Moose Jerky

[lineofsight]

Will make some moose jerky for the first time this weekend.

Presume that ground and gun approach provides for better mixing with the cure and allows of use of stew / lesser meat or does the thinly sliced approach produce a better result (or better only because using roast which prefer to eat as roast)?

Any other tips?

[todbartell]

I make both kinds, I find the ground jerky has a more consistent taste, and it's a great way to use up ground. Ground jerky easier to chew

[Red_Mist]

I prefer the ground version.

[Backwoods]

I've done it both ways, I prefer thin slices, I got a great Recipe off HBC!! I tried it in the oven and smoker, I was extremely surprised how good the oven jerky turned out, made 5lb batches!

[Ubertuber]

I prefer the sliced version as well. The ground type was okay, but I like a bit more of a chew. Slice perpendicular to the grain when semi frozen and you should be good to go.

[M.Dean]

I only use Wild West Seasonings now for all my jerky, the Cracked Pepper and Garlic is the best. And if you want really good jerky, use really good chunks of meat! Think about it, whats the most expensive cut of meat from your deer or moose? Over the counter it's "Jerky", comes out around 50 bucks a pound! I normally use the front shoulder roasts for my jerky, I trim every piece of fat and rind etc, anything that I wouldn't fry and give to someone to eat gets cut off. I find real cold roasts cut better with a meat slicer, the pieces are all the same thickness and cure evenly. I mix up a whole package of seasoning and cure, add a ton of extra spices and a good quarter cup of Soya sauce, and mix it all up in a real big bowl, with your hands and not a spoon either! Maybe this year I'll buy a nice shiney meat mixer from Cabelas! One pack of seasoning is for 15 lbs of meat it says, I use about 12 or 13 pounds so it's a bit more spicier. I now stuff 2 bags full of jerky meat, vacuum seal them and put it in the fridge for a real good 24 hours, some I've left for 48 hours and it was great too! Now the fun part, seems everyone around here runs when they see me bring out the meat hammers? I now take the meat out of the bags slice by slice and pound it out a bit, both sides so it smokes more evenly and looks good too. As I'm pounding it out, I put the slices onto the smoking racks, then they go into the smoker for about 2 hours a side. Now I take each piece of jerky and put it on a small plate and brush it lightly with a mixture of Soya and garlic, little bit of honey, etc etc. I put about 8 or 10 pieces on the plate, then microwave it for around 45 seconds, or until it's real hot and steaming, now dump the jerky into a vacuum bag and seal it, the vacuum sucks all the juices into the meat, and when you open it you'll have some of the tenderest, juiciest, flavorful jerky you've ever eaten! Over the years I've tried to make jerky countless times and had it turn out so dry and hard it was near impossible to chew, and there was to much salt, or not enough salt, etc etc etc. I tried the Wild West seasonings quite a while back, and if you want jerky you can eat, try it! I order about 10 or so packages each year from there factory in Winnipeg, way easier than trying to find it in stores. Good Luck, let us know how your jerky turns out!

[Moe.JKU]

Ive done it with ground a few times. If you want an easy way to do it you can always use the Hi Mountain stuff. I did that the first time and it turned out great, but now i'm exploring with other flavors.

[lineofsight]

Thanks for the suggestions, definitely like the vacuum bag idea. Semi-frozen makes sense, do the same when grinding.

No way will be committing roasts to jerky though, my favourite. Will go with the flank steak and also try some stew meat (ground all went into sausages).

[LYKTOHUNT]

I make lots of ground jerky out of deer, moose will be the same but I would say make sure you trim all fat,silver skin etc before you grind just use red meat.
I make my own spice mixture 3 parts black pepper 1 part garlic powder 1 part onion powder I/2 part smoked paprika and about the same cayenne and use the ratio chart off the high mountain seasoning chart for ground meat and about 6-7 hours in the dehydrator

[BRrooster]

I like ground meat jerky. Easier to bite off a chunk . High mt seasonings and cure. Smoked in a Bradley smoker. I also add ground up nuts , seeds and berries, for the whole meal deal. Kinda like a pemmican. Last couple of batches were Moose and Black bear.