elk jerky
I just made the most wonderful elk jerky that I wanted to share.
To each pound of ground elk (or hamburger would work too, I expect) add:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 TBS brown sugar
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne (or use all cayenne about 1/4 tsp per pound)
1 crushed garlic clove or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup pineapple juice (I used the juice from a large can of pineapple
chunks in its own juice - we dehydrated the pineapple chunks, too)
1/4 cup soy sauce
Mix together and add ground elk. Mix again. Refrigerate for at least 4
hours, overnight is fine.
Extrude onto your dehydrator sheets - I used the American Harvest Jerky Works
‘gun’ available at WalMart for under $13. Or, using a rolling pin, flatten
the meat mixture between two sheets of waxed paper to cookie sheet size. Dry
in the oven, on cookie sheets, at 150 until dry enough to cut into strips.
Then finish in the dehydrator.
Dry at the highest setting of your dehydrator - approx 145 - to kill any
bacteria that might be present in the meat. Mine took about six hours to dry.
Elk is so lean, there is no fat so its really easy. If you are using
hamburger, you will need to pat the fat off the strips every two hours or so
and turn it the first time you do so.
Bonus: because you are starting with ground meat, it is not as hard to chew!
Betsy in Denver