The Best Teriyaki Venison Jerky
Venison jerky is one of the most popular foods made from venison. Every hunter has made or tried venison jerky at some stage.
There are just as many jerky recipes as people that eat jerky, but this teriyaki venison jerky is one of the best I’ve tried.
Ingredients
Teriyaki is a relatively easy sauce to make and requires only a handful of ingredients.
The bigger issue with making teriyaki is acquiring some of the ingredients. Two ingredients, in particular, may be hard to find, sake and mirin.
Both of these ingredients are alcohol-based. Sake is used for both drinking and cooking in Japan, and mirin is used in cooking or with sushi.
If you are unable to find these ingredients in your local supermarkets, they are readily available online.
Teriyaki has multiple layers; it’s sweet, savory, and salty, which is why it works so well for venison jerky.
The soy sauce adds a tremendous amount of umami, making for a salty, savory taste.
However, because soy sauce is quite heavy on salt, I like to use a smaller quantity than other ingredients.
Mirin is responsible for adding sweetness to the dish, along with brown sugar. Mirin also gives the jerky a nice coat which creates a glaze.
Sake, an integral part of teriyaki sauce, gives the dish its complexity. Without the sake, you wouldn’t be able to balance the dish.
Making the Jerky
Making teriyaki jerky is relatively simple. However, there are two approaches.
The first approach is to cook the ingredients for the sauce, and the second is to marinade without cooking.
Traditionally you would cook teriyaki sauce, which would burn off much of the alcohol. This works great if you are making it for any other dish.
However, for jerky, I found that there is very little difference between cooked and uncooked sauce.
Whichever approach you follow, all the other steps are the same. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Toss with the venison pieces and marinade in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
I prefer to marinade in a vacuum pack bag. This ensures good coverage and prevents any other flavors in the fridge from tainting the dish.
Remove the jerky from the fridge and drain in a colander. I do not pat the jerky dry, especially with teriyaki, as I can get a better coating this way.
However, you will need a rear-mounted fan dehydrator, which I recommend you use either way. I use the Cosori from Amazon and really like it.
It comes with a drip tray making cleanup easy.
Set the temperature to 145F and the time to four hours.
Storing Venison Jerky
I typically make jerky in smaller amounts and eat it over a week, but it will last up to two weeks in a ziplock bag.
On some occasions, I will make larger batches and vacuum-pack them.
If you vacuum pack your jerky, it will store for up to two months. In some recipes, I use curing, which will also extend the life of the jerky.
I did not use any curing agent in this recipe because it alters the flavor, which I didn’t want in this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2-4 pounds of venison see note 1
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
Instructions
- Slice the venison about 1/4 inch thick against the grain (see note 2)
- Mix all other ingredients in a bowl. Stir until the sugar has dissolved
- Pour the mixture over the venison and store in the fridge for 12-24 hours (see note 3)
- Drain the mixture in a colander
- Place in dehydrator at 160F for 4 hours
Notes
- This mixture is enough to marinade up to 4 pounds of venison. If you want to make more you will need to increase the quantity for all ingredients.
- You don't need to be so precise here but aim for about 1/4 inch. If you cut against the grain you will have nice tearable jerky. Some people prefer chewy jerky, if thats you cut the jerky with the grain.
- I've tried marinating this jerky for different times and there was a subtle difference between 12 and 24 hours. When left for 24 hours there was a slightly more intense flavor from the soy sauce.
