Homemade Beef Jerky

Here is the general recipe I use, a lot of people think it has a similar taste to wild bills:

- 10 - 12lbs of meat (Trim all fat off the outside and use the leanest meat you can get, like a round roast cut with the grain) (You can cross cut, but it will crumble when it's done. Some people like that though.)

- 15oz Worshester Sauce

- 15oz Soy Sauce

- 5oz Terriyaki

- 4oz Liquid Smoke

- 3 table spoons Onion Powder

- 3 table spoons Garlic Powder

- 3 table spoons Brown Sugar

- 3 table spoons Black Pepper

- 3 table spoons Morton's Tender Quick Cure Salt ***(No substitutes here, it has Nitrites and Nitrates in it to help preserve meat)

- 4 - 5 cups of water (Enough to cover the meat completely in a roaster) (You can experiment with the amount of meat and water to make the brine stronger or lighter) (Note the smell of the brine when the meat is all mixed up in it, you can almost use that to tell if it's to strong or to light after you make it a couple times) (If it has a real weak smell after it's all mixed up, then it's probably diluted to much)


Here are some old instructions I wrote up before for a guy at work:

Instructions

Marinate sliced meat in a roaster in fridge for 2 full days before drying. Stir meat and marinade around at least a couple times a day. Ideally the drying process should begin after two full days of marinating and be completed within a day or so, so that the first batch going into the dehydrator was marinated for 2 full days (at least 1 1/2 days), but the last batch being dried hasn't been in for more than 3 full days. (Something wide and flat like a roaster will work much better than something tall like a stock pot for marinating) (A bigger 5 gallon food grade bucket or large thick bag might also work good)

Dehydrate about 2/3's or 3/4's of the way. Trays should be rotated and jerky flipped part way through to promote even drying. Time will be dependent on thickness and temperature of dehydrator. I'll usually take the thinner pieces out first and consolidate the thicker pieces into fewer trays and leave them in a bit longer.

Dry in oven on a pizza pan for last 1/3 or 1/4 of the way. Crack oven door open an inch or two with a kitchen towel and keep heat on low somewhere around 200 (180 - 220). Jerky should be flipped half way through, and trays rotated between bottom and top oven racks. You should see small amounts of liquid on the pan when flipping the jerky. If there's no liquid coming out in the oven, then your dehydrating it to long. I usually know when it's done by how pliable it is, it should break when you bend it enough. (This comes down to personal preference; I usually like mine extra dry so it breaks easily, my dad likes it a little more pliable)

Put in canister and leave lid off or partially cracked over night. The next morning it should be set up perfect. It will last a long time counter top without refrigeration in a canister or vacuum sealed like this. (At least several months) Anything your keeping for more than a few months could be kept in the freezer, it really doesn't even freeze because there's no moisture in it though.

 

10-12 pounds of meat! You're killin it!

 

Time will vary depending on how many racks you are doing, how thick the slices are ambient temperatures. Probably 6 to 8 hours.

 

I cooked my Jerky last night and it turned out awesome! I'm very happy with it since it's my first time making it.

My only concern is the Jerky is a tad on the chewy/tough side, but the outside of the Jerky seems cooked just right. I had the Jerky cooking at 160 degrees for roughly 6 hours (11:30 pm- 5:30 am, and rotated trays around 3:30 am). Do I need to cook it a little bit longer for the inside to cook? I feel like the pre-cooked meat thickness was right, roughly about 1/4".

 

you need to define "chewy" a little bit more. Jerky is supposed to be somewhat tough and chewy. Cook it too long it will be bacon.

 

SUB'D. I love TW....there's info on everything! Glad this thread is already here. My dehydrator should be in tomorrow!

 

Sorry I forgot to reply in this thread. I made another batch and it didn't come out chewy/tough... I cooked it about about 5 hours at 160 degrees instead of 6 hours last time.

 

What kind did you buy? You might need to buy a few extra trays. 8 trays won't quite hold 4 pounds of meat (unless you're a ninja and can arrange your meat perfect).

Check out the youtube video in Post 14, it's an awesome recipe

 

It's a cheap Ronco one. I figured it would be fine to get me started, it only has 5 trays. I'm guessing about 2 pounds?

 

Mine was pretty cheap too ($55 on Amazon) but it gets the job done.

Yeah sounds about right... Mine usually shrinks about half, so your 2 pounds of meat should get you about 1 pound of jerky

 

It's usually chewy like leather when done 100% in a dehydrator. Do the dehydrator/oven method like I described, where you finish it off on trays in the oven with the door cracked open, and you'll get the texture perfect. It should break when you bend it in half all the way.

 

I've been meaning to get my hands on a dehydrator. Jerky is my favorite. lol I'v thought about doing it 100% in the oven, but i'm not too keen on leaving the oven running for such a long time. lol just doesn't sound like a good idea in my opinion.

 

Since I started this thread I've made A LOT of jerky and I love my dehydrator. I have so many people at work buying it that I've had to buy additional trays so I can make more jerky at one time (I currently have 12 trays which will hold roughly 8 lbs of pre-dehydrated meat).

It's been fun and the jerky tastes SO MUCH better than anything you could buy at a store.

 

Which one did you buy? I'm thinking about getting one, just got a bunch of Venison (friends dad bagged a nice one) to make some jerky with and have been looking at dehydrators and recipes.

 

I have never bought any store bought jerky that is any good. There is a jerky store beside the bass pro shop that I may stop in sometime and see what they have to offer.

 

Got a Nesco dehydrator for christmas. Have two pounds of muscle meat marinating and will be throwing it in the dehydrator before I go to bed tonight. I've been seeing that most people let it sit for 6-8 hours at 160 degrees (as high as my dehydrator goes). I usually only sleep for about 6.5 hours, so I was going to check as soon as I wake up and decide if it needs to sit any longer.

Hopefully it turns out alright! I used a marinade recipe that a family friend gave me.

 

how did it turn out?

 

Also curious how it turned out....

In the future I'd suggest rotating the trays every few hours

 

Turned out really well actually. Good flavor.. I thought about rotating trays when I was bagging it this morning though and will definitely try that next time. I think it could also use about an hour or so less. 8 hours made the bottom two trays pretty dry (not crunchy or hard to chew, but sort of like charred steak dry) and the top tray had some moistness to it that I had to pat dry with a paper towel.

Overall a good learning experience and tuned out way better than I expected.

 

Sounds like it worked! ! ! The Jerky will only get better from here as you figure out the marinating and drying process a bit more.