Jerky Receipes...

Q

Quirt

Joined
Oct 10, 2005
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We're going out all next week for some Wild training and as our custom will jerk some beef primative style over a coal fed fire. We've tried a number of receipes from the most aboriginal methods to modern "out of the box".

I'd like to try something new that will blow this group away. Got any good receipes you might be wiling to share?
 
I've only made it from seasonings I bought at Gander Mountain and drying it in the oven. I've also made dried sausage from a family recipe, it's not quite jerky though.

Looking forward to some good recipes/methods though.
 
myu recepies are different everytime i make it

but last couple of times i used a red wine marinade, red wine and red meat go very well together

also tried red chinese rice wine, but that was just bitter and weird
 
Mine changes every time also, but it's basically:

Worcestershire Sauce, terriyaki sauce, soy sauce, liquid smoke, tobasco, garlic salt, onion powder, black pepper, lemon juice.

Mix it all up, marinade as long as you like, then lay it out; sprinkle salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, then dehydrate.

I like my jerkey thin, very dry, and salty, but if you don't like it that way, use thick cut, add less salt, and don't dry it as long. :D
 
Never tried liquid smoke...do I need the liquid smoke if I'm going to jerk it on a coal fire fed with green alder or maple wood? Or is this a "neccessary" ingrediant for additional flavor?
 
In cooking nothing is really "nessesary" unless it`s needed to cause a chemical reaction.

But I know what you mean. No, I wouldn`t think you`d need it if you`re going to be doing the meat over coals. The wood smoke and the smoke from any marinade or meat juices hitting the coals should give it plenty of flavor. Liquid smoke is a great product and I use it alot in BBQ sauces and some soups. But IT`S STRONG STUFF. If you `re using it for the first time add it to yours recipe a few drops at a time or 1/4 teaspoon at a time. You can always add more, but once it`s in you can`t take it out....and if you use too much literally all you`ll taste is the smoke.



Man I miss my grill.
 
I've always wanted to try and make my own beef jerker (i said that by accident around my friends and the term jerker stuck around ever since). I got a dehydrator at home so I'll give it a shot. If you guys don't have a dehydrator, on the food network, I saw john alton use a fan and it looked like it came out good. It was on TV so it has to be true.
 
I make it using an oven on the lowest temp with the door cracked open. Takes 4-6 hrs dependig on the thickness of the meat.
 
orrey45 said:
I make it using an oven on the lowest temp with the door cracked open. Takes 4-6 hrs dependig on the thickness of the meat.
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me too but I leave my door closed and put it on the setting for keeping food hot. Takes abot 5 hours. I usually just dump in whatever I can find in the pantry, usually soy sauce, hickory sauce, hotsauce, montreal steak seasoning and garlic salt.
 
I once had to subsist on that flavored jerky for a week (teriyaki IIRC: I grabbed the wrong bag on my way out the door); I'll never make that again. The best way (for me at least) to dry meat seems to be slice it and dry it, maybe dusting it with pepper to keep the flies away while drying. If you need any more spices than that, add them while cooking.

Best cut is anything big enough to trim all the fat from, then slice for drying.
 
Now jerkey is something I know about!!!
Been jerkin' for about 20 years now

Here is my "basic recipe"
(For every pound of meat):
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/4-1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (depending on how hot you like it)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt (or more if you like it salty)
1/2-1 "capful" of liquid smoke (hickory or mesquite)

The liquid smoke is KEY..IMHO
But watch out===>
If you get like one drop on your shirt it will smell like you have been hanging around the campfire for 12 hours

The meat I use is top round roast
I "temper" it for a few hours in the freezer to make slicing easier
I like my jerky kinda chewy, so I slice them kinda thick
If you make it chewy, make sure you keep the lid cracked or it will get moldy
The test to see if it's done is to take a piece and bend it in half
It should crack but not break
Make sure you rotate the racks and flip them periodically

My Mr. Coffee Dehydrator finally konked out after about 15 years
The fan was cool but it was noisy
I'm on to my dad's old RONCO model now
No fan...Whisper quiet
It makes my laugh that my dad bought something from Ron Popeil
He is my #1 idol after Cal Worthington!! :eek:
ron-popeil.jpg

BUT WAIT!!!
There's more!!!
If you act now Trent will give you his OTHER jerky recipe!!====>

I don't have the quantities for this one
You have to experiment a bit:
Dole Pineapple Juice
Kikkoman Teriyaki MARINADE (not the thick, GLAZE)
teriyakimarinade2.jpg

Black pepper (optional)

It's good
and it makes your house smell awesome!!! :thumbup:
 
I used to think making jerky was a black art, but a former boss explained it to me and I can't believe how easy it is to make. Time to time, my wife will buy some store bought brand, but EVERYONE says that mine is better. Not that MINE is BETTER, but homemade is BETTER.
This is what I do:
I love the brand High Mountain for jerky mix. You can buy it at Cabela's or Gander Mountain. I only buy the Cracked Pepper and Garlic mix and the Cajun mix.
The Cracked Pepper and Garlic mix is AWESOME!
With the Cajun mix I do something a bit different.
I soak the meat in Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce for 2 days and then add the Cajun mix.
The BBQ sauce gives it great flavor and the Cajun mix gives it just a bit of kick.

You certainly don't need to buy any mix as there are plenty of recipe's out there.
All I do to make it is: Put the strips of meat on a wire rack. I make mine about 3/16" thick. Put the racks stacked up into a oven on top of a drip pad (or your wife will hate you) and cook it at 1 hour at 200 degrees with a wooden spoon set in the top of the oven door to create an air gap.
Come's out perfect every time!
 
One question I've had in mind: do you guys cook the meat at any point, or just dry it?

I've made a lot, over the years, with different kinds of meat, with different recipes. I've had recipes that involved cooking it, and many more that didn't. I'm a bit leery of the ones that don't involve cooking it. (One, for instance, involves briefly dipping the meat into boiling, salted water--which has the advantage of cooking the meat, albeit slightly, introducing salt deeper than just a surface dusting will do, and also of boiling away some of whatever residual fat you didn't cut off with a knife.)

A couple bits of info on jerky, while we're at it. One common way of storing it used to be--I hear--to string it like people do chili peppers, so it's all hanging on a string. Did this years back, while I was in college, when I didn't have enough money to go home over a break, and didn't have access to a fridge. Just made a string of jerky and ate from that for the meat part of my diet for a few days.

Another thing: those who used to use jerky as a main way of keeping their meat would often not just eat the jerky plain, like we tend to do, but would first pound it (say, between rocks), turning into shreds, and then boil it. I'm told that this is the original source of the "machaca" or shredded beef that is a major ingredient of "Mexican" food here in the border states, especially Arizona.
 
The mountain men made PEMMICAN "bars"
The first "power bars" if you will====>;)

Traditionally pemmican was prepared from the lean meat of large game animals such as buffalo, elk or deer. The meat was cut in thin slices and dried over a slow fire, or in the hot sun until it was hard and brittle. Then it was pounded into very small pieces, almost powder-like in consistency, using stones. The pounded meat was mixed with melted fat with a ratio of approximately 50% pounded meat and 50% melted fat. In some cases, dried fruits such as saskatoon berries, cranberries, blueberries, or choke cherries were pounded into powder and then added to the meat/fat mixture. The resulting mixture was then packed into "green" rawhide pouches for storage.
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