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tlinder

Beef Jerky

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I'd be interested in knowing how to make jerky. Do you need a dehydrator or what?

Plenty of people make it on a cooker, but I don't because I can't get a full batch on there.

I make it in 20lb batches and I use a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator. You can get a cheap dehydrator for $20 or so to get started. I cut the meat (round of eye, but people use different cuts) about 3/8 thick and then slice it into strips, then I put it in my marinade. You can put it in baggies with the marinade and leave it overnight, or put it in a foodsaver container and remove the air, cutting down on the soak time.

There are a million things you can marinade it in so that's merely a preference. Some people use a cure (like a dry rub sprinkled on) from Hi Mountain.

After that, put it in the dehydrator. The time will differ depending on the dehydrator, do sample it often after it starts looking good to you. I then foodsaver it in 5-6 oz bags and freeze it.

I eat it for breakfast every morning cut up in my grits.

There's another beef-jerky freak on here that uses the Hi Mountain packages on his and loves it...hopefully he'll get in on this thread.

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I use the Hi Mountain cures too ( http://www.himtnjerky.com/ ) and love them. My two favorites are the Original Blend and Pepper Blend. Though I usually do add cayenne to both.

I prefer making my jerky in the oven (or a ceramic grill). I had a dehydrator and sold it. I use these racks ( http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true ) from Cabela's with the extra trays too. They also sell the Hi Mountain brand jerky mix their too. For slicing I use the Cabela's commercial slicer ( http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... 20099&rid= ).

-=Jasen=-

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Heres my recipe

Heres a great recipe. I've done it many times and have always had great success. Everyone loves it. I keep the grill at about 150 then flip the sear grill upside down, skewer the beef and lay them across the handles of the sear grill. Works awesome.

2 lb London Broil

1/2 c Soy saice

2 tb Worstershire sauce

2 ts Garlic powder

2 ts Onion powder

2 ts Fresly ground black pepper

2 ts Red pepper flakes, less for sissies

2 tb Liquid smoke

Freeze the London Broil or other lean roast. When ready to make jerky, remove the roast from the freezer and let partially thaw. When just able to slice, first remove all fat and then slice against the grain in thin (1/4 inch or less) slices. Cover the meat with the marinade, turn from time to time and let marinade overright. In the morning line a shallow cookie sheet with a few layes of paper towels. Place on lower rack. Place upper rack in oven in top position and lower rack in lower position. Hang the beef slices from the upper rack with tooth picks above the paper towels. 6 hours at 160F average temp is about right.

If your oven is real tight, you might crack open the door a bit to allow the water vapor to escape.

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Re: Heres my recipe

When just able to slice' date=' first remove all fat and then slice against the grain in thin (1/4 inch or less) slices. [/quote']

I do mine just the opposite. I cut mine with the grain so my jerky tears in strips. And good point on the oven. I forgot to mention that I place a spoon in my oven door.

-=Jasen=-

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Hey Curly,

I want to buy an Excalibur too but can't decide between the 5 or 9 tray. Since I'll be using it for jerky only how many pounds can the 5 tray do? I don't want to get something too big. Any advice? Worth the investment? I spend $5 for 3oz jerky at the local butcher. That get's really expensive really fast........

Thanks,

Joe

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Hey Curly,

I want to buy an Excalibur too but can't decide between the 5 or 9 tray. Since I'll be using it for jerky only how many pounds can the 5 tray do? I don't want to get something too big. Any advice? Worth the investment? I spend $5 for 3oz jerky at the local butcher. That get's really expensive really fast........

Thanks,

Joe

Cruz,

I'd say go for thr 9-tray, it'll get about 20lbs (depends on the thickness) which will dry down to about 10 lbs. Food saver it into 5-6 oz bags and you don't have to make it so often. The 5-tray should give you a bit over half that...say 6 lbs. But they have the same footprint, the 9-tray just stands a little taller. On the Excalibur I dry mine for 6 1/2 to 7 hours...that leaves plenty of juice to keep them very tasty. When I take a bag from the freezer it's usually gone in a few days, but I've had an open bag for as long as a week without any side effects on my stomach, so it's still dry enough to keep for awhile open. Of course, foodsavered in the freezer it will keep indefinately.

Use the other 4 trays to make some purdy dried flowers and send them to Firemonkey...he'll really like it :shock:

I did a bunch of apples and stuff one time...it's really good, but it's just not made outta meat so it seemed a bit girly :oops:

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Well with my job I'm on the road a lot and eat at least 6oz of jerky a day. It's healthy and way better than fast food. ...
Careful. Not to put a hitch in yer giddyup, but They (you know, Those People) say jerky has lotta cholesterol, and salt. Can make for health troubles. Probably if you have control of the seasoning it helps.

Just don't wanna lose our cruzmisl to something ugly. :)

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Well with my job I'm on the road a lot and eat at least 6oz of jerky a day. It's healthy and way better than fast food. ...
Careful. Not to put a hitch in yer giddyup, but They (you know, Those People) say jerky has lotta cholesterol, and salt. Can make for health troubles. Probably if you have control of the seasoning it helps.

Just don't wanna lose our cruzmisl to something ugly. :)

I've never heard that. My trainer actually suggested it but did say to be careful what kind I bought since most of the commercial brands have tons of salt and sugar. I also plan to use grass fed beef which has a totally different fat profile than corn fed beef. It's much much healthier albeit more expensive. I Usually buy my beef here,

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/

At least I'll have much more control this way.

What cuts are best for jerky?

Joe

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I got this quote from the website Cruz posted. Dang man, I noticed my purdy thang had put on 25-50 lbs or so, but wasn't aware that it was all muscle...cool.

"After consuming 3 pounds per day of US Wellness Meats, my lean muscle has increased 25 pounds, while body fat percentage has decreased and believe it or not LDL cholesterol dropped 50 points. I have never had any training regime change impact my performance as much as the switch to grass-fed beef by US Wellness Meats."

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