Thread: Made my first Jerky today!!!

yeah, i make my own jerky. i use a jerky gun from cabela's (meat+guns, where else would you buy it?) and a dehydrator as well. for the cure, i use whatever the chemical jerky cure is, can't remember off the top of my head, potassium-something i think, i'll look it up.

as for spices, i have tried damn near everything. below are a few combinations that have worked for me. i use the leanest ground beef i can find, usually 97/3 if i can get it.

a. blackening seasoning
b. jalapeno + limes + garlic (sounds awful, but is good)
c. italian seasoning + garlic + allspice
d. salt + cayenne pepper + black pepper + dehydrated jalapenos (this one will kick your ass!)
e. kc masterpiece bbq sauce + tabasco (have to leave this in the dehydrator longer to keep it from being too soft)
f. kikkoman spicy miso teriyaki sauce + sesame seeds (my favorite)

Originally Posted by jockeys

b. jalapeno + limes + garlic (sounds awful, but is good)
...
d. salt + cayenne pepper + black pepper + dehydrated jalapenos (this one will kick your ass!)

Those are now on my list! The lime one doesn't sound awful, it sounds great!

Originally Posted by jockeys

i use a jerky gun from cabela's

I can't remember if I got my jerky gun from Cabela's or Gander Mtn. Loved Cabela's.. wish we had outdoor stores like that here! 12 million fishing rods, 2.5 million guns and rifles, 18 000 different GPS:s... Well, I exaggerate a little, but almost

Originally Posted by kasperitis

But above all else, promise me, PROMISE me, you'll never ever ever use chicken again. Steak, ground beef (shudder), venison, goose, duck....anything but chicken.

There's nothing wrong with chicken as long as it's thouroughly dried. Just like there's nothing wrong with well cooked chicken.

The only reason I used chicken in the first place is because it's a lot cheaper than lean beef and I didn't want to be out a whole lot of cash if the experiment didn't work.

Originally Posted by jockeys

yeah, i make my own jerky. i use a jerky gun from cabela's (meat+guns, where else would you buy it?) and a dehydrator as well. for the cure, i use whatever the chemical jerky cure is, can't remember off the top of my head, potassium-something i think, i'll look it up.

as for spices, i have tried damn near everything. below are a few combinations that have worked for me. i use the leanest ground beef i can find, usually 97/3 if i can get it.

a. blackening seasoning Don't know if they have that over here.
b. jalapeno + limes + garlic (sounds awful, but is good) That sounds interesting at least
c. italian seasoning + garlic + allspice That's a good idea! Don't know what Allspice is though.
d. salt + cayenne pepper + black pepper + dehydrated jalapenos (this one will kick your ass!) I bet it will. Sounds like a beast of a jerky.
e. kc masterpiece bbq sauce + tabasco (have to leave this in the dehydrator longer to keep it from being too soft) Sounds good. I was thinking about doing something BBQ next time as well.
f. kikkoman spicy miso teriyaki sauce + sesame seeds (my favorite)Hmm...I'll have to look around for some Teriyaki sauce but I'm sure I'll be able to find some.

Excellent suggestions. I'll have another go at it this weekend I think.

I made jerky a few times. It's really great. My recipe used onions but I think it is better without. I would like to build a smoker for it sometime. That would be good. My last experiment was to make it using a meat slcier for wafer thin strips which dried faster and was easier to bite!

My favorite recipe:

1 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of honey
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1/2 tsp of fresh lemon juice

I chill the meat in the freezer until it is starting to freeze. Then I slice it very thin. The thinner the better for this process.

When the meat is sliced I will place it in a small glass bowl with the sauce. I let it marinate for a few days. I then place the meat on a cookie rack which is on a cookie sheet. I place the cookie sheet on the middle rack of the oven. The oven is at 220°. I leave the door slightly open and let dry over night.

After cooling and if any of the jerky is left. I will store it in a Zip-lock bag in the refrigerator. I've used this recipe and method for better then 20 years.

I use beef, whatever is the cheapest that I find at the market and looks like it can be sliced thin enough for the purpose. Put meat in freezer until almost frozen and then take out and slice about 1/8" strips of it off.

I use a marinade of: worchister and soy sauce with fresh ground pepper mixed into it. Marinade over a night or two.

Take it out and brush a mixture of honey and ground pepper onto it. Just take a small bowl and fill with about a cup or so of honey and add the pepper and stir it up...it'll make a sort of paste. After that, I take a dinner plate and cover the bottom with coarse sea salt and and just sort of dredge the strips a little on each side.

Next, fire up the smoker! I have a bbq/smoker that has a tall smoke box on the side of the grill for indirect smoking/cooking. I load up the grill part with and bag of charcoal and then place in some oak. Inside of the smoker area I hang all of the meat by small hooks that I make out of metal wire. I fill up as much of the box as I can and then simply close off the dampeners and let it go. I usually start this around 4 or 5 in the evening...at around 8 or so I go back out and put in a few more chunks of oak and maybe a few of hickory and just make sure that it's all set and let the whole thing go over night. In the morning time...presto jerky!

-Pary

LX:

Make sure you use lean ground beef and cook it till really dry. I've used ground beef before and stopped to soon, greasy, greasy stuff.


Anyone who has a weber can use it as a smoker for smaller amounts of food, up to a whole chicken if you want to. You can get indirect heat and smoke by having the coals on one side and the meat on the other. This works best if you are smoke cooking over water though, and not just drying things.


Now I'm thinking about summer BBQ and next years deer already. It's only March darn it.

I did steak the other day. Turned out really well.

My next batch will probably be ground beef.

Being an avid hunter I have made Jerky way to many times and I have 4 words to say in this order Antelope, Elk, Moose, Venison....
In the event that these four meats are not available a really good jerky cut is a London Broil cut into 1/4 inch thick strips, after that I guess I could use Ground beef
There are thousands of Jerky recipes out there so look at the ingredients and decide which you like best and go for it....
I do however recommend an actual dehydrator over an oven....
Oh yes after you finish just PM me and I send you my address so I can sample your jerky recipe