Jerky

Trail Cut Jerky

Hickory Style Beef Jerky

Trail Cut Jerky is a jerky made from lean wild game or lean beef. Smoke at 145-165°F (63-74°C) and finish at an internal 152°F (67°C) held 1 min, before drying. Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.

Whole muscle, sliced and cured, and the version everything else gets measured against. Soy and Worcestershire do the heavy lifting on savoriness while the brown sugar keeps it from tasting flat. Slice with the grain if you want chew, against it if you want it to give more easily.

• Savory
• Garlic
• Smoky

Internal temp

152°F (67°C) held 1 min, before drying

Smoker temp

145-165°F (63-74°C)

What goes in it

• Kosher Salt
• Cure #1
• Brown Sugar
• Hickory Smoke Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Coarse Black Pepper
• Onion Powder

Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.

The meat

Lean Wild Game · Lean Beef

Bear or wild hog: take it to 160°F and hold 3 minutes. Freezing, smoking and curing do not kill trichinella — only heat does.

How it's made

1. Slice meat 1/4" thick against the grain. Partially freezing helps get clean cuts.
2. Weigh the meat AFTER slicing. Everything below is measured off that weight, so weighing the roast beforehand throws the cure off.
3. Mix the salt, cure, brown sugar and all dry seasonings together in a bowl. This is a dry rub — there is no marinade and no liquid.
4. Lay the strips flat and sprinkle half the mixture over the first side. Turn them and sprinkle the rest. Then tumble by hand in a large bowl until every surface is evenly coated.
5. Bag the strips and refrigerate a full 24 hours. Cure penetrates about 1/4" per 24 hours, so thicker strips need longer — give 3/8" strips closer to 28 hours.
6. Lay on smoker racks without overlapping. Do not rinse the rub off.
7. Dry at 160°F for 1 hour to set the surface.
8. Reduce to 145°F and apply light smoke for 3-5 hours.
9. Jerky is done when it bends and cracks but doesn't break.
10. Dehydrator method: Skip the smoke — dehydrate the strips at 160°F for 4-8 hours until they bend and crack but do not break. If your dehydrator can not reach 160°F, finish the strips in a 275°F oven for about 10 minutes to reach a food-safe 160°F internal temperature (165°F if using poultry).
11. Store in sealed bags. Keeps 1-2 weeks at room temp, longer in the fridge.

Wood

Hickory · Mesquite · Oak

Before you start

• How much Cure #1 per pound
• Venison to pork fat ratio