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A mason jar filled with freshly made ground venison jerky. The jar is sitting on a wooden cutting board with a blue towel nearby.

Homemade Ground Venison Jerky

Ryan and I eat a lot of jerky (it's our go-to snack), so this recipe is pretty large. If you want to make a smaller batch, feel free to halve or quarter this recipe. It's DELICIOUS!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 5 hours
Resting time 1 day
Total Time 1 day 7 hours
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 55 (2 pieces of jerky)
Calories 72 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 7 lbs venison
  • 1 lb bacon pasture-raised & organic, if possible
  • 1 cup dried apples (roughly chopped) dried berries work, too!
  • 16 g celery powder
  • 72 g salt
  • 2 tbsp black pepper
  • ¼ cup onion powder
  • ¼ cup smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup water

Instructions
 

  • Chop the venison, bacon, and dried apples into 1" chunks and roughly mix them together. If the venison and bacon have warmed up by now, stick them in the freezer for a bit until very cold. If you try to grind warm meat, you'll end up with a mess.
  • Grind the mixture using the coarse die, then run it through again using the fine die. You may need to stick the mixture back into the freezer again before moving onto the fine die. 
  • Mix in the remaining ingredients until well incorporated. If you want to give the mixture a taste test at this point, grab a little chunk and fry it up in a pan.
  • Cover the mixture and refrigerate for 1-2 days before moving on to the next step.
  • Using a spatula, pack the mixture tightly into the barrel of the jerky gun. Using steady pressure, press out the mixture directly onto the dehydrator trays. 
  • Load the trays into your dehydrator and set at 160F until fully dry. For my environment, 4-5 hours is perfect. I recommend checking it after 3 hours and then check in 30-minute increments after that. When finished, the jerky strips should feels dry, but still slightly pliable. If it crumbles and breaks apart, it's too dry.
  • Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. Consume within 3-4 weeks.

Notes

Tip #1: You can make the ground jerky pieces any length that you want, just be sure that there's at least 1/2-1" of space between pieces to ensure good airflow.
Tip #2: The ends of the jerky can be thin due to the nature of the tool, so I use my fingers to press the ends in tightly to form a uniform piece of jerky.
Tip #3: If you make a year's worth of jerky at one time (that's what we do), then freeze it. I vacuum seal small packs of jerky and then bring out one bag at a time as we need it. It still tastes great!
*If you prefer to use curing salt instead of celery powder, substitute 12 g of curing salt for the 16 g of celery powder

Nutrition

Serving: 55(2 strips)Calories: 72kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 5gFat: 2.4gSaturated Fat: 1.2gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 562mgPotassium: 125mgFiber: 2.5gSugar: 3.1gIron: 1mg
Keyword ground jerky, jerky, venison
Did you try my recipe?Let me know how it was!