My First attempt at Jerky

[Brooksy]

Finally worked up the courage to smoke some Jerky.

I saw a tray of "Heartsmart Stirfry Beef Strips" in the supermarket & thought it a good idea to use them instead of cutting my own strips. It was relatively cheap & was topside ends finely cut in strips about 2mm thick.

I brined the beef overnight in a simple brine.
1/4 cup pure salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tspn paprika
1 tspn smoked paprika
1/2 tspn cayenne
4 cups water.

The beef strips were then padded dry with kitchen paper, layed in racks & placed at one end of our hooded BBQ.

Wood used was Pecan (type of Hickory) and was placed over burner at other end. Hood temp was kept below 200C, although temp surrounding meat was much less (being much lower situated).

Smoking time was about 4 hours, rotating meat every hour, wood used was about 3 kgs.

Jerky ended up extremely tender and "Bewdiful", ideal for serving with drinks & guests wouldn't need to chew on it for ages.

Next time I will cut the meat into decent strips, 5mm thick.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

 

[SierraCook]

Brooksy,

I don't know much about making jerky, but it sounds good. Keep up the trying different things that is how you will figure out what works for you.

SC

 

[luvs]

i tried a marinade made primarily w/ worcestershire and it was delish.

 

[thumpershere2]

somwhere way back, several months ago there was alot of info on Jerky. I'm ashamed to say I forgot who furnished all the info but I do remember it was great. Hope it can be found again.

 

[Brooksy]

i tried a marinade made primarily w/ worcestershire and it was delish.

Worsty Sauce . One of heaven's gifts' to Humanity. I love Worsty (pronounced Woosty). How did you smoke your's Luvs? Just on the old hood or in a box?

I am looking for some materials at the moment & intend to make a lightweight smoke box to do it properly. This attempt was to see if the brine worked ok, & I could keep the temp down to a reasonable level and still produce a reasonable amount of smoke.

Trouble is though, I started with 2 pounds of meat and the end result only lasted about a day.
Next time I won't tell a soul.

Give it a go Sierra it really does work and it is beautiful. We have Raine, our resident expert to help out, but if everything is done correctly, it works and tastes great.

Trust me.........

Thumper - I'm sure I got the brine recipe from here, but all we need to do is ask & many of our readers will assist anyway. I don't know where to look on this site since the 'shake up' but there is plenty of info web wide...

DW will be on the look out for some good round or topside for me to slice.
I'll do a couple of kilo next time.

Needed much more chilli though. I won't make that mistake again.

 

[luvs]

i just did mine in the oven, brooks! i put it on baking sheets and set the oven at 200 w/ the door propped open and it dried out beautifully, till my Mom decided to cook dinner and turned the oven on again. (i was storing the finished jerky in there to keep it from the kitties until i found proper bags/jars to store it in). but we all LOVED the pieces we had before Mom accidentally botched the rest of the batch, lol. my brother, who is rather honest about what he thinks of my cooking, said it was the most delicious jerky he's tasted in his life. Mom apologized profusely.

 

[Brooksy]

It's a bit of a worry if your brother give you a compliment.

Can you remember what else was in your marinade with the Worsty?

 

[luvs]

it was the fever, brooksy. it was something like 104. after he took some aceteminophen he was cured of the kindness, lol.

 

[luvs]

you inspired me, brooks. i bought 2 pkgs. of thinly-sliced sirloin (yeah, yeah, i use sirloin, OKAY, lol ) and 2 bottles of worcestershire so i can make some jerky. can't wait till it's done!

 

[Brooksy]

you inspired me, brooks. i bought 2 pkgs. of thinly-sliced sirloin (yeah, yeah, i use sirloin, OKAY, lol ) and 2 bottles of worcestershire so i can make some jerky. can't wait till it's done!

Good on you mate

I did another batch using a different marinade - with more chilli turned out really good. I used round steak & thicker. DW didn't like the texture much - being more chewy, but I reckon it was great.

Sirloin & pure Worsty wow, that's really extravagant. DW would have my guts if I even thought of using Worsty like that. She even got upset when I used a tablespoon.

Did you know the Royal Butcher's name is Sir Loin of Steak?

Haven't been on over the past couple of days. Sorry for not responding earlier..............

 

[IcyMist]

Okay you guys are making me hungry for some jerky. I have difficulty finding any that I like because I don't like peppery or sweet jerky. Does the worcestershire make it sweet? When I say I don't care for sweet jerky, I mean even a little sweet turns me off.


Also is it really easy to make the jerky and store it? I have a seal-a-meal, so could always freeze it but if I don't need to freeze it even better.

 

[jkath]

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/search.php?searchid=27197

Here's a link for the "jerky" talk we've had recently
My neighbor makes a really good hot teriyaki jerky, but I've yet to make any.
I like ones that are a bit sweet, but with some heat as well.

Every single time I go to Vegas, I stop here for my jerky:
http://alienfreshjerky.com/

 

[Brooksy]

Okay you guys are making me hungry for some jerky. I have difficulty finding any that I like because I don't like peppery or sweet jerky. Does the worcestershire make it sweet? When I say I don't care for sweet jerky, I mean even a little sweet turns me off.


Also is it really easy to make the jerky and store it? I have a seal-a-meal, so could always freeze it but if I don't need to freeze it even better.

My apologies for not getting back to you earlier IcyMist but health issues prevented it.

Here is a good basic marinade for jerky I got from somewhere on the net and it works really great:

Beef Jerky.

750g flank steak (or any very meaty steak like rump, with no gristle or marbles fat through it.)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons "liquid smoke"
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/3 teaspoon garlic powder

Slice beef across the grain into 5mm thick slices. Place in a shallow dish. In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients. Pour over beef, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Pre-heat oven to low (about 85C)
Lay beef strips on a rack set over a baking pan lined with aluminium foil.
Place in oven.
Prop open oven door with a pencil.
Bake until meat is dry and chewy. (Approx 5-8 hours depending on humidity)

I usually turn the meat over at least twice, it helps speed up teh process.

Store in airtight container but chances are you will eat the lot in one day. It makes GREAT hiking and camping food.

You don't need the liquid smoke and you can vary the amounts as you please.

Add chilli powder and cayenne for heat, and less pepper if you so desire, but it does work well. Try paprika (or smoked paprika) instead of ground pepper if you're not a pepper fan.

I do mine on our hooded barby, bit wasteful on gas but with one burner on low, not too bad.

Give it a go, you will enjoy the experimentation.

Trust me............

 

[Brooksy]

Silly me.

According to all I've read, if your jerky is properly dehydrated, then freezing isn't necessary but keep in an air tight container in the fridge just to be on the safe side.

Here's another gleaned recipe that works really well:



JERKEY MARINADE FOR 7-8# OF SLICED MEAT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon tenderquick
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon chili Powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1-2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
4 tablespoon Colgin's NATURAL LIQUID SMOKE
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup Molasses
1/2 cup Colgin's Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup Teriyaki or Soy sauce

Instructions:
Slice "partly frozen" meat 1/8"-1/4" thick. Mix all the ingredients, dip the meat in it and lay in a glass or plastic dish. Cover meat with remaining marinade; OR put meat & marinade in a Zip-Loc Freezer Bag, & put in a container. Marinate in the refrigerator overnite or longer, turning to make sure all the meat Stays "wet". Dry until it bends a little before it breaks. This will fill 6 trays in a dehydrater.

I used Soy sauce and lake salt, Kosher salt isn't available here in my town. And you don't need to use the liquid smoke. Don't worry about the molasses either, although use on your second batch to taste the difference.

 

[luvs]

Okay you guys are making me hungry for some jerky. I have difficulty finding any that I like because I don't like peppery or sweet jerky. Does the worcestershire make it sweet? When I say I don't care for sweet jerky, I mean even a little sweet turns me off.


Also is it really easy to make the jerky and store it? I have a seal-a-meal, so could always freeze it but if I don't need to freeze it even better.

the worcestershire doesn't make it sweet, it just gives it a really good flavor. you can use that or soy sauce and/ or teriyaki, or combine them all. i combine them. if you like really salty jerky, i recommend adding plenty of soy.
and yes, jerky's really easy to make. it takes awhile, since you have to marinate it for so long and then dry it out, but it's really easy. storage is just as simple. i just use a freezer bag and store it on the counter.

 

[abjcooking]

This is the maridade that I use every time I make my beef jerkey. Everyone likes it so much they won't let me try other ones I usually use brisket and top round.

5 Lbs. Minimum (One piece preferred) Fresh Brisket (Lean) - Any brand
*You may substitute the beef brisket with your choice of meat*
15 - 20 oz. Soy Sauce - Any brand
15 oz. Worcestershire Sauce - Lea & Perrins - Preferred
15 - 20 oz. Teriyaki sauce - Any brand
2 - 4 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar - Any brand
2 - 4 tablespoons Garlic Powder - Any brand
2 - 4 tablespoons Onion Powder - Any brand
2 - 4 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper - Any brand
5 oz. bottle Liquid Smoke - Any brand any type
2 - 4 oz. Dark Corn Syrup - Any brand