The trouble with jerky...

[katqanna]

I go through this every year with making jerky, it is just so damned good and convenient it disappears quickly. It was worse when I had a house full of teenagers that thought so as well; I would have to bag and hide it, caches all around the house, in vent ducts, tool closets, places I didnt think they would be apt to stumble upon it. They just viewed it like some primal easter egg hunt - gotta find the jerky! Like drug sniffing dogs that get rewarded when they find it.

But the sad truth is, it is not just the kids. If I am in the mood to snack and walk into the kitchen - jerky. If I am running out of the house for a meeting and havent made time for a proper breakfast - several pieces of jerky. If I have worked too long on the computer and my stomach is now yelling at me for a meal, while I am cooking - jerky to tide me over. It doesnt help that it is so damned addictive. Jerky just seems to be the answer for everything.

I need to cache it from myself now.

 

[RobertR]

You cache it and give the gps coordinates for geo caching and see who finds it first.

 

[hardwoods]

Looks very good! What do you marinate yours in?

 

[katqanna]

My base marinade is equal portions of Worcestershire and organic soy sauce, add a little salt, fresh ground pepper, organic dark brown sugar (or honey) and garlic granules (liquid smoke if I dont get it on the smoker and am using the dehydrator). Then when I put it on the trays or the smoker, I sprinkle a little salt on the pieces. Sometimes I add some ground cumin or ground star anise seed. When I smoke I use Texas mesquite chips.

We had a really bad snap here recently, temps in the negatives, so it was pointless to try and use the smoker, I had to use my Excaliber dehydrater.

I have made specialty batches for some friends, centered on their taste preferences (one guy liked it very hot so I added some cayenne and more black pepper).

It was funny, right after I posted, I caught myself eating more jerky before bagging up this batch that I photographed. Three pieces before I realized I was eating more damn jerky!

 

[MThuntr]

I bury a few bags in the freezer so I have to eat a bunch of stuff before I realize that I have jerky left. It gets me to eat some of the less desired chunks first.

 

[noharleyyet]

Tasty looking pile there Kat.

 

[RobG]

Yeah, that is why I don't make it or sausage anymore. Before you know it you have snacked yourself an equivalent of a two pound heavily salted roast. It helps if I make it spicier than hell.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Good looking jerky there I can see why it is so addicting.

 

[katqanna]

I was afraid of this. I just tried the confit I made, thanks to JR's post. It is very good, and being already processed, like the jerky, will not survive long.

There are some oil cured olives that I buy over at the co-op that will go perfectly with this confit and some smoked chevre. I may not be cooking for awhile between the confit and jerky - eat myself into protein oblivion. Good thing that doesnt put weight on.

 

[MT_elk]

Drooling!

 

[havgunwilltravel]

That looks excellent! I have been wanting to try making my own jerky for quite a while, i best get a dehydrator and give it a go.

One questions, when slicing up the meat, do you cut across the grain?

 

[devon deer]

That looks excellent! I have been wanting to try making my own jerky for quite a while, i best get a dehydrator and give it a go.

Me too, i don't have a dehydrator, can it be done without?
I do have a small hot smoker if that would work?
Does the meat need to be cured in salt first?

Thanks

Richard

 

[CILhunter]

I just made a bunch over the weekend, and my daughter and my nephew (and their friends) have already taken care of a bunch of it. I'll probably make some more this weekend (it's gun season and I'm tagged out), and I'll hide it in the closet where the cleaning supplies are kept. They'll never find it there.

 

[CILhunter]

Me too, i don't have a dehydrator, can it be done without?
I do have a small hot smoker if that would work?
Does the meat need to be cured in salt first?

Thanks

Richard

I don't have a dehydrator either. This sounds crazy, and a little redneck (not sure if they have those in the UK but it works:

I marinade for about 24 hours in: soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Siracha, onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar and crushed red pepper flakes. Obviously the first two sauces make up the bulk of it (maybe a cup or so), with the seasonings to taste. It might take a couple of tries to get it dialed in to your personal preference. Partially freeze the meat so that you can get uniform slices. Cut about 1/8 inch thick and put into a zip top bag, pour on the marinade, and mix well to get good marinade/meat contact. Put the bag into a container in the fridge for 24 hours.

Take out of the marinade and arrange in single layers on the racks of the smoker. Smoke at 200*F for about an hour with apple wood or hickory, depending on your preference.

Take off the smoker racks and arrange in single layers on furnace filters (trust me). Do not use the fiberglass ones - use the cheap cellulose. I don't like more than 3 filters (stack the filters on top of each other), then top with a filter with no meat on it. Bungee cord the filters to the top of a box fan so that the fan blows through the filters and put in the garage. I've found it easiest to prop the fan at a 45 degree angle so that you get good air flow, but the meat stays in a single layer on each filter. It might take 12 hours or so to get it good and dry.

You know it's done when the meat sort of cracks when bent double, but if it breaks, it is too dry.

 

[Rat Fink]

I smoke my meat for about 2-3 hours and then hang from the floor joists above my woodstove for 12-24 hours. It comes out perfect every time.

 

[katqanna]

One questions, when slicing up the meat, do you cut across the grain?

Before I ever got a dehydrator or smoker I did jerky in the oven on the lowest setting, having to keep the door cracked a wee bit, turning the oven off and on (pain in the ass). You need a temp of about 145° and air circulation. You are not cooking it. Then I tried it on our New Braunfels barrel grill, using my hibachi to get the coals going, placing a few in the grill, adding soaked wood chips like a smoker. After that I bought two things - a proper smoker grill ( I bought some expanded metal at a steel company and made an extra rack with welded legs so that I have 3 levels in my large barrel grill) and my 9 tray Excalibur Dehydrator, which I have had 30 years, only having to replace a heating coil and fan motor once each. They have a lot of styles now, but this is the exact model I bought back then for $200.00 and use it for a hell of a lot of garden produce, not just jerky.

I cut my meat across the grain so that it is not so stringy. I soak it in the marinade for 2 days (stirring it up in the bowl several times each day), which has a wee bit of salt in it. I dont put too much salt in the marinade as the soy is salty and too much salt makes it tougher. When I lay the meat on the trays or smoking racks, I dont pat it off first, then I will sprinkle some salt on it or grind more cracked pepper over the pieces.

Since I make my own dehydrated meals for camping and such, if I am using the meat for a soup or a stew, I will make smaller cubes and those do have to go through the dehydrator with the mesh trays or the stainless steel trays I bought from Excalibur, so it doesnt fall through the expanded metal on the grill. I will also dry these a little more than the snack jerky for storage.

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Before I ever got a dehydrator or smoker I did jerky in the oven on the lowest setting, having to keep the door cracked a wee bit, turning the oven off and on (pain in the ass). You need a temp of about 145° and air circulation. You are not cooking it. Then I tried it on our New Braunfels barrel grill, using my hibachi to get the coals going, placing a few in the grill, adding soaked wood chips like a smoker. After that I bought two things - a proper smoker grill ( I bought some expanded metal at a steel company and made an extra rack with welded legs so that I have 3 levels in my large barrel grill) and my 9 tray Excalibur Dehydrator, which I have had 30 years, only having to replace a heating coil and fan motor once each. They have a lot of styles now, but this is the exact model I bought back then for $200.00 and use it for a hell of a lot of garden produce, not just jerky.

I cut my meat across the grain so that it is not so stringy. I soak it in the marinade for 2 days (stirring it up in the bowl several times each day), which has a wee bit of salt in it. I dont put too much salt in the marinade as the soy is salty and too much salt makes it tougher. When I lay the meat on the trays or smoking racks, I dont pat it off first, then I will sprinkle some salt on it or grind more cracked pepper over the pieces.


Since I make my own dehydrated meals for camping and such, if I am using the meat for a soup or a stew, I will make smaller cubes and those do have to go through the dehydrator with the mesh trays or the stainless steel trays I bought from Excalibur, so it doesnt fall through the expanded metal on the grill. I will also dry these a little more than the snack jerky for storage.

Thanks for the detailed information, much appreciated. I have to start diversifying my home butchering of deer. I will purchase a dehydrator and let you know how it goes.

 

[katqanna]

I have used passive heat from a fireplace or woodstove using a hanging net dehydrator with my excalibur shelves, similar to this one. If you make a net one, make sure that you dont have anything that cant withstand some heat and make sure it is not directly over the stove with too much heat, you dont want to cook your stuff.

I have also made a window dehydrator before. There are lots of solar models and plenty of free plans available online. They are a wee bit harder to use with our 8 months of cold tundra here in Montana, which is why I utilized the wood stove heat in the cold months when I had it.

My excalibur still runs after 30 years so I still use it, but it has not been enough during garden harvest time so I have used the other methods as well.