Best ever deer jerky

I am a huge fan of deer jerky... but when I drop a deer for processing, I never have jerky made, as I am also a very picky connoisseur of deer jerky. I like it to be the meat slices, not the formed kind, and those slices need to be THIN (which hardly anyone does at the meat markets, they make jerky chunks...not a fan!) 

So I bought a huge dehydrator from Cabela's, and last year began playing with recipes. The first deer of the year went to jerky, and I made 4 different recipes. I kept them separated, and taste tested them myself and with members of my family and my friends. THIS is the best jerky, and I will tell you "You're welcome" in advance (LOL)

At a home show a few years back, I ran into a gentleman named Jimmy, who makes the most incredible marinade on the planet for wild game. I bought a bottle of it, and some of his Texas Spicy Rub... and WAS HOOKED! I now buy it by the gallon, as when you mix it with Italian dressing, it makes the perfect wild game marinade, and when you make jerky.... OH... MY... GOSH... INCREDIBLE!!! 

So here's my jerky recipe, this being said, I do not "measure" everything, but here is my process, and this is for an entire deer.  Before I slice the deer, I soak it in salty ice water to make it super cold and pull out some of the blood.

Thin slice the deer, saving the scraps for grinding. 

I use 2 large foil trays, and place all slices of meat in there. 

pour enough Jimmy O's Texas Mesquite Marinade to cover the meat completely

pour a thin layer of salt over the meat

pour a thin layer of pepper over the meat

sprinkle a thin layer of Jimmy O's Spicy Texas Rub

then mix it all up and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours... I mix it up a few times just to make sure every piece has marinade on it. 

After marinating, place on dehydrator trays in a single layer. If you want it spicy, sprinkle more of the Texas Spicy Rub on the meat. I typically do half of the meat spicy and half not. 

Dehydrate until done.... in mine I use 160 degrees for approximately 6 hours. Obviously this will vary depending on type of dehydrator. I pull some of the smaller pieces earlier, and if you like it thicker, you will need to dehydrate longer. 

I then place meat in zipper vacuum seal bags and seal them. I typically them freeze them at that point, but this year I have placed 2 food safe silica gel packs in each bag, and I kept one packet out on my kitchen counter to see if mold or anything grows without freezing it. Since I dehydrate mine very dry, and then use the silica, and vacuum seal it, it seems to be absolutely perfect, and has been on my counter unfrozen since November 5! So while I did freeze the rest of my harvest, I won't next year, saving up on some of that coveted freezer space! :) 

You can get the Texas Mesquite Marinade and the Texas Spicy Rub at www.jimmyos.com. Buy a gallon of it, the price point is much better and it's an incredible product! I use it to marinaTe all of my wild game, be it buck, duck, and everything in between! 

Y'all enjoy!