Making Beef Jerky

**Rick** · 05-17-2008, 07:49 AM

He has that wilderness strong will. But we keep tryin'!

**LeaveThisLifeGuy** · 05-17-2008, 07:05 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

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.

i went to the store, and am following this to the T. meat's marinating now. will let ya know how it ends up. never made jerky before, always thought it was waaay more difficult but a lot of you seem to have it down.

**Rick** · 05-17-2008, 07:39 PM

I make this quite a bit and have some in the pantry now. Let me know what you think.

**Ken** · 05-17-2008, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

I make this quite a bit and have some in the pantry now. Let me know what you think.

Hey. Wait a minute. "Let me know what you think." That job belongs to the Quality Control Department.

**Rick** · 05-18-2008, 08:20 AM

Yeah, yeah. I'm just looking for an opinion not a taste testing session. Perhaps we should enact a law of the land that a food gratuity must be paid to QA as the price to absorb our knowledge.

**Ken** · 05-18-2008, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by Rick

Yeah, yeah. I'm just looking for an opinion not a taste testing session. Perhaps we should enact a law of the land that a food gratuity must be paid to QA as the price to absorb our knowledge.

You're going to give me a hard time about this, aren't you?

**crashdive123** · 05-18-2008, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Rick

Yeah, yeah. I'm just looking for an opinion not a taste testing session. Perhaps we should enact a law of the land that a food gratuity must be paid to QA as the price to absorb our knowledge.

As long as the gratuity is being paid to the QA Department

and not collected from them

....I'm still in.

**Ken** · 05-18-2008, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by crashdive123

As long as the gratuity is being paid to the QA Department

and not collected from them

....I'm still in.

Crash, I knew from the very start that I could count on you.

**Rick** · 05-18-2008, 03:37 PM

Go reread my post. It says "must be paid TO the QA Department..."

**crashdive123** · 05-18-2008, 04:38 PM

I know what you meant. I like my version better.

**LeaveThisLifeGuy** · 05-18-2008, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

I make this quite a bit and have some in the pantry now. Let me know what you think.

FAntastic!! this was my first time ever making jerky. that said, next time i won't cut the slices so thin, there is no "jerking" when biting the meat, it just breaks off in your mouth. so i think i either overcooked it or i sliced the meat too thin. i also marinated it for about twenty hours, taste was amazing. gonna try some spicy stuff next once i figure out how to make it a bit chewy. thanks for the recipe Rick!

**Rick** · 05-19-2008, 07:57 AM

Glad you liked it. As I said, I haven't found anyone that does not like that recipe. The stuff keeps for quite a while if you can keep your hands out of the bag.

I also marinate for about 24 hours. I try to move the meat around in the marinade just to make certain all of it gets coated. Nothing specific but if I think about it I'll go stir the meat.

You might have done a bit of both. Slicing too thin can cause the problem you encountered and overcooking can cause it. After you make it a couple of times you'll get the hang of it the way you like it. By the way, those kind of comments help others know that making jerky is really pretty easy stuff and might encourage them to try it.

**LeaveThisLifeGuy** · 05-19-2008, 07:29 PM

Rick, i was gonna try something a little spicier for this weekends backpacking trip, and the lady refused, she said make it exactly the same, and thank that guy. so thanks from the missus!

**Rick** · 05-19-2008, 08:01 PM

Tell her she is welcome!

**crashdive123** · 05-24-2008, 07:37 AM

I was watching the Food Network last night. They had a show on making beef jerky. The recipe was:
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup worstershire sauce
1 Tbl honey
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp liquid smoke (they showed how to make your own)
2 lbs flank steak

Very similar recipie to what has been posted here. Now here's where it got interesting.

After marinating for 3 to 6 hours they took several air filters. They were the 20 X 20 inch pleated paper type (do not use fiberglass). They laid the strips of meat in the pleats, then stacked the filters. They topped the stack with a clean filter with no meat in it (kind of lik e a lid on the pot). Then used bungee cords to hold the stack of filters to a box fan. Turned on the fan - 12 hours later had jerky. The guy doing it said that he preferred this cold method to heat. I am going to have to try it. Ken - I'll let you know when I do and ship your samples.

**Tahyo** · 05-24-2008, 08:14 AM

I've seen that episode before. To be honest... if one is going to be doing jerky on a regular basis it's best just to get a good dehydrator that has a heating element (Excalibur is my choice... I can't even remember when I got mine, but it's been a long time and it's still going strong)

**Alpine_Sapper** · 05-26-2008, 12:06 AM

Originally Posted by crashdive123

I was watching the Food Network last night. They had a show on making beef jerky. The recipe was:
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup worstershire sauce
1 Tbl honey
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp liquid smoke (they showed how to make your own)
2 lbs flank steak

Very similar recipie to what has been posted here. Now here's where it got interesting.

After marinating for 3 to 6 hours they took several air filters. They were the 20 X 20 inch pleated paper type (do not use fiberglass). They laid the strips of meat in the pleats, then stacked the filters. They topped the stack with a clean filter with no meat in it (kind of lik e a lid on the pot). Then used bungee cords to hold the stack of filters to a box fan. Turned on the fan - 12 hours later had jerky. The guy doing it said that he preferred this cold method to heat. I am going to have to try it. Ken - I'll let you know when I do and ship your samples.

Alton Brown rocks. Never tried his jerky method. Felt kinda odd about the whole air conditioner filter thing. But his show is the bomb.

**Tahyo** · 05-26-2008, 10:28 AM

I do agree, Alton Brown is my favorite...well uh...maybe where as the actual cooking information is concerned, but Giada De Laurentiis is definitely my favorite eye candy to behold on the Food Network.