Jerky: The Topic

[bunny]

anyone got any good recipes for some jerkey.

[tommy]

you can do almost anything with jerky, and that's what makes it fun. i used to do an asian influenced jerky, prolly with OJ, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, s/p. oh man, i gotta make some more jerky. maybe for the superbowl.

[LiquidBread]

I got this one off the internet and then tweaked it and added a little heat. It's stupid easy and it's gotten rave reviews from my friends.

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

2/3 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon of salt (I think I usually put in a little less)

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 tablespoon of Liquid Smoke

2 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce (I use Frank's RedHot)

I use the leanest London Broil I can find. The fat gets really chewy when it dries, the less the better.

[Dave the Cook]

LB, by 'London Broil' do you mean flank, round, brisket?

[elyse]

I live in NYC, and my smokehouse is on the blink. Is there any way I could make this in a conventional oven?

Elyse

[CathyL]

I like brisket, sliced with the grain, and a marinade of soy, brown sugar and molasses. I do it on the smoker - apple and sugar maple, usually.

[tommy]

I live in NYC, and my smokehouse is on the blink.  Is there any way I could make this in a conventional oven?

Elyse

well, yeah! that's the only method with which i have experience. i simply drape the meat over the grates (assuming they're clean), turn the oven on as low as it can go. leave the door cracked open a bit. and let it go for a while. a long while.

perhaps this isn't the recommended approach, but i've had decent results with it in the past.

edit: oh dear, if you're talking about the method that mark posted, i fear that don't have the time to read through that page, although i have to think that working with a marinade and throwing it in the oven would produce pleasant enough results.

Edited January 7, 2003 by tommy (log)

[awbrig]

is homemade beef jerky safe to leave out unrefrigerated?

[Dave the Cook]

I like brisket, sliced with the grain, and a marinade of soy, brown sugar and molasses.  I do it on the smoker - apple and sugar maple, usually.

I assume that you smoke it until it's, well, jerky, but at what temperature, Cathy?

Has anyone done salmon jerky? Do the same techniques apply?

[tommy]

is homemade beef jerky safe to leave out unrefrigerated?

i would doubt it. you should keep it sealed in plastic and refrigerated for any sort of long term storage. while i'm no food scientist, i wouldn't risk it.

[CathyL]

I assume that you smoke it until it's, well, jerky, but at what temperature, Cathy?

Has anyone done salmon jerky? Do the same techniques apply?

About 185-190º - it takes maybe 8 to 10 hours, until the strips are still a little chewy and

I've never tried making salmon jerky.

Tommy, it's fine refrigerated for a week or so. For longer storage it's good to use a curing agent like Tender Quick. I never do because it doesn't last long enough.

[Dana]

We made SEVERAL ziplocs of venison jerky in the dehydrator early this fall (Oct) and have stored it in the pantry, with no ill effects (yet, anyway). I think the key is to get as much of the moisture out as you can without it getting too crispy. The recipe I use doesn't use the tender quick. Maybe we all have iron stomachs????

[guajolote]

After you make your jerky try this recipe:

Machaca con Huevos (scrambled eggs with beef jerky)

[LiquidBread]

LB, by 'London Broil' do you mean flank, round, brisket?

I wasn't sure (I find the cut labeled "London Broil" in the store) so I looked it up. I found this from the ivillage/goodhousekeeping page:

"London broil was originally a recipe for a beef flank steak, which was marinated, broiled or grilled, and carved across the grain, into thin slices. Despite its name, the recipe is said to be American in origin. Today the term applies not only to flank steak but also to other boneless cuts of beef such as top sirloin, top round, and chuck shoulder steaks. These are also meant to be prepared in the same manner and served thinly sliced across the grain."

[LiquidBread]

Native Americans perserved meat by drying it so I think it's pretty safe unrefrigerated. I fold that if you put jerky in plastic in the fridge it forms condensation and you get moist jerky. I put mine into the fridge in a brown lunch bag to keep it dry.

[tommy]

i've got 2 types of meat in 3 types of rubs/marinades, preparing to be jerkied. report to follow.

oh isn't this exciting.

[Smarmotron]

Some background, I am a weightlifter. Weightlifters typically eat a *lot* of food, especially a lot of protein. Meat is a relatively cheap protein source, but it isn't an easy food for a quick bite or snack when out of the house (it's a lot of work to pack some chicken breasts for a day of sightseeing let me tell you). So, I wanted to try my hand at making some jerky or pemmican! Do you have any recipes? I'd prefer not to add too much salt.

thanks.

[dave88]

Jerky is really easy to make. I use London Broil and semi-freeze it to make slicing easy. You must remove all fat, though with London Broil there isnt much. Whatever cheap, lean beef is on sale I usually jerky, but I prefer London Broil. I imagine the 'jerkying' process is the wild card.

I slice it into 1/4" strips lengthwise or widthwise --I haven't noticed much difference in texture either way. Dump in a bowl or pan large enough to hold the strips, which are typically around 24oz.

I like hot 'n spicy jerky.

In the bowl goes:

10oz. Kikkoman (almost to cover)

1oz. tabasco

2oz. crystal hot sauce

2T crushed red pepper flakes

1T Ground black pepper

1T Lawrey's or McCormick's 'season salt'

1t McCormick's 'california' garlic salt

2t Liquid Smoke

Marinate for about 24hrs. stirring rarely.

Gas oven set at 'just off pilot light' heat. Probably about 200. I have tried higher heat and I got crisp jerky with a chewy center. I like chewy, consistently textured jerky, so I set the temp. lower and checked rather often which may have lowered oven temps. even more, and I finally got the texture I wanted by leaving the oven set to barely off pilot for 24hrs.

I lay the strips along the racks in the oven with a cookie sheet underneath to catch any drips.

Of course, those of you with smoking facilities leave out the liquid smoke and SEND ME SOME!!

This stuff goes great with aged cheddar and on road trips. Mine gets eaten in less time than it takes to make.

[stagis]

There's many jerky sites on the web. (I've never used the 'jerky shooter'. Anyone else? That's the hamburger equivalent of the cookie gun)

My jerky varies with how I feel and the contents of my fridge/spice cabinet, but in general:

Soy Sauce

liquid smoke

wee bit of oil

sugar or not

garlic powder

onion powder

hot pepper sauce

Worcestershire Sauce or not

I use a dehydrator. I'm honestly not too happy with this one. I don't remember the brand, but it's got both a heating element and a fan, and it dries stuff RIGHT NOW, and the edges get crumbly while the centers stay a little moist. I prefer the natural-convection/heating element kind. Meat type? What Dave said.

[gsquared]

The jerky I have seen suffers from being too thin. Down here we make a variant called "biltong" which resembles jerky about as much as foie gras resembles chicken livers.

Cut strips from a lean chunk of meat - more or less rectangular in shape, around 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches. Some local recipes call for a flatter shape - around 2 inches by 1 inch, but I prefer the rectangular - you will, of course not be able to produce strips that are the same shape along the entire length, but it does not matter if the ends are thinner. Layer in a container, sprinkling each layer liberally with a mixture of 10 part coarse sea salt, one part demerera sugar and as much white pepper as takes your fancy. Leave overnight. In the morning, prepare a mixture of lukewarm water and vinegar - around 1/2 bottle of vinegar to a 1/2 pail of water. Dunk the strips in the water, and strip off the excess moisture with your hand. This process serves two purposes - it removes excess surface salt and provides a bacteria-resistant outer layer. Insert an S-shaped hook in the end of the meat (a paper clip works fine) and hang in a cool, dry place. If the humidity is high, put a fan on the meat. Hang for 7 days, remove and freeze to stop the dehydration process. At around 7 days you should have a firm, black outside layer, and a soft, red inside. You should be able to cut off the bottom pieces to test at around 5 days. To use, simply defrost at room temperature- because of the low moisture content, no ice crystals are formed and defrosting should only take 1/2 hour. The result is something like this:

[Anna N]

The jerky I have seen suffers from being too thin. Down here we make a variant called "biltong" which resembles jerky about as much as foie gras resembles chicken livers.

It's been years since we've had biltong. We had South African friends who introduced us to it and we were sold! The friends have since moved and we've lost touch but we've never forgotten biltong and you are right - it towers over jerky in taste and texture!

Anna N

[chappie]

Good Eats the other night featured a recipe and technique for perfect jerky using a box fan and four "paper or cellulose — not fiberglass" air conditioning filters (the kind with the accordion ridges). Fill ridges with jerky, stack, bungee to fan and turn on medium for 8-12 hours.

I'm dying to try this and have already taken apart our crusty fan to clean away years of cat hair, dust and unidentified gray gunk. But after trips to two different home-supply stores, I cannot determine which filters if any are made of paper or cellulose. Nobody at the stores seem to know, and nothing on the label indicates the filter's composition.

Can anyone help with this? I've got my marinade ready and waiting...

[DTBarton]

Not to cut on Alton Brown, who I like, but jerky's easy to make in your oven. Just spread the marinated strips on foiled cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. Put the sheet in your oven set at the lowest temperature (100 - 125 F). Put a folded dish towel in the opening of the oven door to keep temperature down and air circulating. It doesn't have to be open much, just a half inch or so. After 8 - 10 hours, it's all set!

You might want to try the Brown mwthod for fun, but with the oven there are no fiberglass, cat hair, or gray gunk worries.

[Darcie B]

Heck, for the price of four A/C filters (which I assume you then have to throw away), you can buy a cheap dehydrator. Then you can make jerky forever! I have a cheapie Mr. Coffee () dehyrdator that works just fine and cost around $20.

The oven method will work but I have problems with my oven keeping low temps accurately (high temps too for that matter)

I really like AB but sometimes I think he has a McGyver complex...

edit for speeling...

Edited May 3, 2006 by Darcie B (log)

[scordelia]

Hey, I have a Ronco dehydrator that I got at a yard sale for $1. It works very well.