Are you one of those people who could eat jerky every single day? Then bookmark this post!
Jerking is one of the very best meat preservation methods and it’s been around forever. It makes for a very healthy, tasty and simple snack for hiking, hunting and fishing. On top of that, it doesn’t need refrigeration and you can take it with your practically anywhere. Jerky is where it’s at.
Why Make Your Own Jerky?
Making jerky at home is far superior to the packaged kind and it’s surprisingly easy to make. It saves you money, it’s an excellent source of protein for kids and you are able to customize your recipes exactly how you and others like them. With lean cuts, you can make low fat jerky. On an interesting note, most of the fat gets cooked out of the jerky during the smoking process! So much that the meat loses close to half its weight!
What If You Don’t Hunt Or Fish?
Although jerking is a more common thing among hunters and fishermen, anyone can go to the store and pick out some good cuts of meat to cure and smoke. It most often ends up being the tastiest, healthiest, and cheapest jerky you’ve ever had. To help you make your own jerky, here’s a list of Bradley Smoker’s favorite smoked jerky recipes.
——————————————————————————————————————–
Ground Teriyaki Venison Jerky
This chewy recipe can be considered a “light” jerky, as it imparts the wonderful flavour of jerky without all of the salt. You can serve it either as an appetizer or a snack. Also, you can use these same ingredients for ground beef, buffalo or any other red meat.
Wild West Jerky
This Bradley recipe lends itself to the very core and foundation of America – the wild west. Curing or jerking meat is one of the oldest meat preservation methods in existence! All you need for this one are some common household ingredients, Bradley’s Honey Cure and a smoker!
Spicy Olé Jerky
This recipe uses salt to cure the meat and hot sauce to give it a zesty kick that will keep you wanting more. You can use Bradley’s Special Blend bisquettes to experiment for different effects.
Smoked Alaskan Salmon
Next time you have more fish than you know what to do with, give this salmon jerky recipe a try. Salmon jerky is especially expensive and just doesn’t taste near as fresh and good as homemade jerky. Experiment with your own salt/sugar, maple, honey, peppers and seasonings to find your own spin on this recipe!
Beef Jerky
Beef is so readily accessible that you have no excuse not to try this! Just start with any outside round cut of beef and make your 1/4″ slices. Then follow the rest of the instructions. This recipe is incredibly simple and good place to start for beginners.
Chicken Jerky
If you’ve never had chicken jerky, you are truly missing out. The best part of the chicken to use for jerky is the thighs. It’s easy to remove and cooks up delicious. A little white-cranberry-apple juice or white cranberry-peach juice takes this recipe to an irresistible level.
Basic Salmon Jerky
For fish lovers, fish generally tastes good no matter how you prepare it. But this recipe just might take the cake – especially if you’re a sucker for jerky. This basic recipe is just right for salmon or trout. If you are looking for a slightly sweeter taste, add 1-2 teaspoons of brown sugar or maple syrup.
Pork Jerky
If you find a good sale on pork, this can be a great way to store some of it. Just be sure to follow closely the directions for pork (or any meat that may contain trichinae). Cooking temperatures and times will vary slightly depending on what kind of meat you go with.
Game Meat Jerky
This is the hunter’s special. Any game meat can be used in this recipe – moose, deer, bear or elk. It’s not unlike the jerky recipe early immigrants used a few hundred years ago! Be sure to cut the meat as thinly as possible and then pound with a mallet. A little brown sugar is used to help sweeten it up a bit. This is definitely one of the best ways to enjoy wild game meat.
Basic Jerky Brine
This formula is somewhere in-between a true marinade and a true brine, and it works very well for virtually any meat. Short, salty and to the point!
——————————————————————————————————————–
Let us know how the recipes work out for you. If you change anything we’d love to hear what you did differently and how it turned out!
