anybody have any good deer jerky recipes? ive got alot of meat so i wanna make a few different kinds, any help would be much appreciated!

Best way to start is just to buy the prepacked mixes - pick flavors you like and go from there. Once you get the hang of it you'll just mix up the flavors you like the best yourself. The best jerky is the jerky you make yourself!

I use equal parts Liquid Smoke, Worchester, and soy sauce.
Let marinate in the fridge overnight, then when you put on your rack, sprinkle with cayenne pepper.

Go to Bass Pro and get the mixture, pretty good stuff and easy to do.

1/2 cup Soy souce
4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
4 tsp seasoned salt
2 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 1/2 tsp ground red pepper

In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and stir until all seasonings are dissolved. Let meat stand in mixture for at least an hour. Shake off excess liquid.

You can vary this recipe by adding brown sugar or other spices to get your desired taste.

When I started making jerky I used the pre-packed spices then as you learn you can add or change as you like. I use Tony's rather than straight Cayenne as suggested, but it depends on what you like.

You do need to marinate the meat first and then drain as much liquid as possible otherwise it'll take way too long to dry out.

And don't leave the meat in the dehydrator too long, you want the jerky to be bendable, but done. Otherwise it will be rock hard when it cools.

What type of dehydrater is best? I would like to try it myself but noticed they can sell anywhere from $30.00 to $300.00 I would not want to buy the most expensive but I would like for it to work.

I use one that wally world sales. I bought a couple extra trays It is not expensive and it does a good job. I just got a bigger one for b-day but haven't used it yet.

Remember that jerked meat is whatever you want it to be - and that dry meat is more concentrated in flavor than hydrated meat, so unless you want to have a punch in the mouth, go light on the seasonings at first.

And not everyone wants spicy... some folks are allergic to various spices, so keep that in mind if you are making it for gifts.

Also, you will never have a better emergency soup than home-made dry meat, dried veggies (onions, bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes). Mix into a small ziplock bag, and keep with you. In an emergency, you can eat it dry (the Amerindians did) or you can make a soup with it.

Pick up some Yoshidas sauce in the steak sauce area at Sams Club. It's a sweet, soy sauce based, marinade. Makes a great base. Season from there.

I'll usually let it marinade for 24 hours in the Yoshidas in the fridge. Pull it out and throw it on trays to drip and air dry for 3 or 4 hours. I then mix a rub of spices, brown sugar, black pepper, salt, and cayenne depending on how hot I want it.

For a special treat throw it in the smoker w/ some hickory and alder wood. It's a little disheartening to watch the boys gobble it up as fast you can make it. LOL

If you are going to use an oven to dry the jerky, what temp should the oven be set on and how long should it take to dry the meat?

My family has been making jerky for as long as I can remember and all we do it cut small strips and load them with pepper and jerky seasoning you buy from HEB and smoke in a smoke house for about 5 hours. Cant beat it!

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If you are going to use an oven to dry the jerky, what temp should the oven be set on and how long should it take to dry the meat?

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This would depend on if yo have an electric, modern or old-fashoned gas oven.

Usually if you have an old fashoned oven with a pilot lite, that will be enough heat to work, leave the door cracked.

on the other two, you would need to place the racks in the oven and set the temp at the lowest temp possible - 150 or so.