September goose season in New York has very generous bag limits, providing some meaty opportunities. Smoked goose jerky is a tasty snack to have in your hunting bag as the autumn hunting season begins!

Smoked Goose Jerky

Ingredients:

skinless, boneless breast meat from a Canada Goose (recipe can be scaled up for more birds), silver skin removed and sliced into 1/4 inch thin pieces

Marinade Ingredients
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
dash of pepper and salt
1-2 cloves of garlic, smashed or a dash of garlic powder
a few slice of onion or a dash of onion powder
(If you do not have a smoker add 1 teaspoon hickory smoke flavored salt or liquid hickory)

Directions:
Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a shallow glass or ceramic bowl and place meat in the bowl, being sure to coat all of the pieces with the marinade.

Cover and refrigerate the marinating meat for 2 hours up to overnight (the jerky will taste saltier the longer it is marinated).

Preheat your smoker set to 145-150°F or a convection oven or dehydrator (note if not using a smoker, be sure to add the hickory smoke liquid or salt to your brine before you get to this step).

Remove the meat from the refrigerator and arrange the meat strips on smoker racks or dehydrator trays with the meat close together but not touching.  If you are dehydrating in an oven, place the meat on metal racks that are placed on cooking sheets to catch the drippings.

Place the racks in a smoker or dehydrator or convection oven preheated to 145-150 degrees.  Begin checking the meat after about 3 hours to see if it is dry. It should crack, but not break when bent.

Remove meat from racks and store. I prefer to store jerky in the refrigerator, and if properly dried, it will last months in the fridge and be fine at room temperature for a day of hunting and even overnight trips.  More information see “Preparing Safer Jerky” from Cooperative Extension found here.