Every fall I end up with more venison in the freezer than I know what to do with, and ground deer jerky has become one of my favorite ways to use it up. It's cheaper than buying jerky at the store, you control exactly what goes into it, and honestly, homemade beats store-bought by a mile once you get the process dialed in. A lot of people assume jerky means slicing up whole muscle into strips, but making it from ground venison is actually easier, more consistent, and a great way to use up trim and scraps that aren't pretty enough for steaks or roasts. I filmed the whole process from start to finish, and wanted to break it down here with a bit more detail on the "why" behind each step.
Watch the full video
If you'd rather see the process in action — the mixing, the jerky gun, the dehydrator setup, all of it — I cover the full recipe here:
Why Ground Venison Jerky?
Whole-muscle jerky is great, but it means you need a clean cut of meat with the grain running in a workable direction, and it takes some knife skill to slice it thin and even. Ground jerky skips all of that. You can use trim, smaller cuts, or anything that didn't make the cut for steaks, run it through a grinder (or have your processor grind it for you), mix in your cure and seasoning, and extrude it into perfectly even strips with a jerky gun. It's more forgiving, more consistent from batch to batch, and in my opinion, easier to get a good chew on.
Start With Lean Meat
Venison is naturally lean, which is part of why it works so well for jerky — fat doesn't dehydrate the same way muscle does, and it can go rancid faster in the finished product, shortening how long your jerky stays good. If you're grinding your own, trim off as much visible fat and connective tissue as you reasonably can before it goes into the grinder. If you've got a fattier cut you're using, consider mixing in a little extra-lean beef or asking your processor to keep it lean when they grind it for you.
Don't Skip the Cure
This is the step I really want people to pay attention to. When you're making jerky — especially ground jerky — using a proper curing agent (often labeled Cure #1 or Prague Powder #1) isn't just a flavor thing, it's a food safety thing. Curing salt helps protect against bacterial growth, including botulism, during the low-temperature drying process. It's a small amount relative to the total batch, but it matters, so don't leave it out or eyeball it — follow the ratio on your cure's packaging based on the weight of your meat.
Alongside the cure, I mix in my seasoning blend right into the ground meat before it ever hits the jerky gun. That's another advantage of ground jerky — the seasoning gets distributed evenly all the way through instead of just coating the surface like it does with sliced jerky.
My Basic Seasoning Approach
I keep my base seasoning pretty simple: soy sauce or a soy-based marinade for saltiness and umami, brown sugar for a touch of sweetness to balance it out, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. From there, feel free to make it your own — a little cayenne or crushed red pepper if you want heat, liquid smoke if you're not adding real smoke later, or even a splash of Worcestershire for extra depth. Mix everything into the ground venison thoroughly by hand until the seasoning and cure are evenly distributed throughout, then let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (overnight is even better) so the flavors and cure have time to work their way through the meat.
Using a Jerky Gun
Once the meat's mixed and rested, load it into a jerky gun — it's basically a caulk gun for meat, and it makes forming even strips almost effortless. Line your dehydrator trays with the flat nozzle attachment and pipe out straight strips, leaving a little space between each one so air can circulate on all sides while they dry. If you don't have a jerky gun, you can flatten the meat between two sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin and cut it into strips instead, though I find the gun gives a much more consistent thickness.
Dehydrating: Time, Temperature, and Safety
Set your dehydrator between 155°F and 165°F. Ground meat jerky needs to reach a safe internal temperature during the drying process, so don't be tempted to drop the temperature just to speed things along — starting hot enough to hit a safe internal temperature early in the drying cycle matters more here than it does with whole-muscle strips. From there, plan on roughly 4 to 6 hours of total drying time, though this varies quite a bit based on your dehydrator, humidity, and how thick you piped your strips.
You're looking for jerky that bends and cracks slightly without snapping clean in half — that's the texture sweet spot. If it snaps like a cracker, it's gone too far and will be tough. If it feels soft and pliable with no resistance at all, it likely needs more time.
Cooling and Storing
Once it's done, let the jerky cool completely to room temperature before packaging it — sealing it up while it's still warm traps moisture inside the bag, which can lead to mold down the line. I like to pat each piece with a paper towel to blot off any surface oil, then store it in an airtight container or vacuum-sealed bag. In the fridge, it'll easily keep for a couple of weeks; in the freezer, you can stretch that out to several months without any real loss in quality.
Worth the Effort
Making jerky from ground venison is one of those projects that looks more intimidating than it actually is once you've done it once. The cure and seasoning steps take a little care, but the actual hands-on time is minimal, and you end up with a batch of jerky that costs a fraction of what you'd pay at the store — using meat that might otherwise go to waste. If you've got venison in the freezer, give this one a shot.
For the full walkthrough with exact measurements and the jerky gun in action, watch the video here: How to Make Ground Deer Jerky at Home.
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