BajaNomad

homemade jerky

vandenberg - 4-10-2009 at 12:35 PM

Mexican beef lends itself very well for making jerky.
Up north I always used round, but here I just look for large chunks at our local farmers market. Slicing it to the right thickness is important. 1/8" is too thin 1/4" is too thick. Needs to be fairly uniform for proper marination.
For marinate:
Cup of soysauce
5 dashes worchestersauce
Several crushed and chopped garlic gloves
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons of liquid smoke

In pirex bowls,
Put some of the liquid in the bottom,
put down a layer of meat,
salt(seasalt if you have it), onion salt, garlic powder. lots of coarse ground black pepper,
Spoon some liquid over it and make sure the whole mess is wet.
Repeat those steps till all the meat is marinating.
Pour any leftover marinate over the meat.
Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
I have a large food dehydrator which I use for the drying process. I usually dry it for close to 24 hours, but it depends on what consistency you like the end product to be in.
And also, the more moisture left in the end product the more it is susceptible to spoilage and thus has to be refrigerated.

If you like it a little more picante, sometimes I sprinkle crushed hot peppers on the meat during the marinating process. Also chipotle.

[Edited on 4-11-2009 by vandenberg]

castaway$ - 4-10-2009 at 06:10 PM

That sounds like a good recipe I think I'll try it on some elk!

Udo - 4-10-2009 at 06:32 PM

Great recipe, Vandenberg!

Two things I do differently:
For meat I use regular flap meat and pound it thin, then cut it into strips. But any well marbled meat will work just as good. If one freezes the meat somewhat, it slices much easier, and then you can cut it into any shape you want. For drying the meat, the food dehydrator sort of cooks the meat dry, therefore I use a 20" square fan and place the meat on some stacked furnace filters. The filters are the ones that are white in color, wavy in shape, and about 20" square in size, they sell for about 89cents at Home Depot. Place the wet and marinated meat on the low side (meat on one side only) of the filter. Stack several filters on top of each other and then bunji the filters to the fan. Start the fan on slow speed and blow the air through the filters. In about 18-36 hours (depending on how thick the meat is) you should have some perfectly dried jerky.
Try it!

fixtrauma - 4-10-2009 at 08:45 PM

This recipe sounds great. I will try it when we get home.

The Gull - 4-11-2009 at 05:01 AM

Vandenberg,

Make a standard teriyaki marinade as try that as an alternative.

or

Leave out the brown sugar and vinegar and put in two tablespoons of liquid smoke.

It is London Broil for me. I do agree with Udo on the flap meat. It either ends up as Carne Asada or jerky when I get it at the local butcher. Start with 10 lbs and yield 3-4 lbs of jerky?

Cypress - 4-11-2009 at 06:10 AM

Aldo's Spices markets a jerky cure mix, one bag will cure 20 lbs. of meat.:bounce:

vandenberg - 4-11-2009 at 08:08 AM

My better half just reminded me that I forgot the 2 tablespoons of liquid smoke that goes in the marinate.
Senior moment.:?:

Phil S - 4-11-2009 at 09:16 AM

Edddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!! You've been holding out on Wendy & I after all those visits & meals at your home/ Hummmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!
I think you have just disclosed your "best kept secret" of your private stock!!!! snack!!!! I'm no expert. But I've tried most all the Brand named stuff, and I've narrowed it down to Oberto Jerky. Company in Seattled area I believe. ANDDDDDDDdddddddd. The owner I think now retired built a home years ago at Chivato. I met him years ago at the Loreto airport. Neat guy. One of those kind of folks that you wish was you 'next door neighbor' to add to the already great neighbors you already have. So Ed.
Come November when we 'drop by', do you think you'll have any 'samples' around, so I can compare????? Knowing Barbara's great culinary skills, do I presume that she's the chef with those jerkys.???????