Making Beef Jerky

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-30-2008, 04:03 PM

In roughly eighty days I will have to butcher this years beef steers. Problem is I have about 250-300 lbs of roasts (& such) left from last year butcher. I'm thinking it might be time again to dust off the meatslicer and smoker and get to work making beef jerky. I also have about 20 pheasant breasts to use up as well.

Anyone have a favorite jerky marinade/spice recipe you want to share? Any old family recipes?

**Rick** · 03-30-2008, 08:22 PM

Bragg - Here's an old family recipe. No one ever used it but it is old.....

Beef Jerky
2 lbs. of flank steak
2/3 cup of soy sauce
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons of seasoning salt (recommend Lawry's)
Slice flank steak diagonally with the grain of the meat into very thin slices (If slightly frozen it slices more easily). Combine ingredients and marinate meat overnight or 12 hours. Be sure all pieces are covered (coated) with marinade. Drain excess marinade. Place meat on paper towels to soak up marinade. Meat should be squeezed as dry as possible in paper towels. Place individual pieces of meat on rack in oven at 140 to 160 degrees for seven to 12 hours, or until meat is dry throughout. Leave oven door ajar (slightly open) during the drying process. Meat can also be hung in the oven by placing a wooden toothpick in each piece and strung from the rack. Store finished jerky in an airtight container. It keeps for several months, but it is likely that it will be consumed by the master hunter, kids, or the cook within a few days.

**Alpine_Sapper** · 03-30-2008, 11:26 PM

I make mine on a much smaller scale than you're talking about. I make anywhere from 3-7 lb's every two weeks. I'm luck if it lasts that long around here. But I don't follow any set recipe. I use brown sugar and salt, with some worcestershire and fresh black pepper as a base. I then add minced fresh onion and garlic. A TON of garlic, but it's a staple in just about everything we cook. I stop there if I want to make a batch of regular, or maybe throw a few other things in it. After that, it depends on what kind of flavor you want.

For oriental, use a combination of soy, teriyaki, hoisen sauce, or oyster sauce. There's a spicy red chili soy paste that goes well too, or dried asian peppers.

For hispanic flavorings I use cumin, chili pepper, fresh jalapeno's or habenero's (scotch bonnets), etc.

I've seen some recipes online that use coke to make it sweet, but I usually use maple syrup instead. I've also seen some that use A-1 for "tangy" jerky, but no one around here is really all that wild about the tamarind that gives A1 it's distinctive taste.

Marinate for AT LEAST 24 hours in the fridge. Otherwise, it all kinda tastes the same.

If you used minced fresh veggies like onion, garlic, and peppers, you can shake them off before skewering, or not. If not, you get dried little flecks that just add to the taste. Have no idea if they go bad, as they don't last that long. *shrug*

All I can say is grab a couple roasts. some flank steak, or lean brisket and start experimenting now. You really only need enough marinade to well coat the meat. I make mine in the oven, skewered on bamboo skewers and lay them front to back. One skewer is just long enough to go from the front of the rack to the middle part. I just leave a gap between the types if I'm making multiple types of jerkey.

I've also used coffee, and either shiner bock or guiness to add a different flavor, but it wasn't that noticeable.

I turn the oven somewhere between warm and 200 degrees as it doesn't have any lower temp, and after about 20 minutes of letting the oven warm up I prop the door open with a fork for good air circulation. It's going to take anywhere between 6-12 hours, depending on the temperature in your house, the humidity, what you used for a marinade, and the thickness of your slices. I do thicker slices cause TDW has requested it.

Enjoy your experiments.

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-30-2008, 11:45 PM

Do any of you use a brine or curing salt before hand for long term storage?

**Rick** · 03-31-2008, 07:13 AM

I didn't even think about you having 300 lbs. to put up. Read it, just didn't think.

Another thing you might thing about is just dehydrating some of the beef. That will extend it's shelf life and reconstituted beef is just like the real deal.

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-31-2008, 10:57 AM

I'm heading into the city today to have the blade sharpened on my meat slicer and pick up some curing salts. Smoker is set up and ready to roll. I'll post pics as I go along.

**Tahyo** · 03-31-2008, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by BraggSurvivor

Do any of you use a brine or curing salt before hand for long term storage?

I make a great deal of beef jerky around here. My "marinade" is pretty much as most are other than using a few other odds and ends on occasion. I don't use any curing salts with my beef jerky. The stuff is usually gone with in a few months of me making it. I do vacuum seal everything I make.

I do use curing salts on other things though.

I would be interested in your smoking procedure. I do a lot of sausage making, as well as back bacon and other things that I smoke around here.
I just never bothered to smoke my jerky. Always used a good dehydrator (Excalibur) to make my jerky.

**Rick** · 03-31-2008, 06:25 PM

Tahyo - I just picked up an Excalibur but have yet to make jerky in it. I've always used my oven. Any hints on making it in the dehydrator?

**Tahyo** · 03-31-2008, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

Tahyo - I just picked up an Excalibur but have yet to make jerky in it. I've always used my oven. Any hints on making it in the dehydrator?

Just get yourself a marinade that looks good, I would suggest a traditional one at first. Slice the meat 1/8 or 3/16 thick. I usually marinade the meat a minimum of 8 hours, but sometimes 12. Once you put the meat in the dehydrator set the setting at the "Meat/Jerky" setting and let her go. Rotate the trays as well as move them to different positions every couple hours. Drying time can take from 3 - 6 hours, sometimes more if you cut the meat thick. When you think you are getting close, take a piece out and let it cool off completely before tasting it. When jerky is hot, it may act like it's not done.

Oh... make sure you drain the meat fairly well before putting on the trays. I just toss in a colander and dab a bit of it off with paper towels. If you want to, use a pepper mill to put a little coarse ground pepper on it. I wouldn't use regular ground pepper out of a shaker. Too easy to put too much on.

If I'm unclear on anything let me know. Was trying to squeeze this in before the wife gets home.

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-31-2008, 07:08 PM

I make a dry jerky rub (after curing) instead of a marinade. I cant figure why someone would want to add more moisture, kinda defeats the purpose IMO. After I mix the meat with a dry rub, I put it in the fridge for 20 hours. Anymore time than that the meat seems to get a little mushy.

I got the newly sharpened blade back and made easy work of two 6lbs chuck roasts. My homegrown meat was taken out of the freezer last night. Here is a pic of citting the meat 1/4" thick.
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I trim all the fat and get my sodium nitrate powder ready. In the mixing drum I carfully measure the weight of the meat vs sodium nitrate. 10lbs of meat needs 6 tablespoons + 2 teaspons of nitrate. All trimmings are cooked on my grille and fed to my 4 dogs as I fire up my smoker tomorrow.
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After I finish the barrel tumble of meat and nitrate, I add the dry rub. This first test batch is going to be a cajun hot dry rub. Its an old family recipe from my uncle. Here is a pic of the 10lbs of prepared jerky that will sit covered in the fridge until tomorrow afternoon.
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**Rick** · 03-31-2008, 07:18 PM

Tahyo - Are you just using the mesh or screens?

I think rotating the trays was a good bit of info. I would not have rotated them on the Excaliber. Thanks!!!

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-31-2008, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by Tahyo

I make a great deal of beef jerky around here. My "marinade" is pretty much as most are other than using a few other odds and ends on occasion. I don't use any curing salts with my beef jerky. The stuff is usually gone with in a few months of me making it. I do vacuum seal everything I make.

I do use curing salts on other things though.

I would be interested in your smoking procedure. I do a lot of sausage making, as well as back bacon and other things that I smoke around here.
I just never bothered to smoke my jerky. Always used a good dehydrator (Excalibur) to make my jerky.

In my opinion people tend to over smoke the jerky giving it a bitter taste. I cold smoke with hickory or Mesquite with no water.

Between sodium nitrate and smoking, my jerky should keep for a very long time.

**Tahyo** · 03-31-2008, 07:31 PM

Rick, I'm using the trays that came with it. They are plastic mesh. They also clean up real nice in the dishwasher but put them on the top rack when you do. I have had my Excalibur for almost 10 years now.. still all original parts and tons of usage.

BraggSurvivor, I've made jerky both ways, dry rub(s) and the marinade. I save the dry rubs for pork shoulders and brisket that I smoke for 14+ hours.
I just happen to like the marinade way better. I recently made two batches of jerky to send to one of my wife's friend's husband who is in Iraq. One was marinade and one was rub. Can't say which one he liked better, but all in all, the marinade is my cup of tea.

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-31-2008, 07:37 PM

The biggest thing for me is time. If I can save 4 hours dry time on each batch, I will go through this 300lbs alot quicker. What do you have for a grille Tahyo? All my briskets and shoulders I do in my BGE.

**Tahyo** · 03-31-2008, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by BraggSurvivor

In my opinion people tend to over smoke the jerky giving it a bitter taste. I cold smoke with hickory or Mesquite with no water.

Between sodium nitrate and smoking, my jerky should keep for a very long time.

o.k. I cold smoke salmon so that's no problem for me. I make a trip down to see my brother in Texas once a year and bring back as much pecan wood as I can cram in the back of my truck. It's a milder version of hickory that I use for the sausage I make. I use a combination of sugar cane and pecan wood for some of it.

**Tahyo** · 03-31-2008, 07:43 PM

I actually have 3 different things I use, depending on what I'm doing. I have a cabinet smoker that I use a hot plate and wood chips for cold smoking. (no water.. don't like any more moisture in the smoke than what's in the wood)
I made an upright barrel bbq pit for using something where I need direct heat, but up high and then I have my pride and joy, Klose offset pit/smoker for my pork shoulders, brisket or turkeys.

I had a real nice smoke house about 5 years ago, but I had a "flame up" and got to watch it go up in flames. It was a sad day. Just never got around to building another one.

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-31-2008, 07:51 PM

If you were my nieghbor Tahyo, I believe we would be very overweight and most of the time hungover.

I love grilling and smoking.......(as grease runs down my chin staining my muscle shirt)

**Tahyo** · 03-31-2008, 08:01 PM

Bragg, I keep telling my wife that when I die it better be with a pulled pork sandwich in one hand and half a slab of ribs in the other. BBQ is my weakness, but I am picky about it. Won't touch a bbq rib that some people find necessary to boil before putting on the pit. My feeling is that if you don't have the time or patience to do it right, then don't do it at all.
I'm waiting for the weather to give me two good days of 50s and 60s so I can get some pork shoulders going.