Homemade Beef Jerky

Homemade Beef Jerky

I started making my own venison jerky probably 10 years ago. It is a great way to use the meat that some people don't take full advantage of (aka the front shoulder of the scrawny South Carolina deer!). I bought my little, plastic, five-tier dehydrator from Amazon for less than $30 back in the day, and it still performs like a champ!

In addition to venison jerky, I’ve used my little dehydrator to make potpourri, dried fruit slices, and even once I attempted make salmon jerky (that was a mess *not recommended*).

However, this is the first I've used it to make beef jerky... which was comparatively very similar to deer jerky, yet a good deal easier.  The ease factor is due to being able to buy a pre-butchered London Broil and simply slicing it into a bunch of 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick strips  (opposed to  cutting strips of meat from the deer shoulder). I’m betting you could even ask the butcher at your store to slice it for you!  But it’s really not hard if you have a good, sharp knife – just take your time and don’t worry, each slice does not need to be perfect.

I put the meat into a gallon storage bag, where I then add my marinade.

Don’t go out and buy something off the shelf, make it yourself.  It’s easy and you can prepare it to your tastes without any carbs, just add seasonings.

A basic recipe is… 

½ soy sauce
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ Tbsp garlic powder
½ Tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cheyenne pepper

Mix up your marinade in a small bowl.  Then you can sample the flavor and make adjustments before you add it to the meat.  Also you can double or triple the proportions if you have a larger quantity of meat to cover.

 

I think the soy sauce provides enough salt without adding any extra.  If you want extra zing… you can always add hot sauce or creole seasoning.  I’ve even used pickled pepperoncini juice in my jerky marinade before.  It’s fun to experiment and see how it turns out!  Another addition I like is a few tablespoons of A-1 steak sauce.  Unfortunately, if you do this, you take your zero carb snack and add carbs.  But if you keep it to just a couple of tablespoons, it's really not too bad since you're spreading it out over the entire batch!

I let my jerky marinade in the refrigerator overnight.  I haven’t found it beneficial to wait any longer than 12 hours or so.  Then just put the strips in a single layer on the rack(s) of your dehydrator and plug in/turn on.  (If you don’t care to purchase a dehydrator to try this, you can use your oven on the lowest temperature setting.  You’ll lay the strips of meat directly on the wire racks and you may want to use a pan or foil on a rack below the meat to catch the drippings.  All in all, it makes a mess.  But if you’re willing to clean it up afterwards, go for it!)

It usually takes another 12 – 18 hours for the meat to dehydrate into jerky.  I’m sure it depends on how thick it’s cut and the specific dehydrator you have.  But it’s certainly not an instantaneous process!

Even though it takes some time overall, it’s not difficult to make your own homemade jerky.  And this is a super awesome snack for those of use needing to stay away from carbs!