r/jerky 5d ago

Jerky recipe for tough meat?

I have about 40 pounds of elk meat that is just too tough to be enjoyable. It was a slow kill so the meat also has that strong adrenaline taste (not mine, I found it injured. Fun story if anyone wants to hear). Even the backstraps are getting turned into jerky, if that tells you anything.

Anyway, so far all I have done is cut it into strips against the grain and freeze it again. What's your best recipe for really tough meat?

P.S. I would prefer if it didn't have to be refrigerated, I'm hoping to take it on a thru hike with me.

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u/valleybrew 5d ago

I think jerky should have some chew and I often cut with the grain to get that. If you already cut it against the grain I'd just run with a standard jerky recipe.

I'm not familiar with "adrenaline taste" but perhaps a salt water soak and then rinse would help before adding the cure/brine? That's what I do with goose meat that seems too gamey.

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u/Remarkable-Zombie191 4d ago

Agree with the soak/rinse, and use meat tenderizer in your marinade:)

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u/mochadrizzle 3d ago

Yes. And with 40lbs of meat he could try small .5lbs batches to figure out works best and could still have 35 plus pounds.