First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Wife is anxious to try our new Nesco food dehydrator. :23_30_104:
We have a pound of lean flank steak we want to cut into strips and make Jerky out of. We have a packet of spices and a cure packet that came with the Dehydrator and instructions but that's it. Anyone have any special tips or good marinade recipes we should follow? Also how long can we expect the Jerky to keep?
Thanks!

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showt...=260256&page=6
Check this thread out, around post #158 ish. We talked about it a little. Its not the end all be all, but its got some good information from a few members.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

I use ground beef or deer meat - it is easier on the teeth. Mix 50/50 soy and worchester sauce. Add onions, garlic, salt, and red pepper. Mix in a blender until a puree. Mix in with meat and make hamburger patties out of it. Place in dehydrator. This is about as simple as it gets and I eat um up!

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Are you planning to keep it a secret from your friends? If you keep it well hidden, it may last as long as a week. If your friends find out, I would give it 24 to 36 hours at most.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

We tried three different recipes for our venison jerky this year. This one was our favorite:

1/2 bottle Worcestershire sauce (non-MSG)
1/8 cup liquid smoke
1/8 cup water
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 small finely chopped onion

Marinade the meat overnight in the refrigerator. When you set it out on the dehydrator racks GENEROUSLY crack fresh black pepper over all of it and start dehydrating. Should be ready in about 14-18 hours. Enjoy!

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

IMO, flank steak is too expensive to use for jerky, as its like $4 or $5 a pound here. I use round steak or chuck steak, when on sale for under $2, and cut off any bones, gristle, and fat to freeze, and be roasted and put in the soup kettle next time I make beef broth.

Making jerky for snack eating will need a different recipe than jerky to cook with. My jerky turned out too salty to make chili with, even adding no salt at all to the chili, LOL, so next time I need to make the jerky less salty. I'm slowly grinding what I have into bullion. It works real well for that in place of store bought.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

If you like to try a simple dry 'rub' type of jerky, this is one of my favorite:

1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder (not salt)
2 tablespoons salt

Depending on how much meat you have you will need to make more--just keep the ratio the same.

Apply liberally to both sides of the meat before dehydrating--don't be afraid to add quite a bit of the seasoning. It takes a little more than you think to make it tasty enough. If you don't add enough it will taste bland.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

when you guys strip the meat.....what thickness do you cut it to?....any slick ways of doing that without a meat slicer?

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

1/4", and use a really sharp knife.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

We use a filet knife and get it paper thing (less than 1/8 inch). Cures much faster, but makes for crunchy rather than chewy jerky.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

If you freeze the meat it is easier to cut evenly and thin.

I like to sprinkle coriander on the marinated beef before dehydrating. You might try a adding a little allspice, or maybe some brown sugar.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

1/4" thick, we soak ours for 30 minutes in a brine/sugar sauce, then rinse, put on rack and add spices...garlic powder, chili mostly. Then place in smoker and using a very small fire smoke overnight. If necessary finish off in dehydrator. At first it is a bit bitter to taste, but if placed in sealed plastic bag for 2 weeks you are good to go.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

I plan to use our food saver to vacuum seal the jerky in individual serving size packets but I would like to get a 1 month shelf life so I can leave them in the pantry unrefrigerated, do I need to use a specific curing solution for this that contains sodium nitrite or other preservative? Thanks!

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Why waste your time with a pound unless you are experimenting. A pound of jerky is gonna last all of 30 minutes. Go out and shoot you a deer skin it and process all 100 lbs of the meat. Then you'll have all the jerky you want. Just make sure you like the recipe you use though.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Yes. Much easier to cut chilled or partialy thawed meat. YOu might not make jerky again if you try cutting "warm" meat.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Salt will help remove the moisture from the meat, it will also help prevent mold, up to a point. To store jerky unrefrigerated for a month you'll need to have it pretty dry. I have some that is 4 or 5 years old, sitting on a dresser. It is so dry that you could sharpen the end and stab someone to death with it. Course we mostly use deer so YMMV.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Make sure there is no fat on it to go rancid, salt/spice it, dry it completely, and it will last at least a year even just stored in a plastic baggie. After 2 yrs the texture/color seems to deteriorate, but it tastes fine. I have cure stuff, but it isn't used for jerky that I've ever seen.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

OK! Just finished the first batch. WOW. this stuff tastes goood.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

hook, line and sinker.

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

I did my first batch over the weekend. I used ground beef, and prepackaged mix plus worchester and some garlic powder. Put it in the dehydrator at bedtime, removed in ther morning. It was perfect! It almost lasted until late afternoon!

Re: First Time Making Beef Jerky - any tips?
 

Its amazing how fast it disapears isnt it?! :applause_