How long to marinate jerky?
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I’m going to make a batch of Walton’s Bold jerky with deer meat. Just wondering if anyone has a set time for marinading. It seems like if I marinade for [24hrs] the jerky does’nt seem to have alot of flavor. Am I marinating to long? Should I pat the meat dry before I marinate?
Or am I just marinating to long? -
syno5 If you aren’t using a cure accelerator then I would always shoot for 12 hours, longer doesn’t really do anything and you do run the risk of the cure not being as effective in fighting off nasty bacteria and microorganisms if you hold it too long. Different Jerky Seasonings have different flavor profiles but the Bold is a fairly strong tasting seasoning that should give you a good strong jerky flavor though. So an important thing to keep in mind is to drag the slices through the seasoning and cure and make sure they are fully coated on both sides. Then I like to add the meat to a container without a lot of wasted space so that I can add as little water as possible, just enough to cover the slices.
As for drying before marinating that is not necessary but if you are looking for more smoke flavor in your jerkyand are using a smoker then you might want to pat it dry before laying it out on your screens. If you are using an oven and a dehydrator then this won’t make a difference.
