Feel like trying a little different approach when preparing your jerky meat? Why not.
I heard from a chef that some marinades use Sprite, the carbonated beverage. Something about the sugars helping break down the meat to make it more tender.
I had some not-so-choice cuts of venison I wanted to make into jerky, so thought I'd give it a whirl. Whipped up different batches of marinade, with a normal version and two variations on the soda additive.
I don't really like Sprite, so I used 7-Up for one recipe and heard Coca-Cola can also be used, so I tried that too.
The use of a meat tenderizer mallet or whatever they're called was also suggested. I don't have one of those, but I am the proud owner of a framing hammer with a waffle head, and can vouch for its tenderizing capabilities from smashing my finger in the past. So I banged away on the strips of venison with that.
Here's maybe where I went wrong. I let the stuff marinate overnight and now suspect that may have been too long, because the the normal batch came out great. Loved it. Kind of spicy, little smoky. Just right.
The 7-Up and Coke versions, on the other hand, tasted like . . . what's the word? . . . shit.
They had the definite flavor of old, flat, crappy-tasting soda. Exactly what it soaked in. I'm not sure if there's a connection there.
I spit one out, gave the rest to Bula the Wonder Dog and she wasn't thrilled about it either.
I even re-marinated the stuff to try and wash that flat gross taste away. No go. Flat soda taste still clung to it like the residue on your floormats after spilling a carbonated beverage in your car months ago.
In related news, I'm now selling dog treats for owners who want to train their dogs to not beg for treats.
3 comments:
That deer is going, "Wow, gee, thanks alot. I was planning on tasting alot better that that!"
True. I am still eating that batch so it's not wasted. Eating it slowly though.
Good luck, brave soul.
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