Makin' Turkey Jerky

[Wattles]

Haven't posted in awhile but I've still been readin' all your mouthwatering ideas!

I'm trying something a little different today...My daughter Julia(Age 10) shot a nice longbeard with me in PA's mentored youth season last month.  it was THE hunt of my life...but that story is likely better suited for a different board!

that day i boned out all the meat from her bird, as i always do with my wild turkeys, and froze it up.  today is a rainy sunday and i figured id experiment...

first, chunk the meat...check!


next, rack it for the bradley...check!


next, hickory cold smoke chunk meat @55 degrees...check!


like i said, with the cool outside temps i thought this would be a good idea to try my hand at cold smoking meat since i dont have a separate cold smoke "box"...YET.

then ill grind it up, maple cure and BBQ season it, let set for a couple hours in the fridge, shoot it out tonite and dehydrate overnight.
i MIGHT do it sooner all depending on how my HONEY DO list goes today!  LOL  will keep you posted.

Todd

[NePaSmoKer]

Lookin good there neighbor  ;D

nepas

[pensrock]

Sounds good. I must admit I have not thought of using ground turkey for jerky, I'm sure it will be great.

[Wattles]

thanks Nepas.  miserable day eh?

good day for this!


just ground it all up, cured and seasoned it...



mixed well and off to the fridge for several hours...

[Wattles]

pensrock, this is my first try at turkey jerky as well so ill keep you posted!

[NePaSmoKer]

Yeah its yucky but its better than 10* and snow :D

Your turkey jerky is looking good. Are you going to use the jerky gun to make it.


nepas

[Wattles]

yes, jerky gun is ready and waiting

[NePaSmoKer]

I think i am going to give your way a try also.

nepas

[Wattles]

im not sure what happened, BUT the mixture was NOT ideal to use a shooter with!  kept wanting to NOT stick to itself and fall apart as i was shooting.  ZERO stickiness.
being a novice at this im not sure what the cause of that is other than lean meat being the main ingredient.

any thoughts?

i MIGHT end up with Turkey Jerky Crumble!  LOL

[pensrock]

Maybe it needs some 'fat replacer' or something like it to help it hold together?

[NePaSmoKer]

When your mix is burpy comeing out of the gun its to much liquid and does not want to keep formed. Usually too much liquid.

Next time invert 2 bradley racks and put on a cookie sheet. Put mix on the rack and just cover the top with clear wrap. The liquid will fall from the mix onto the cookie sheet.

But it still looks good  ;D

nepas

[Wattles]

THANKS, good tip!

and, when i ground it i thought "too much liquid" so i didnt even add any ice water to the cure/seasoning...thought maybe THAT was my mistake at first...

[Wattles]

came out OK.  very good flavor but boy oh boy does it need SALIVA!!!  LOL

too dry, like crispy bacon sadly.  i have NO IDEA how you guys can dry your ground jerky for anyomre than 4 hours!  twice now ive been burned by not believing the "it bends and white strands doesnt break" rule and said to self, "self, everyone is drying MUCH longer when i read their recipes"   LOL

i honestly think both pure venison and pure turkey ground jerky would be totally done in 3.5 hours at 145 in my cabelas dehydrator after the last two runs...

[Tenpoint5]

It does look pretty tasty though Todd. I'm sure your Daughter will enjoy it and remember the day she shot a turkey with her Poppa.

[Wattles]

THANKS tenpoint.

it did come out pretty good after all.  overnight made the difference.

but still a bit overdried imo...corners and nooks and crannies so sharp they cut through my vac seal bags!

but, my daughter likes it and that makes me happy!

thanks guys.