Super Easy Deer Jerky Recipe with Marinade

This easy venison jerky recipe is as simple as it gets. All you need is a dehydrator or oven, big venison roasts, and a solid marinade.

If you take your animal to a processor, you can pay out the nose for jerky, but you don’t need to do that. Consider butchering it yourself or take the roasts supplied by the processor and make the jerky yourself.

Where deer jerky comes from — All the good roasts and best jerky meat come from the deer’s posterior muscle groups

Step 1: Choose your cut

I like to use front shoulders and even rear-quarter meat to make jerky. These are going to be labeled as roasts from the butcher. We don’t eat a lot of stews or roasts in my house, but we eat plenty of jerky. Some might frown at this, but I like to use the top round cut to make jerky. It’s a nice rectangular chunk of meat off of the hindquarter. It’s a great cut for steaks, too, but we’re a jerky family. Plus, the top round is lean and easy to slice, making picture-perfect jerky. Be sure to trim off the silver skin, tendons, and any fat. For easier slicing, throw it in the freezer for about 30 minutes once thawed.

Step 2: Slice

Slice it into quarter-inch pieces against the grain. Again, slice against the grain. If you slice with the grain, you’ll be gnawing on one piece for days.

Step 3: The Best Jerky Marinade

If you want jerky to taste like something other than just dried meat, you’re going to need a marinade. I’ve tried a number of different concoctions and landed on a favorite. It’s called Doc’s Best Beef Jerky found below. To try and lower the salt content, I’ve deviated from the recipe. Please, don’t be like me. That wasn’t a good batch. Just follow this recipe for every two pounds of fresh meat. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and make sure it mostly dissolves before adding it to the meat.

¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon meat tenderizer
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika

Dump your meat into the bowl and mix it up again, being sure to coat all those choice slices of goodness. Then place in the fridge overnight to allow the meat to soak up the marinade.

Venison jerky marinade ingredients — MEAT! dehydrator

Step 4: Dry

There are plenty of dehydrator options on the market, and I swear by my MEAT! dehydrator. For $150, you can buy the six-rack version. Pictured here is the 10-rack, and you’ll be able to fit a good 10 pounds of jerky in there. Set the temperature to 158. Drying time will vary, but I start off at around four or five hours. You can make jerky in the oven by hanging the meat strips on skewers, but it tends to make a mess because the marinade drips off. The upside is that you can make huge batches.

Unless you like crispy jerky chips, you don’t want to overdry jerky. To keep jerky reasonably pliable and more edible, check on your batch occasionally as it dries. If it’s a little squishy when you pinch it, then it’s likely done. Try a sample and see what you think.

My batch of 2.2 pounds of fresh meat (seen above) produced a quarter-pound of jerky. Feel free to vacuum seal it and toss it in the freezer. Better yet, just eat it.