Anyone have a jerky recipe?

[Jimin]

I came across a good sale on flank steaks and I was thinking about trying my hand at making some homemade beef jerky. Does anyone have any good recipes for beef jerky?

[Ken]

Here? Seriously? We have thousands of them.

Let the battle begin!

[Ken]

Sweet Soy Marinade

2 cups Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 head of garlic - crushed
½ cup chopped white onions

[Ken]

Knob Creek Bourbon Marinade

2 cups Knob Creek Bourbon
⅔ cup Light Brown Sugar

[randyt]

Mine is similar to Ken's except I ditch the brown sugar and use a tablespoon of liquid smoke instead.

[intothenew]

I like it a thousand different ways. But one, that has stuck as a staple;

HPBooks, Inc. 1979 "How To Dry Foods"

Hawaiian Jerky

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 lb. lean meat, thinly sliced (3/16 to 1/4 inch thick)

Marinate 6 to 12 hours

It's just a wonderful change to the ordinary. A taste Mother Nature never intended. Those of the milder tongue enjoy it too.

[Rick]

Here's mine.

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 (recommendLawry's)
Slice flank steak diagonally with thegrain of the meat into very thin slices (If slightly frozen it slices moreeasily). Combine ingredients and marinate meat overnight or 12hours. Be sure all pieces are covered (coated) with marinade. Drainexcess marinade. Place meat on paper towels to soak up marinade. Meatshould be squeezed as dry as possible in paper towels. Place individualpieces of meat on rack in oven at 140 to 160 degrees for seven to 12 hours, oruntil meat is dry throughout. Leave oven door ajar (slightly open) duringthe drying process. Meat can also be hung in the oven by placing a woodentoothpick in each piece and strung from the rack. Store finished jerky inan airtight container. It keeps for several months....if you don't it eat it first.

[mountainmark]

I don't recall ever making beef jerky, but I do make venison jerky.

If I'm going all wild I'll use a simple sea salt, water, maple syrup brine. (sorry, I don't measure)

Otherwise I may add some brown sugar instead of maple and possibly some pepper. I brine the sliced meat until it has the "certain texture and color" I can't quite describe (I know, real helpful right? But brine time depends on salt, sugar brine ratios, and seeing that I don't measure....)

I then dry the slices and place in the smoker for 2 to 4 hours. (I usually use maple, apple, or black cherry) A little less time for the black cherry.

When done smoking I finish in the food dehydrator.

I like to jazz up different foods, but for some reason I really like my jerky simple. If it's salty, sweet, and smokey, I be happy Perhaps it is the strong flavor of the smoke etc. that causes me to avoid other complex flavor profiles IDK.

[sofasurfer]

Is it true that meat for jerky does not have to be cooked? You can make jerky with raw meat?

[sofasurfer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerky

[pete lynch]

Yep: raw meat is needed. I make some decent jerky from ground turkey. I call it turkey jerky. I also make it from ground venison.
I have used Hi Mountain and Nesco brand pre-made spice/cure mix.
I plan to try my homemade chili seasoning recipe when I figure up the amount of cure I need.

[aktrekker]

I've made turkey jerky. People loved it. I could never get any for myself.
I've wondered about using ground meat but I've never tried it. Does it hold together ok?

[sjj]

revised.....

[aflineman]

I have used the juice from pickled jalapeño peppers as a brine base. Gives the meat good spice, without being to hot.

[Rick]

Good post, sjj. That's why you need to heat the meat to 165F or above even if you are smoking it. Smoking just doesn't kill parasites.

[aktrekker]

Basically it says that bear meat is the one dangerous to humans. I've always considered bear to be like pork. You don't make pork jerky.
Nothing revolutionary in the article. I wonder if the booklet from Fish & Game has more info.
They do say "the bottom line is hunters in Alaska don’t actually have much to worry about."
Deer, elk, moose, caribou, fish should be fine for jerky. Natives have been eating jerky for thousands of years without a problem.
Heating to 165 cooks the meat. It will not last long after being cooked. That defeats the purpose of drying/smoking, which is to preserve the meat so it will last longer.

[natertot]

165 doesn't cook the meat, that is the temp that dries out (dehydrates) the meat.

[pete lynch]

165 doesn't cook the meat, that is the temp that dries out (dehydrates) the meat.

That was my understanding, as well.

[aktrekker]

Every recipe I've seen for jerky (or dehydrating anything) is no more than 120.
When cooking meat you try to get the internal temperature to at least 165. If you cook at 165 until the meat is at 165 you have cooked it.

[Winnie]

akt, it is my understanding that the dehydrating temp for Jerky should be 140 degrees, you then 'cook' your jerky after dehydrating as an added safety precaution to kill any lingering pathogens, or you can preheat the Jerky in it's marinade. See here.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/dry/jerky.html

I rarely make jerky as it generally only lasts 24hrs and has never made it into storage. I can't afford a habit like that!

I have often wondered if sun drying would have a disinfecting effect, but UK has very few days dry enough to try.