Beef Jerky Recipe...?

[hunterridgefarm]

I have bought some great homemade beef jerky in the past but no one would give up the recipe.

Some guys at work made some out of deer meat and claimed the recipe was one someone was going to market. I was not impressed. He did give me the recipe and I am going to try and doctor it up.

We bought a dehydrator and now I need a good recipe. And thats where you guys and gals come in. I told my wife if there was a goood recipe out there someone on TBN would have it!!

Need mild and hot.

So anyone have a great beef jerky recipe????

 

[archerynut]

Were you thinking of using ground beef (deer), or were you going to slice a roast. I have one of those jerky shooters that uses ground meat to make jerky. Does a pretty good job, I don't have any left over if that means it was good. Also have used roasts from a deer and had pretty good luck with that. I mainly used those packaged mixes for jerky, found them at Gander Mountain or Cabelas, even the local supermarket, High Mountian Jerky seasonings I think. Hickory and Teriyaki are my favorites. I doctor the mixes up each time that I do it and turns out a little different each time. If you are going to use roasts and slice them, I have better luck slicing them when they are partially frozen to get better slices. I think you can buy just the cure somewhere, try looking up Con Yeager Spice company.

 

[EddieWalker]

I always soak it in terriaki sauce, the sprinkle some white peper and garlic salt on it. Then I put it in the oven at 250 degrees for about 4 hours. I'll check it at 2 hours to see how it's going since I prefer it a little on the moist side.

Works with beef, deer, elk or anything else.

Eddie

 

[hunterridgefarm]

archerynut, I will use roasts...deer and beef. I'll see if I can find the spice company.

I would like to find a rub and marinate.


Eddie,
I started to PM you right off the bat with you and Stef shooting the boar and wild pig I knew you would have a recipe. But then I remembered I had never heard of pork-jerky . But I bet elk would be good.

 

[stumpfield]

Check out this link:

How to Make Beef Jerky Recipes

 

[nobull1]

I have tried a few different recipes and types of meat over the years. It is always just personal taste as to which is the best. Myself I have found round steak is easy to use and I always have lots on hand. I cut the round steak in strips removing any fat or sinew as I go. If you cut the strips at about 1/4 to 3/8,(steaks 1" thick work best) you end up with piece of meat that has some substance to it after dried. It will take longer to dry but makes a treat that will fill you up. I make a brine that has spices, liquid flavouring as well as cooked onions. My personal preference is to not use soya, terriaki sauce, or sugar of any kind. This gives you a more natural home cooked steak taste. You let the meat cure in the brine for 1-2 days in the fridge then arrange and dry in the dehydrator. Actually I think I will take some out of the freezer and start some tomorrow

 

[archerynut]

Here are some of the links to the spices that I had mentioned before:

I have used the Hi Mountain on roasts and ground meat.

Con Yeager Spice Company

Cabela's -- Hi Mountain Jerky Cures

 

[HomeBrew2]

Jerky is an interesting subject. It seems to get more attention than other "curing" methods ... and probably rightfully so.
Jerky is just a method to preserve meat by getting the moisture out of it via drying ... sun, dehydrator, SMOKER, or whatever. "Curing" is usually just using salt (saline solution) to pull the moisture out of meat (etc). So, same difference.
Preparing food the way you like it may be a whole different story.
What flavors do you like? What combination of flavors do you like?
I'm single. I do all my own cooking (except for the rare occasion that I pay someone else to prepare my food). I know what flavors I like.
To me, jerky is "shirt pocket food" while working. No, I don't do the trail mix, et al, thing.
Go to a civil war reenactment thing and make a point of finding the cook. He's usually really bored because nobody cares ... his gun is in his boot, not waving around where everybody can see it. His job was to keep men nourished (and secondarily nourished, in the field ... with no resources. He prepared SCRAPS of meat, along with mostly worthless hardtack (I like it too), highly seasoned with anything he had, mostly salt (if he had any left).
My recipe, if you would call it a recipe:
Meat.
Salt.
Garlic granules.
Black pepper ... the more the merrier
Smoked till dry over whatever wood is available (as long as the resins don't kill you ... easy on the pine, etc.)

 

[Paddy]

As homebrew stated, it's all in how you like it. I only use a smoker myself. Jerky, unlike a good steak, has little to no fat. Buy a cheap roast that is as lean as you can get with the grain all running in one direction. Think of sawing lumber, not cutting fire wood when slicing. Take a standard dinner plate and turn it up side down. Now you have an elivated little platform. Use a filet knife and cut from the bottom using the rim of the plate as visual guide. Cut slabs 1/4 to 3/8" thick. This will give you hand size pcs. Don't worry about some being thick and thin. Thick will go on the botten rack! Soak in a mixture of salt and sugar. Say 1/2 cup sugar to 1/4 cup salt in a qt of water. Add a bit of soy and red wine to taist. Adgitate ever few hours or when you have a chance. let soak over night. Remove and pat dry with a paper towl. Dust both sides with black peper, onion powder, garlic powder, red chili (if you like things hot). Place in a low temp smoker with hickory. Takes about 8-12 hrs. You may start pulling the thin ones off a bit sooner.

To me the key in the smoker. Check the wattage. Some come with true cooking sized elements and are to fast, say 1hour! I have modified our smoker to allow for two differnt elements. One for smoking and cooking ribs and turkeys and the low watt job for pure smoking. Add the wood for smoking just twice or it will taist like the inside of a wood stove!

 

[John D]

Im going to have to try some of these recipies. I do mine with round steak if I dont have deer. on the smoker outside. like misq but have alot of oak so? I cut in strips little finger size mix up in one of those pizza shakers 1/3 salt 1/3 pepper and 1/3 garlic powder (not garlic salt) cover the meat real good and mix. put it in the fridge for the night and in the morning put it on the smoker on the cool side at about 100-150 deg. when the moisture shows on the top. turn it. you may have to do this 4-5 times. about 4 hours. dont tell anyne your doing it though if you plan on haveing any for yourself?? If you dont use the smoker I guess you could add some liq smoke and do it in your dhyd. jb

 

[EddieWalker]

When I went on Safari in Namibia, the owner of the ranch had Biltong. It's similar to jerky, but it's air dried. Namibia is a very big desert and very warm.

They have a screened in building to hang the meat in. I don't know how long it hangs there, but it was very dry and tough to chew on just like jerky. It was also very, very good!!!!

Eddie

 

[Captinjack]

I've been told that my venison jerky recipe is the best and I have no problem sharing it with anyone. In speaking with many other folks who make jerky, I've found that the recipes are remarkably similar.

7 lbs. Venison cut into 1/4” thick strips
1 10 Oz. bottle Worcestershire sauce
1 10 Oz. bottle Soy sauce - Teriyaki sauce is an alternate
1 Cup Catsup - Barbecue sauce is an alternate
4 Oz. Liquid smoke (this is a necessity) A second bottle will not hurt for a smokier taste
Garlic Powder not Salt to suit. There is more than enough salt in the soy sauce!
Black pepper to suit - you’ll want to add more than you think is right & it’ll be ok
Hot pepper to suit- once again add more than you think is right - Jerky goes fast anyway & it will slow them down.

Mix the ingredients and allow to sit overnight if you can. No big deal if you don’t, but it will give the powdered ingredients time to soak in and give an even quality to each piece of jerky. Warm the liquid to 120 °F will accomplish the same.

Trim ALL fat and sinew . This is important as fat tastes bad and sinew leaves an unpleasant ball in your mouth. Thaw your meat until it can be easily cut into ¼” strips. Cross grain will reduce the stringiness of the meat, however, the jerky is so good that no one will care. Use a broad bladed knife for even cuts. Using a band saw while the meat is still frozen is the best way to get consistent thickness jerky, but isn’t necessary.

Mix the lean meat strips in the marinate sauce and allow to stand a minimum of 2 hours; overnight if you can plan ahead. I’ve found that 2 hrs. or 2 days doesn’t make any difference. Mix the meat periodically to ensure that all meat is exposed equally to the sauce.

Drain the meat and dehydrate in a heated (145°F), thermostatically controlled dehydrator for 2 hours. Then flip each piece over, reverse top to bottom of the trays and continue for another 2 hours. Depending on the temperature and amount of air movement, you may have to continue for another hour or two. The jerky is done when it is still flexible - not hard and brittle. Should it become hard and brittle, put it into a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator overnight and it will pick up the required moisture and will be soft again.

A conventional oven can be used, however, the temperature must be controlled to about 145 °F and the humid air must escape to be successful. The results are not good.

Jerky can be bagged and frozen for long term storage. It will mold if left out for a couple of days though so you’ll have to either eat it by then or freeze it.

Good Luck!

 

[dholly]

Some recipes here: Where to buy good beef jerky?

 

[HomeBrew2]

Some daze things just don't go according to plan. Had a couple nice eye-of-round roasts to make jerky. Electric smoker worked for a while then became tempermental. No time to babysit appliances or food today. So, no classic jerky ... but some real fine shirt pocket sized smokey grill treats ... finished off at 200° on the grill. Life is good

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I've been told that my venison jerky recipe is the best and I have no problem sharing it with anyone. In speaking with many other folks who make jerky, I've found that the recipes are remarkably similar.

7 lbs. Venison cut into 1/4” thick strips
1 10 Oz. bottle Worcestershire sauce
1 10 Oz. bottle Soy sauce - Teriyaki sauce is an alternate
1 Cup Catsup - Barbecue sauce is an alternate
4 Oz. Liquid smoke (this is a necessity) A second bottle will not hurt for a smokier taste
Garlic Powder not Salt to suit. There is more than enough salt in the soy sauce!
Black pepper to suit - you’ll want to add more than you think is right & it’ll be ok
Hot pepper to suit- once again add more than you think is right - Jerky goes fast anyway & it will slow them down.

Mix the ingredients and allow to sit overnight if you can. No big deal if you don’t, but it will give the powdered ingredients time to soak in and give an even quality to each piece of jerky. Warm the liquid to 120 °F will accomplish the same.

Trim ALL fat and sinew . This is important as fat tastes bad and sinew leaves an unpleasant ball in your mouth. Thaw your meat until it can be easily cut into ¼” strips. Cross grain will reduce the stringiness of the meat, however, the jerky is so good that no one will care. Use a broad bladed knife for even cuts. Using a band saw while the meat is still frozen is the best way to get consistent thickness jerky, but isn’t necessary.

Mix the lean meat strips in the marinate sauce and allow to stand a minimum of 2 hours; overnight if you can plan ahead. I’ve found that 2 hrs. or 2 days doesn’t make any difference. Mix the meat periodically to ensure that all meat is exposed equally to the sauce.

Drain the meat and dehydrate in a heated (145°F), thermostatically controlled dehydrator for 2 hours. Then flip each piece over, reverse top to bottom of the trays and continue for another 2 hours. Depending on the temperature and amount of air movement, you may have to continue for another hour or two. The jerky is done when it is still flexible - not hard and brittle. Should it become hard and brittle, put it into a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator overnight and it will pick up the required moisture and will be soft again.

A conventional oven can be used, however, the temperature must be controlled to about 145 °F and the humid air must escape to be successful. The results are not good.

Jerky can be bagged and frozen for long term storage. It will mold if left out for a couple of days though so you’ll have to either eat it by then or freeze it.

Good Luck!

Now your talking...thats what I needed. Plan on trying some of the packaged spices from the web sites listed in this thread also.

First we have to buy a new dehydrater ours kinda died last week when my wife was drying some apples.