Sweet Sesame Venison Jerky

The holidays are upon us and the weather is cold and crisp, this can only mean one thing..... Hunting season! For most hunters this means batches and batches of soon to be made venison jerky!

I've been lucky enough to harvest several doe this year which will make some great tasting jerky. If you also have some fresh deer ready to be made into jerky, this fantastic Asian flavored marinade should not be passed over. You will love this!

Jump to:

• Slicing the meat
• Marinating the meat
• Dehydrating
• When is jerky finished?
• How long will it last?
• Old pro tips:
• Sweet Sesame Venison Jerky Recipe

Slicing the meat

If frozen, defrost your venison roasts in a bowl of cold water that is placed in the refrigerator. Make sure to defrost any meat in the refrigerator and NOT on the kitchen counter. Submerging the meat in water will speed up the thawing process immensely.

After thawing and rinsing the deer roast, trim as much fat and silver skin as you can from the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat and will shorten the shelf life of the finished jerky.

I sliced the deer roast by hand with a very sharp knife. If you do not have a really sharp knife, wrap the roast in saran wrap and put the meat back in the freezer for 1-2 hours to partially freeze/harden the meat so slicing evenly sized strips is easier. Visit my how to slice jerky page for more information on slicing meat for the perfect jerky.

If the roast has a good amount of blood in the package and has a game aroma, 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.

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

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.

If the jerky is not finished, continue drying for another hour and repeat the same process until the jerky is finished. 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.

How long will it last?

To make the jerky last as long as possible, curing salt will really help along with keeping in air tight containers. I have put together a page on storing jerky and steps you can take to make your jerky have an extended shelf life. Check it out!

Old pro tips:

• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Substitute habanero in place of the Fresno chili if a spicy jerky is desired
• Soak the venison in cold water and salt to eliminate the gamey flavor
• This sweet jerky is also good broken into small pieces and eaten over jasmine rice

You might also like:

Beef Jerky Recipes

Best Dehydrator for making jerky

Safety tips for making jerky