On Sat, 26 May 2007 05:04:45 -0600, Bob wrote:

> Anyone have a good recipe / procedure for beef jerky?
> Thanks
> Bob-tx

Here's my oven instructions. The same goes for smoking, pretty
much, except that you want the jerky strips to dry somewhat after
draining the marinade.

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Trim meat of all visible fat, gristle, and especially sinew.
Slice meat about 1/4th" thick, as evenly as possible, and with
the grain (not across the grain). With venison it may be hard to
tell which way the grain is running since it is very finely
grained. A good rule of thumb is that the grain runs parallel to
any sinew. Partially freezing meat helps make the meat easier to
slice thinner and more evenly.

Marinate the sliced meat for 2-8 hours (depending on strength of
marinade and thickness of meat) in any combination of the
following ingredients:

Water
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Sugar (not much, of any)
Tabasco
Black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes/seeds
Teriyaki sauce.
Smoked salt (available in the bulk spice section of Whole Foods)
Liquid smoke
Onion powder
Garlic Powder
Salt

Do not use any sort of oil/fats in the marinade.

Whichever ingredients you choose, make sure that it is somewhat
salty. Using soy or Worcestershire makes the meat salty enough
without adding additional salt. Most marinades will require the
addition of some amount of water to thin them down as the
ingredients used are usually pretty potent by themselves.

The marinade only needs to barely cover meat - no more than 1 cup
for 2lbs of meat. The meat should not be swimming in marinade.
Stir several times during the marinating. The time needed to
marinade will be dependent on the thickness of the meat and the
strength of the marinade. A good way to test your meat is to fry
a piece of it in a hot skillet to see what kind of flavor the end
product will have. Note that the meat will shrink 60-80%, so
flavors will concentrate in the end-product. If the meat is too
salty or pungent, you may rinse off the meat and let soak in
water for a few minutes. Experience will tell you when you have
a good marinade without having to test it.

Strain the marinade from the meat using a colander or wire mesh
strainer. Toss the meat with any extra coarse ground pepper or
red pepper flakes (if using) at this time.

Spread meat flat on wire racks over cookie sheets or cake pans or
anything that has low (or no) sides to promote air circulation.
The meat should not be overlapping and should not be touching
other pieces. You'll probably need several racks/pans to spread
out the meat. If you still want to add any extra pepper/red
pepper, shake it on now.

Place racks in a *low* oven. Some ovens may only down to 180-200
degrees. This is too hot. You want the temperature in the oven
to cycle between 130F and 140F. Anything over 155 or so will
cook the meat and leave you with crumbly, hard jerky.

Pans may be placed on both oven racks at the same time, but
switch the pans between oven racks every couple hours to help
them dry evenly. Turn each piece of meat over after 2-3 hours.
You usually only need to turn it once.

Some ovens have vents that vent to the stove top. I place an
electronic probe thermometer in this vent to monitor the oven
temperature. If this is not possible, then use an oven
thermometer inside the oven. You could even use a meat
thermometer placed on one of the racks since the oven temps will
not be very high.

The oven should also be vented on the front side. The 3-4" gap
where most oven doors rest is too wide. The oven will cycle
on/off too often if you leave the door in this position. I place
a wooden spoon in the oven opening and close the door on it. This
leaves a less than 1" gap to allow moisture to escape. If you
have a convection (fan) feature in your oven, use it. If you have
an electric oven that allows you turn on both top and bottom
elements at the same time (without reaching broiling
temperatures), use both elements.

Jerky will be dry enough in 6-18 hours, depending on thickness.
The meat will be noticeably smaller in 4-5 hours and will look
dry. It probably isn't dry yet, despite how it looks. Jerky
should still be pliable, but not crumbly when finished. Some
pieces of meat may finish sooner than others. You can remove
these and allow the remainder to dehydrate longer. It's better to
under-dry than to over-dry. Knowing when to remove it just takes
some experience. Note that the meat will continue to dry slightly
after taken out of the oven.

When you think it's done, let the racks sit on the counter for
30-60 minutes, then place the jerky into a zip-lock bag and put
them into the fridge overnight. This will help the remaining
moisture in the meat even out and come to the drier surface of
the meat. Jerky right out of the oven will be very dry on the
outside, and slightly moist on the inside. So let it rest in the
fridge to stabilize the moisture.

If your jerky is still too moist the next morning, keep it
refrigerated at all times and eat it quickly, or you can dry it
further in the oven. Storing any home made jerky in the fridge
isn't a bad idea. It warms up quickly when taken out of the
fridge. Large amounts can be frozen. How long your jerky will
last is dependent on many factors and beyond the scope and
liability of these instructions. If you've done it right, it
shouldn't last long anyway.

Good Luck.

Steve Wertz
November 16th, 2006