Homemade Jerky

[CodingQueen]

Unlike other marinades, those for jerky usually eliminate oil from the mix entirely. The marinade recipe below is a good all-purpose jerky marinade, but use it as a rough guideline. Experiment with your own concoctions. If you don't like things spicy, leave out the crushed red peppers. Like things sweet? Add honey. Let your imagination be your guide.  

Ingredients:  
3 pounds of meat
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Options:
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2-3 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
2-3 teaspoons crushed red peppers
 
Instructions:  The recipe above will dehydrate down to about 16-18 ounces.

While beef is what most people are familiar with, just about any firm meat can be made into jerky. If there are any hunters in your family, try venison. Turkey breast or firm fish such as salmon or ahi tuna also make excellent snacks. Simply slice your choice of meat thin (usually 1/8") with the grain. This is a bit more tricky with fish, so I highly recommend freezing it halfway first. In fact, partial freezing will make slicing all meats easier.

As for beef, my personal cuts of choice are London Broil, sirloin or venison, although many people like to use brisket or flank steak as well.

Note: You can also use ground meats for jerky in which case you can forego the marinade and use a dry spice rub instead like the one below.

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large (gallon size or larger) plastic zipper bag. Add sliced meat and refrigerate, turning and mixing every hour or two. Hearty meats like beef and venison should be marinated overnight. For turkey, salmon or tuna, 3-4 hours is usually plenty. Don't marinate ground meats.

When ready to begin drying, place a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven to aid in cleanup. Drain meat in a colander and pat dry with paper towels (the drier the better at this point). Set oven at lowest temperature setting and carefully place meat slices directly onto oven racks. Leave the oven door open a crack to allow moisture to escape.

Drying times vary due to oven differences and meat size. Perfect jerky is firm and dry and not at all spongy. However, if your jerky is so dry it breaks in two easily, it's probably over-dried.

Instructions for For Ground Meat Jerky:
Look for meat that is 95% lean or leaner. Double grind the meat with a spice mixture to distribute the spices evenly (you might want to add a little extra salt, depending on the blend of your seasoning mixture). If you don't have a meat grinder, you can use a food processor for this process.

Sandwich some of the seasoned ground meat between two sheets of waxed paper. Use a rolling pin to press the meat into 2" wide, flat, thin strips. Carefully remove the strips from the waxed paper place directly on oven racks, as for sliced jerky. If desired, you can brush a thin layer of marinade on the strips at this point (not too much, you want the meat to dry). This is an optional step as the dry rub will provide a lot of flavor on its own.

Jerky Tips:

It's easier to slice the meat thinly if it is slightly frozen

Generally speaking, the leaner the meat, the better for jerky. Remove ALL visible fat!

For peppery jerky, sprinkle with pepper right after placing on the drying rack. This pepper will "stick" to the jerky.


Other Options:

If you've ever been the proud recipient of one of those amazing Ronco Food Dehydrators you see touted on TV during the holidays, now is the time to haul it out. You can easily make jerky in it and avoid the oven. I love mine.

You can also dry jerky in a meat smoker (in this case, definitely eliminate the liquid smoke from the marinade recipe or your meat will taste like it has been in a fire). Mesquite works well for most meats. Also, be sure NOT to fill the smoker bowl with water or any other liquid. The point of making jerky is to DRY the meat.

Dave's Cajun Spice Blend

Ingredients:
1/2 cup paprika
6 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons basil
3 tablespoons file powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons cayenne (reduce by 1/2 if you want it mild)
2 tablespoons white pepper
2 tablespoons dried thyme  

Instructions:  Makes 2 1/2 Cups Seasoning Mix

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.  

[MissBizzyLizzy]

thanks CQ...my dh will be happy about this one.  so how long did you cook yours for...just an idea to go off of?!

[tprouty]

Awesome timing, CQ!

My daughter-of-another-mother, Janel (who is doing LDL), was just talking about making some of her own jerky to take on a scouts' camping weekend, where she is a counselor, and is responsible to bring most of her own food. She was looking at a variety of different marinade sauces in the store, but your seasonings look great -- and they're already tried and tested! She has a food dryer, so this will work perfect! Thanks a bunch!

Terri

[tprouty]

Ooh, and thanks, Miss Lizzy for bringing this to the top. Somehow I missed it the first time around!

Terri

[LINDA RN]

Thank you, thank you CQ and Lizzy,
Daughter's husband is deploying to Afganistan soon and say what they crave there more than anything is meat. They just can't get into the camel they are served there. He was wanting her to send Jerkey and she was wanting to make her own to send him. She has never done this so the recipes will really help her.

[CodingQueen]

With an oven set at 160 degrees it will take approximately 4 1/2 - 6 hours. It just depends on how thick the meat has been sliced and how much moisture was removed with the paper towels.

Make sure that you turn the meat over every now and also rotate the racks. You have to remember that the juices from the top rack is dripping onto the one(s) below.

You want it dry enough to be able to easily break off a piece but not so dry that it's crisp and breaks off like a potato chip.

Also, make sure to let it cool in a dry place for about 24 hours before storing.

If you have a food dehydrator, just follow the instructions for each type of meat.

CQ

[Janel]

thank you for posting this,
Tprouty(mom) and I are going shopping tommrow so I need to get all the things for this.  I'm hopeing this helps out with the wekend with the kids.
janel