Blueberry Bison Jerky

In my quest for clean, high protein snacks to bring on our recent fall camping trip, I got REALLY into making homemade jerky.

I’ve got ton of recipes yet to come - I think 6 or 7 more - but it all started with my Ground Beef Jerky.

At the time, it was the best jerky I’d ever had - a tender jerky with great flavor, and didn’t have any ingredients that were off the table for me (nightshades, gluten, corn, etc).

A healthy snack that fit my diet, tastes great, AND was a fraction of the cost of retail!

I made a TON of it, just in that basic form.

Sometimes, though, you want a “taste of the wild”, so I decided to also develop some game meat jerky recipes.

I used to buy different kinds of game meat from a small company up north, something like 20 years ago. It was either in the Yukon or NTW, and it was FABULOUS - wild boar, arctic char, reindeer ... SO good!

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen them around in a long time, which is a shame - such a great product line.

Anyway, they were definitely on my mind when designing my jerky recipes.

This bison jerky recipe is inspired by some other bison snack sticks I’d recently had - a mass-produced, modern version of pemmican. They were nice enough, but really expensive and a bit “flat” in taste.

I love berries with game meat, though - I used to make a MEAN moose stew, when I had access to moose meat - so here we are. Blueberries and bison!

This is one of my absolute favourite jerky recipes so far, so let’s get right to it!

Ingredients

There are only a few ingredients in this blueberry bison jerky recipe, but there are definitely some things you need to know about most of them. Some ingredient notes for you:

Ground Bison

While some grocery stores sell bison meat, you may find yourself needing to go to a specialty shop or butcher to get it. Here in Canada, I go to Wild Fork for my game meat.

Great selection, really reasonable prices, and they even deliver! (No relationship to divulge, I’m just a fan!).

Anyway, aim for grass-fed bison if possible.

Note: I’m guessing that buffalo meat - if you can get your hands on it - could be used in this recipe to make buffalo jerky. NO idea how it tastes, though!

That said: if you’re buying “buffalo meat” in the USA - without it being an exotic, expensive imported specialty product from Africa - you’re buying bison meat. They’re not the same thing, but they ARE from the same family of animals.

Blueberries

You can use fresh or frozen blueberries, you just need to be mindful of measuring, when using frozen.

When using frozen blueberries, measure them when they’re frozen... then allow them to thaw completely before mixing them in.

Thawing frozen fruit causes the cell walls in the fruit to collapse, and the fruit with mush/flatten under the weight of itself.

If you measure thawed blueberries, you’ll get WAY more in the measurement amount, than you would if you measure the same volume of fresh or frozen.

Not a blueberry fan? This recipe would work well with pretty much any common berry - blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, even cranberries.

Liquid Smoke

Most of my life, I really disliked the flavour of Liquid Smoke, but making jerky DEFINITELY made a believer of me.

A little of it - I use Hickory Flavoured Liquid Smoke - goes a LONG way to making homemade jerky taste like *jerky*.

I don’t recommend skipping it, though you can definitely play around with the type.

I also have Mesquite Flavoured Liquid Smoke on hand, though I haven’t used it yet!

Personally, I wouldn’t use a stronger / more distinct flavour of smoke - like mesquite - in this recipe, as that one tends to really overpower the other flavours in any recipe.

Maple Syrup

I love how maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness, with a flavour that works so well with both the bison and the blueberries.

That said, feel free to substitute the same amount of brown sugar, if you prefer.

Prague Powder & Salt

You’ll use two kinds of salt in this recipe - regular salt (or sea salt), and curing salt.

I recommend using Prague Powder, which is one of a few different curing salts out on the market.

I use Prague Powder #1 Cure, same as I use for my Montreal Smoked Meat Recipe, Back Bacon Recipe, Homemade Corned Beef Recipe, and Peameal Bacon Recipe.

It’s a bright pink curing salt that’s a mixture of sodium nitrite and salt. It’s a common ingredient in cured meats, and is what gives the jerky its characteristic red colour.

Beyond altering the appearance, it’s also part of what gives homemade jerky that iconic jerky flavor.

Finally - most importantly - it helps ensure that your homemade meat snack will be good to eat for a long time, by preventing the growth of bacteria.

It’s not the only way to extend the shelf life - a lot of that comes down to storage, more on that in the recipe itself - but between the safety, the flavour, and the colour... I always use it when making jerky.

Just note:

1. Prague cure is only to be used in small amounts for curing meats, and should never be consumed as-is. The measurements are important - if you want a saltier jerky, add some regular salt, rather than increasing the curing salt.

2. This is NOT the same thing as Himalayan pink salt, and any other non-curing salt is not going to do the same thing.

Optional Seasonings

While I tend to make this jerky very basic - some blueberries and maple syrup for sweetness, just enough salt to balance the flavours - feel free to add additional seasonings, if you like.

I’d recommend making a batch as-is first, to assess how much seasoning you would want to add.

Then, I’d recommend keeping it relatively basic - things like

Celery Seed (or celery powder - you could sub celery salt for the actual salt, etc),

Dried Parsley, Garlic Powder, Ground Black Pepper, and Onion Powder are fairly “neutral” seasonings that tend to accent, rather than compete with the bison and blueberry flavours.

... when used JUDICIOUSLY, anyway. Don’t go overboard - too much black pepper, celery, garlic, or onion can easily overpower the delicate natural flavours in this jerky recipe.

Equipment

There are two main pieces of equipment that I use for making my homemade jerky recipes, beyond things like bowls, spoons, and measuring cups:

A Jerky Cannon

Also known as a Jerky Gun, this is basically a good quality caulking gun (NOT an actual one - you need to keep it food safe!) that you use to pipe strips of jerky onto parchment paper.

The one I have is the XINQIAO Jerky Gun Food Grade Plastic Beef Jerky Gun Kit .

It tends to go for about $35 (Canadian) on Amazon, but it had a coupon for something like 25% off, when I purchased it.

Worth every penny, even if I’d paid full price!

I’ve heard of people making jerky by spreading the mixture out, flattening it with a rolling pin, then cutting it with a pizza cutter, but to be honest, that sounds fussy.

The very first time I used my jerk gun, I was HOOKED. It really makes jerky making so much quicker and easier! LOVE it.

Food Dehydrator

While you can apparently make beef jerky in a regular home oven, I’m not a fan of running mine for hours on end.

I’ve had some pretty basic food dehydrators before - the kinds with no time or temperature controls - and I’d always been too nervous to try making jerky in them.

I need more control over - and knowledge of - the drying process, when meat is concerned.

Earlier this year, I upgraded to a Cosori 6 Tray Food Dehydrator, and LOVE it.

It was only something like $200 Canadian, and it’s paid for itself MANY times over, between all the Maple Cinnamon Apple Chips and jerkies I’ve been making!

My “girl math” - The same size of jerky that I tend to make goes for about $4 in a gas station. I get about 10-15 strips out of a batch - let’s average that out to 12.

So we’re talking about $48 worth of jerky, for $8 or less. Make 5 batches, that’s your $200 in savings!

... and that’s just the beef jerky! Speciality meat jerkies - like Bison - tend to be WAY more expensive to buy, with the ground meat nowhere near that much more expensive than beef.

Anyway, we’re using a dehydrator a LOT more, now that we have a nice one. Having the control over the temperature really opens up the possibilities.

How to Make Blueberry Bison Jerky

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk-through.

Cut 2 or 3 squares of parchment paper slightly smaller than your dehydrator racks, set aside.

Measure your blueberries into a mini food processor, blitz until roughly pureed. Small pieces of berry are better than a smooth puree, but you don’t want it really chunky.

In a medium mixing bowl - using freshly washed or gloved hands - combine all ingredients well. REALLY well - it’s better to overhandle it, than to under-mix it.

Once two hours has passed, remove the jerky strips from the parchment, flip them over, and place them directly onto the dehydrator racks.

Return to the dehydrator and continue dehydrating at 165 F for another 2 - 3 hours.

To test for doneness, remove a piece of jerky from the dehydrator and let it cool to room temperature. It should feel dry to the touch and be able to bend to 90 degrees without breaking. (A bit of cracking or crackling is ok!)

Storing Homemade Jerky

Allow your Blueberry Bison jerky to cool COMPLETELY to room temperature before packaging.

Bison Jerky will keep at room temperature (in a cool dark place) for a week so, or a few weeks in the fridge.

If sealed into an airtight container WITHOUT OXYGEN, it should be good for a month or so in a cool dark place, a couple months in the fridge, and 6 months or so in the freezer.

Once you open your vacuum sealed bag of bison jerky, it should be eaten within a couple days - or a week, if put in the fridge after opening.

More Homemade Jerky Recipes

Are you someone who loves to bring jerky on road trips, hiking trails, and when camping? Me too! Here are some of my go-to recipes for homemade jerkies!

Basic Ground Beef Jerky
Mushroom Jerky, 2 Ways
Tofu Jerky, 2 Ways
Pepperoni Jerky