Beef Jerky

[Reggie Dunlop]

I've been making Beef Jerky for years. Homemade can't be beat. Get the American Harvester Food dehydrator. Got mine at London Drugs of all places a few years ago. Added three trays to the basic four tray unit.

Reggie's Red Neck Crack

2.5 kilos flank steak (roughly two steaks). Partially frozen for easier slicing.

Flank works best because of the shape of the cut. Pretty much every piece you cut will be uniform, therefore all will dry at the same time). Round roasts have too much marbling, gristle and random grain patterns. Brisket is too much of a fuss (the fresh brisket I find in supermarkets comes in smaller pieces and needs a lot of trimming). Remember you're cutting this stuff when it's half-frozen, so the less time you spend with numb fingers all the better! Rouladen slices are good, but they come in small packages and you need about 10 or 12 of 'em to make the recipe. Too cumbersome and too expensive.

Trim as much fat as possible (this is really important). Slice about 1/4" thick against the grain into long, thin strips.

Basic Marinade

15-20 oz bottle Chinese Dark Soy (Not Kikoman's -- it picks up the yeasty flavour)
15 oz bottle Worcestershire Sauce
15-20 oz bottle Teriyaki Sauce (Thick is best - it gives the jerky a shiny appearance.)
4 tbsp Brown Sugar
4 tbsp Garlic Powder
4 tbsp Onion Powder
4 tbsp Cayenne powder
5 oz Liquid Smoke (Hickory is best)

Use the cheap stuff. Gives the jerky a richer flavour and darker appearance. Not only that, the cheap stuff usually has a higher sodium content which is better for preserving the meat. (Hey, nobody said this stuff is healthy!)

Marinate 12-24 hours in the fridge, stirred once in a while.

Variations

If you want a sweet flavour, add 1/4 cup honey, corn syrup or molasses (but be prepared to stir the mixture more often!).

If you want a spicy flavour, half the Worcestershire Sauce and add a equal amount of Franks Hot Sauce or Chinese Chili Sauce. Or add a few generous shakes of Tabasco to the Marinade.

If you want a peppery flavour, add a few tablespoons of ground white or black pepper to the basic marinade. Or break out the peppermill and grind a bunch of pepper over the meat after it's laid out on the dehydrator trays.

Once you've made jerky a few times, don't be afraid to experiment a bit. Have a quarter-bottle of HP Sauce sitting in the fridge for a while? BBQ Sauce? Basically, anything you'd put on a steak can be tossed into the marinade. Just make sure you don't skimp on the salt content of the marinade. Hey, maybe I'll try Montreal Steak Spice next!

Dehydrate overnight. Ten hours ought to do it. Depends on how much moisture (i.e. chewy you want the jerky). Store in sealed baggies in the refrigerator.

For about 40 bucks worth of ingredients, you've got yourself 9-10 cram-packed baggies' worth of jerky. And it's like crack, my friends. I've had otherwise honest and trust-worthy longtime friends wantonly raid my fridge to steal my beef jerky!

[Cowperson]

Judging from the religious-like ardour in this thread, I think I can automatically presume I'm the only male in southwestern Alberta who has never tried beef jerky.

Cowperson

[greyshep]

Originally posted by Cowperson@Oct 1 2005, 08:25 AM
Judging from the religious-like ardour in this thread, I think I can automatically presume I'm the only male in southwestern Alberta who has never tried beef jerky.

Cowperson

I cannot believe that you grew up in this province and have never tried beef jerky.

Are you a vegetarian?

Wow. You have got some homework to do.

Beef Jerky is the perfect driving companion. That and sunflower seeds.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally posted by Cowperson@Oct 1 2005, 08:25 AM
Judging from the religious-like ardour in this thread, I think I can automatically presume I'm the only male in southwestern Alberta who has never tried beef jerky.# # #

Cowperson

And you call yourself a Cowperson when you haven't sampled the most sacred of Bovine delicacies

It's like steak, but without moisture and fat so super-concentrated, portable, and full of flavor and energy. Don't have room to pack a lunch? Grab a few pieces of jerky, it's like having an entire steak in your pocket...but BETTER. Hungry or need to chew on something to focus? Have some jerky instead of gum. Flavour is arguably more long lasting. Imagine how fortunate you are to be having this delicious jerky instead of boiling shoe-leather to eat like poor Soviets in WWII.

(I don't know where the last part came from, but I love food history).

[tripin_billie]

If you use the liquid smoke, it will kill off almost all of the bacteria, so its good to use.

I also have one home made beef jerkey tip: Wait until Safeway puts its rosts on two for one. This drastically lowers the price of the finished product.

[flamesfanforver]

Mcsweeneys is without a doubt the best beefjerkey. A little on the pricy side though.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Sigh - you guys have convinced me. Paying the 6 bucks a bag for 100g of jerky has got me convinced it's time to give this dehydrator a try. Know of a good place to get one? Costco? As per the above suggestion, London Drugs has this:

http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/...10&CountIndex=5

Is $50 a good price? You're talking to a bachelor who has yet to take the Energuide tag off the oven as, well, there's been no need to yet! (toaster oven does just fine thanks...)


Reggie, how easy is it to wash the trays of the dehydator? Does the fan unit also need maintenance? Anyone using the Ronco one - is it easy to clean too?

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Oct 9 2005, 11:12 PM
Reggie, how easy is it to wash the trays of the dehydator? Does the fan unit also need maintenance?

A bit tricky. Takes a bit of work. Soak 'em in the sink right after using and prepared to take an old toothbrush to 'em. Soy does stain, however.

The fan unit is more or less like a hair dryer contraption. Hasn't given me a moment of maintenance.

I got the extra trays for mine. Worth it if you want to do up a whole buttload of jerky at once!

[Otto-matic]

Originally posted by Cowperson@Oct 1 2005, 08:25 AM
Judging from the religious-like ardour in this thread, I think I can automatically presume I'm the only male in southwestern Alberta who has never tried beef jerky.

Cowperson

Well I never tried beef jerky aswell.

After this topic I might give it a try.

[Weiser Wonder]

Everytime I eat beef jerky it makes me feel lousy, is that just bad beef jerky or is it me? Nuts and jerky do that to me on road trips, chips and a pop are the best road trip snack for me.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Originally posted by Weiser Wonder@Oct 10 2005, 02:32 AM
Everytime I eat beef jerky it makes me feel lousy, is that just bad beef jerky or is it me?

MSG perhaps? Commercial jerky is loaded with the stuff.

[KipperandIggy]

Beef Jerky is not my fav food but I like it Pizza is my fav food

[Looger]

beef jerkey might be the most expensive meat there is, it's consistently over $25 a pound.

that's why home-made is the best, plus it's less stringy and dry.

i like dry jerkey but there's a dry point that gets passed with typical storebought stuff.

barring some mom-and-pop butcher shops, my advice as a jerkey fan to a jerkey newbie is to get making it. cheapest meat, just takes longer to cook than making steaks, etc.

also game works well, moose jerkey!

[Clarkey]

Phone up Ron Popeil.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Fed up with the price of Jerky, I decided to try Reggie's receipie. I bought the American Harvest dehydrator (other models rely on convection alone, but this has a hair dryer core to it that speeds up the drying).

First of all, unless you get the 2 additional trays, you can only make about 1.8 kg. Forget about 2.5 unless you slice thickly.

I made a batch earlier using Reggie's exact instructions. I marinated for 24 hours which unfortuantely made for super salty jerky. More than 2 pieces sent you running for water. Still ate most of it.

This xmas break I had a bit more time and decided to try again. I substituted some Knorr hickory marinade for the teriyaki sauce which I thought made things too sweet & sticky for my liking. I also only marinated for 10 hours which seems to have taken the salt content down to acceptable levels. I'd still like to reduce it further.

I went to the local Safeway for meat which I know is not the cheapest source of meat. I looked for flank steak but it turns out that the rouladen pre-sliced meat was cheaper per kg than almost everyhting else, plus had the advantage of being presliced. I think it was $13/kg, and my latest batch had about 2 kg.

Being the accounting nerd I am, here's how I figure this cost works out to be:

Meat 33.74
Smoke 3.29
Soysauce 2.00
Marinade 3.13
Worchester 1.53
Spices 4.00

Total cost = 47.69 for about 2,000g of jerky. Or about $2.38 per 100g. Pretty good savings, since your mystery meat Oberto from Wal Mart is about $7/100g.

Thanks Reg,

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Fed up with the price of Jerky, I decided to try Reggie's receipie. I bought the American Harvest dehydrator (other models rely on convection alone, but this has a hair dryer core to it that speeds up the drying).

First of all, unless you get the 2 additional trays, you can only make about 1.8 kg. Forget about 2.5 unless you slice thickly.

I made a batch earlier using Reggie's exact instructions. I marinated for 24 hours which unfortuantely made for super salty jerky. More than 2 pieces sent you running for water. Still ate most of it.

This xmas break I had a bit more time and decided to try again. I substituted some Knorr hickory marinade for the teriyaki sauce which I thought made things too sweet & sticky for my liking. I also only marinated for 10 hours which seems to have taken the salt content down to acceptable levels. I'd still like to reduce it further.

I went to the local Safeway for meat which I know is not the cheapest source of meat. I looked for flank steak but it turns out that the rouladen pre-sliced meat was cheaper per kg than almost everyhting else, plus had the advantage of being presliced. I think it was $13/kg, and my latest batch had about 2 kg.

Being the accounting nerd I am, here's how I figure this cost works out to be:

Meat 33.74
Smoke 3.29
Soysauce 2.00
Marinade 3.13
Worchester 1.53
Spices 4.00

Total cost = 47.69 for about 2,000g of jerky. Or about $2.38 per 100g. Pretty good savings, since your mystery meat Oberto from Wal Mart is about $7/100g.

Thanks Reg,

Thanks for reviving my famous beef jerky thread. I really have to buy myself a dehydrator and do this one day. My dad works for Safeway and yes, it's probably the most expensive grocery store there is. You could probably reduce your cost if you bought beef at Costco or something.

[kobasew19]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Fed up with the price of Jerky, I decided to try Reggie's receipie. I bought the American Harvest dehydrator (other models rely on convection alone, but this has a hair dryer core to it that speeds up the drying).

First of all, unless you get the 2 additional trays, you can only make about 1.8 kg. Forget about 2.5 unless you slice thickly.

I made a batch earlier using Reggie's exact instructions. I marinated for 24 hours which unfortuantely made for super salty jerky. More than 2 pieces sent you running for water. Still ate most of it.

This xmas break I had a bit more time and decided to try again. I substituted some Knorr hickory marinade for the teriyaki sauce which I thought made things too sweet & sticky for my liking. I also only marinated for 10 hours which seems to have taken the salt content down to acceptable levels. I'd still like to reduce it further.

I went to the local Safeway for meat which I know is not the cheapest source of meat. I looked for flank steak but it turns out that the rouladen pre-sliced meat was cheaper per kg than almost everyhting else, plus had the advantage of being presliced. I think it was $13/kg, and my latest batch had about 2 kg.

Being the accounting nerd I am, here's how I figure this cost works out to be:

Meat 33.74
Smoke 3.29
Soysauce 2.00
Marinade 3.13
Worchester 1.53
Spices 4.00

Total cost = 47.69 for about 2,000g of jerky. Or about $2.38 per 100g. Pretty good savings, since your mystery meat Oberto from Wal Mart is about $7/100g.

Thanks Reg,

Where's the amortization expensive of the dehydrator?