Venison: Healthy Alternative to Beef

Venison, or as we country folk say, deer meat, is an excellent substitute for beef in most cases. My husband is an avid hunter and a taxidermist. Over the years we have began processing our own meat. We do not have high-tech processing equipment, but over the years, we have purchased a small grinder, a meat slicer, and my favorite, a dehydrator.

A large portion of the venison we have is ground. We mix it with beef or beef fat and use it for meals like tacos, chili, or spaghetti. My family cannot tell the difference in beef and deer when it is cooked in these type dishes. I do not recommend you use venison for a hamburger. I can always tell the difference and in my opinion, nothing beats beef for a hamburger.

We use the slicer and the dehydrator primarily to make our own jerky. The slicer has an adjustable cutting thickness, making slicing meat for jerky easy. Once the meat is sliced, we either marinate it right away or freeze it to be marinated later. The slicer is also great for slicing the tenderloin and back strip.

The dehydrator is the best way to make deer jerky. Some people prefer to use their oven, but I have found nothing is faster and easier than the dehydrator. If you are looking for a good deal on a dehydrator, you might check eBay. Wal-Mart sells them, but in the past few years, the price has increased. The first one we purchased was around twenty dollars, the most recent one cost over forty dollars.

I have tried many recipes to make deer jerky. Some involve concocting a mixture of nearly every spice in my kitchen. After trying several methods, I have discovered the best tasting, and easiest way to make jerky. This cannot only be used for deer, but is also just as tasty when used with beef. I am sharing this not so secret recipe with you.

The first thing you will need to do is slice your meat. Jerky meat can be sliced too thin. I recommend slicing strips from 1/8 to ¼ inch in thickness. Although deer meat has very little fat, you will need to trim all the fat from your jerky slices. Once you have enough slices to fill your dehydrator trays, you will need to prepare your marinade. This is the easy part. Dale's seasoning, which can be found at nearly every grocery store is the only ingredient in my marinade. You can use either Zip-Loc bags or a bowl for your marinade. I prefer the bags; it allows the meat to absorb more marinade. Place your meat strips in the bag and pour the seasoning over the meat until it is all submerged. If you are using a bag you will be able to lie the bag flat in the refrigerator to allow all pieces of meat to soak. If using a bowl, pour enough in the bowl that the meat is completely covered. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator. Your meat will need to marinate at least 24 hours.

After your marinade has soaked for at least twenty-four hours, remove your meat from the refrigerator and place each slice of meat onto the trays in your dehydrator. This is the tricky part. Some people feel that jerky cannot be cooked too long. I am not one of those people. It is important that your meat cook long enough to be done, but overcooking jerky can make it impossible to eat. You will need to check your jerky after about 2 ½ hours to determine how long it will need to cook. Depending on your dehydrator and the thickness of the meat, the jerky will need to cook for at least four hours and sometimes up to eight hours. Of course cooking times can vary depending on many factors such as: your dehydrator temperature, the thickness of your meat, etc.

Keep an eye on your jerky throughout the drying process to check for doneness. Once your jerky is done it can be stored in plastic bags or in a bowl, refrigeration is not required.

Venison can be substituted in nearly any dish which calls for ground beef. It makes a great jerky, and there are hundreds of other uses for this lean meat. By doing a google search you will find thousands of recipes for venison.