temperature do you dehydrate venison jerky at?

160°F. Check your dehydrator with a thermometer, because a lot of them run cooler than the dial says. A dehydrator dries the meat and cuts down bacteria, but it doesn't reliably get rid of all of them. That's why I start with fresh, cold meat, make sure the dehydrator really holds 160°F, and don't crowd the trays.

Don't turn the heat up to hurry it, especially on sweet jerky. Sugar and soy scorch.

How long does it take?

Usually 6 to 8 hours for 1/4 inch strips. Start checking at 4 hours. Teriyaki and other sweet jerky always run slowest because of the sugar, more like 7 to 9 hours. Every dehydrator and every cut is different, so the times are a guide. Dehydrate it until it's done.

How do you tell when jerky is done?

The bend test. Let a piece cool, then bend it. Done jerky bends and cracks but doesn't snap in two, and there are no wet spots. If it bends like rubber, it needs more time. If it snaps clean, it went too long. Sweet jerky should also feel dry on the surface, not sticky. If it's still tacky, give it another hour.

Blot off any beads of fat with a paper towel. Then let it cool, bag it and put it in the fridge overnight. If any pieces feel moist the next day, they go back in the dehydrator.

How long does homemade venison jerky last?

• Fridge: up to 1 month, sealed.
• Freezer: up to 6 months, vacuum sealed.

Store-bought jerky sits on a shelf because it's made under controlled conditions with tested moisture levels. Homemade isn't, so keep it cold.

The numbers at a glance

Step	Number
Slice	1/4 inch, weighed after slicing
Cure #1	0.25% of the meat weight (about 1.1 g per lb)
Seasoning brine	2 to 3 days in the fridge, 24 hours minimum
Soy marinade	24 hours, never past 48
Dehydrator	160°F, checked with a thermometer
Time	6 to 8 hours, start checking at 4
Done	Bends and cracks, doesn't snap
Storage	Fridge 1 month, freezer 6 months

A few things that matter

• Start with fresh, cold meat. Keep raw venison at 40°F or colder until it goes in the brine.
• If gut contents got on a piece in the field, don't make jerky out of it. Grind it for something that gets fully cooked.
• Hunting in a CWD area? Get the deer tested before it goes in the dehydrator. More in CWD and venison sausage.

The DeepWoodz app has my jerky recipes: hickory, mesquite, teriyaki, black pepper and sweet heat. Tell it how much meat you sliced and the brine and the Cure #1 scale to match, with the cure locked to the safe rate. The recipes are free.

Bottom line

Slice it 1/4 inch, weigh it, brine it 2 to 3 days with Cure #1, then dehydrate at 160°F until a cooled strip bends and cracks. Trim every bit of fat, never use bear or wild hog, and keep the finished jerky in the fridge or freezer.

Common questions