Recipe: Neil’s tender maple-smoked jerky

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1 large bottle of soy sauce

¾ c. lemon juice

¾ c. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. garlic powder

3 tsp. seasoned salt

2 tsp. lemon pepper

2 tsp. fine sea salt

2 tsp. onion powder

2 to 4 tsp. cayenne pepper (submitter uses four)

2 tsp. hot sauce or Tabasco sauce

5 T. molasses

¼ c. brown sugar

¼ c. honey

6 to 7 lbs. of venison rounds, loins, roasts or steaks cut into 1/8- to 1/4-inch strips, cut across grain

Combine all liquid ingredients first and mix well. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add the venison, elk, caribou or any wild game strips and mix with clean hands. Press meat down so it’s covered with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, minimum eight to 10 hours. (The longer you leave the meat in the marinade, the more intense the flavor will be.)

Mix two or three times during marinating to ensure adequate marinade exposure to all the strips. When ready, fire up your smoker and smoke at 180 degrees with maple chips or pellets. Smoke for three to five hours, depending on the thickness of the strips. To test whether the jerky is done or not, take out a couple of pieces and squeeze between your fingers; the meat should be pliable and a bit rubbery. If too soft, leave in a bit longer. It’s easy to overdo the cooking, which could make the jerky drier and more brittle.

When you remove the jerky, put it in an open zip-top bag until it cools (30 minutes or so). Store in a sealed zip-top bag in the refrigerator, and after a day or two the jerky takes on a shiny appearance. You end up with about 40 to 50 percent of the amount you started with.

Tags: outdoors, hunting, food