Sweet Sesame Venison Jerky

Slicing the meat

First, If frozen, defrost your venison roasts in a bowl of cold water that is placed in the refrigerator.

Second, after thawing and rinsing the deer roast, trim fat and silver skin from the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat and will shorten the shelf life of the finished jerky.

Slice the venison roast by hand with a very sharp knife. Wrap the roast in saran wrap and put the meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours to partially freeze/harden so slicing evenly sized strips is easier. 

Visit my how to slice jerky page for more information on slicing meat for the perfect jerky.

Third, soak the meat in cold water and salt solution before marinating to remove that ‘gamey’ flavor from the meat. Use 1 cup of salt and about 5 cups of water. 

Using a jerky slicer is another great option. I like using my Weston Jerky Slicer to cut the beef and deer roasts into jerky strips.

Marinating the meat

This marinade gives the finished jerky a wonderful sweet and sesame flavor that tastes fantastic. If you are a fan of Asian style dishes such as sesame beef, you are going to really enjoy this jerky.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a blender and blend until the chili is fully blended into the marinade. If you are not wanting a spicy jerky, don't worry, this chili is for flavor and does not add any significant spice to the recipe.

Looking for some real spice?! Try my ghost pepper deer jerky recipe.

Once the marinade is fully blended, place the venison strips into a ziplock bag and pour the marinade over to cover. Mix and shake the bag to make sure all of the strips are evenly covered with marinade.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours for the best flavor. The longer you marinade the better flavor you will have when it's finished drying.

Dehydrating Venison into Jerky

After the jerky has finished marinating, remove any excess marinade by straining the jerky strips in a colander.

After the meat has strained, lay down paper towels on the kitchen counter and lay the strips onto the towels. Pat dry the strips to remove any marinade that is still on the surface of the jerky.

Doing this will help prevent the finished jerky from becoming sticky and will also speed up the dehydrating process.

The next step after patting dry the strips is placing the venison in either a dehydrator, an oven, or smoker. I have decided to use my Excalibur Dehydrator when making this recipe and will describe how to dry jerky with this method.

Turn the dehydrator to the highest setting, normally ~160F, and dry for about 4 hours. Every dehydrator is different and drying time will vary depending on the unit, thickness of the jerky, and how long the meat was marinated.

When is jerky finished?

This recipe took me 4.5 hours at a setting of 165F in my dehydrator. While drying the jerky, you want to start testing to see if it has finished at about the 3-4 hour mark.

Take a piece of jerky out of the dehydrator, oven, or smoker and allow it to cool for 5 minutes to room temperature. Do not test if the jerky is ready if the meat is still warm, this will result in over dehydrating.

Once it has cooled, bend the jerky in half, it should bend and crack but not break in half. White fibers will also be able to be seen within the meat. This is a good indication the jerky is finished.

Not finished? Continue drying for another hour and repeat the same process until the jerky has finished drying.

Top Tip - 90% of the jerky i make is finished within 4-6 hours when using a dehydrator or oven and 6-9 hours when using a smoker. 

If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.