Who doesn’t love jerky? It is the perfect snack! It’s hearty, filling, chewy, a little spicy, a little sweet, and somehow just always hits the spot. Jerky is the perfect snack break for hunting, fishing, hiking, river rafting, four wheel driving, swimming, tanning, doing laundry, washing dishes, waking up from a nap! See, the perfect snack break for any occasion.
All my jerky making experiences have started with a store bought pre-made marinade mix. And don’t get me wrong, those are excellent options. You can learn the process of homemade jerky making without having to worry about what the end results will taste like. You can focus your efforts more on making the right cuts for your pieces and fine-tuning your smoker to result in a superb texture and smokiness.
When you feel like you have the basic jerky smoking skills mastered, or at least in my case I think my skills are more adequate than mastery level, you can start playing with the marinade to create endless jerky possibilities.
This recipe is for a Coca-Cola Serrano Elk Jerky. It uses acidic Coca-Cola which also adds a kick of sweet to the meat, spicy Serrano peppers for heat, and a little Worcestershire sauce for additional depth of flavor. Don’t have elk meat on hand? This would work great with deer, pronghorn, moose, or beef.
Well, let’s keep this short and sweet and get to recipe!
Slicing the Meat
Deciding what cuts of meat to utilize for jerky starts during the cleaning process. When cleaning wild game, I have six bowls set up: steaks, roasts, stew meat, hamburger, jerky, and waste, which eventually becomes dog food. Jerky cuts come from tough chunks, chunks that I don’t feel would be adequate for a steak or roast, but also are significant enough in size to not be considered stew meat or hamburger. If the piece is large enough to make a few inch long stick of jerky I reserve it for the jerky bowl. If it is smaller, like less than four inches, I put it in the hamburger or stew meat pile.
Jerky cuts are obviously a little tougher and have more fat and ligaments or tendons running in it than steak or roast cuts. Before I throw them in the marinade, I clean off the fat as much as possible. Elk fat doesn’t render well during the cooking process, and kind of develops a rancid sour taste if left in jerky cuts. I also remove any sizable tendons or ligaments as they become extra tough during the smoking process and just aren’t very pleasant to eat.
There isn’t a hard fast rule for how to cut your jerky. Make sure the slices are thin so they cook a little quicker. I like my slices to be between a quarter of an inch and half an inch. The length is purely up to you. Some people prefer smaller pieces, like jerky nuggets, while others like longer stick cuts of jerky. I am more of a longer stick cut kind of gal. I like my pieces to be about six inches long so I have a decent snack with just one piece.
Creating the Marinade
This marinade is for between two and three pounds of jerky slices. So, after the pieces are cut up and ready to go it’s time to start the marinade.
In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat add two cups of Coca-Cola. the sliced Serrano peppers, two tablespoons of salt, a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and a teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let the marinade reduce by half, which takes about ten to fifteen minutes.
The end results is a sweet and spicy glaze for marinating your jerky in. Let the marinade cool. Place the jerky cuts in a large ziplock bag and pour the marinade in. Massage the bag for a minute and then place in the fridge for over night.
Every few hours give the bag a good massage. The marinade will work its way into the muscle infusing the meat with flavor and tenderizing.
Getting Ready to Smoke
Preheat the smoker to 150 degrees. Some smokers won’t go quite that low and 170 degrees is about the lowest they will go. That is fine as well. Just try and get the smoker to be on the lowest setting possible. This is the truest form of low and slow cooking.
While the smoker is preheating, lay the jerky pieces out in a single layer to dry. Let them dry for about thirty minutes. Before placing them in the smoker, crack fresh pepper over each piece for extra heat and that peppery finish that jerky is known for.
For this Coca-Cola Serrano Jerky I used a cherry wood. Cherry wood is a very versatile fuel for smoking with. It pairs with most types of meat, unlike some of the heavier woods that impart a strong flavor and aren’t suitable for meats like chicken or pork. Cherry wood adds a very light sweet flavor to meats.
Lay the jerky out in the smoker in a single layer, close the lid, and let things start smoking. The timing depends on how thick the meat is. Trying to get your cuts all the same thickness helps so everything finishes at the same time. This batch took about six hours to smoke. I checked the jerky every thirty minutes starting after two hours just so I wouldn’t miss pieces that finished earlier that others.
You’ll know the pieces are cooked to perfection when they are dry but still pliable. When you bend a piece in half it should be firm and not just snap in half, which would mean it is too dry, but it should be tough to bend in half. This results in a slightly chewy and still meaty piece of jerky, which is my personal favorite texture.
The final step in the jerky process is to place all the pieces in a ziplock bag and seal everything but a small gap. This will steam finish the jerky and create some moisture in the meat pieces.
Well, it’s time to enjoy!
Happy Hunting
Coca-Cola Serrano Elk Jerky
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds of elk meat
- 2 cups Coca-Cola
- 3 serrano peppers, sliced
- 2 Tablespoons salt
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut your elk meat into jerky slices, about a quarter to half inch thick.
- Clean the fat, tendons, and ligaments from the jerky slices
- In a medium sauce pot over medium high heat, add the Coca-Cola, Serranos, salt, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder to the pan.
- Bring pot to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Allow the Coca-Cola mixture to reduce by half, about ten to fifteen minutes.
- Let mixture cool.
- In a ziplock bag, add the jerky strips and then pour marinade over meat. Seal and massage bag to get marinade into the muscles.
- Marinate overnight in the fridge, massaging the bag every few hours.
- Preheat smoker to 150-170 degrees, depending on how low your smoker will go. Fill with choice of wood. I used cherry for this recipe.
- While smoker is preheating, lay jerky out in single layer to dry for about thirty minutes.
- Crack fresh pepper over each piece of jerky.
- Lay jerky in smoker in a single layer.
- Smoke for five to six hours. I started checking my jerky every thirty minutes at the two hour mark. Some pieces, depending on thickness, may finish sooner than other pieces.
- Place smoked jerky in ziplock bag after finished cooking and seal the bag, leaving a small gap for the steam to escape. This will add moisture to your jerky.
- Enjoy.