Anybody make their own jerky?

I bought a cookie-cooling rack. Put your strips on the rack, cook at about 100F until meat is chewy, not crispy.

Choose your flavour to marinade the meat in.
 
Wouldn't an electric dehydrator be much more efficient/cheaper than running an oven?

I now know what my dad was always griping about when I was a kid....electricity bills are no laughing matter :eek:
 
Do you guys find the stackable dehydrators annoying? I'm kind of thinking rotating trays after a couple hours might get forgotten.

Also thinking I might need a vacuum sealer, any thoughts on that? I'd probably make a bunch of jerky up and store it / take it with me when needed.
 
Onagoth said:
Wouldn't an electric dehydrator be much more efficient/cheaper than running an oven?

I now know what my dad was always griping about when I was a kid....electricity bills are no laughing matter :eek:
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For sure it'd be cheaper to run, but in my case it's not like I'm cranking out pounds of jerky at a time, so I can't justify buying a dehydrator.:redface:

And you're in Ontario, so you get owned for electricity. It's still fairly cheap here.
 
I would also recommend a smoker, I have made way to much jerky this year.

Best batch I made was when I was running short on time so I bought a bulk pack of premade pepper jerky spice for 25 lbs. I added a 1l bottle of pepsi and some habanero spice, let sit in fridge for a couple days, smoke for 3 hours and finish in the oven.
 
I actually have a jar of jerky sitting here on my desk at work. Now I am munching on it......

Used a small stackable dehydrator ($30 at walmart) for yrs. and then bought a bigger Cabela's model. One of the nice features is a temperature control.

It is great to dry fruit and veggies when they are in season. Makes backpacking a lot easier. Plum tomatoes - seeded, quartered, sprinkled with oragano and dried are great as a change to jerky.

I have made jerky from ground meat (with a jerky gun) but prefer the whole muscle type. Some of the guys I hunt and fish with like the ground meat better....... go figure.

Lots of recipes on the web...... one hint is to freeze the meat (not frozen solid - but enough so it can be easily sliced) and use as lean a cut as you can get.

The sky is the limit ........
 
My dad used to make it on the garage roof, in the sun. Put the strips of meat between two framed window screens and let the heat and the sun do its work. I did some with fish, found it in a paper bag years later, and it was still good.
 
Well...I have an excalibur 2400 on its way to me. I figure that kit will probably do me just fine.

Also got a recipe, just gotta go out an get a few things. Probably be making some of my own by mid next week.
 
i actually buy round beef and slice it very thin..
all i put is corse salt and pepper on it and dry it 14 hours.
No preserves if you are going to eat'em all in few days..
I make few batches before my hunt trip and sure it is very tasty.. sometimes simple is better!
 
No one has mentioned hamburger jerky yet. Use any recipe you want. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with extra lean burger of your choice (commercial or wild game). Pack the meat into a loaf tray 1.5" to 2" deep and freeze until stiff but not frozen solid. Pop the meat out of the loaf tin and slice. A meat slicer works great if you have one. Pop your meat slices onto racks and into a smoker or dehydrator. Jerky purists tend to shun the hamburger method but it makes excellent jerky that has the ingredients mixed well throughout the meat with the added bonus of not ripping your teeth out when you eat it.:)
 
I'm too cheap to pay retail for a dehydrator.

If you have a thrift store of one sort or another (salvation army, st. vincent de paul. etc.) check them out for dehydrators in the kitchen ware sections.
Paid $4 each for the 3 I have. Each came with 4 trays as well as the liners for fruit leather, etc.
Only one of the three showed any signs of ever being used at all.

Keep an eye out for vacuum sealers too.

I found the commercial mixes far too salty. I use a tablespoon of Morton's TenderQuick for every 5 pounds of meat, then go from there with the flavoring. Lots and lots of recipes online, if you need ideas where to go as far as flavors and qty's, or you can just wing it. It won't take too long till you have a real god idea of what you will need for your tastes.

I usually cut and mix one night, stuff the mix into a ziplock bag and allow to sit in the fridge until the next, then dry it overnight.

Cheers
Trev
 
Goose jerky

Goose jerky.
Works well with other meat as well
Just made a batch yesterday.
• 2 pounds goose breast.
• 2 tspn ground ginger
• 1 tspn onion powder
• 1 tspn ground black pepper.
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed.
• 1/3 cup soy sauce.
• 4 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce.
• 2 tspn of hot souce.
• Optianl red chilli flakes and 1 tspn of cayan pepper for those that like it extra hot.
• Optional liquid smoke, a few drops, about ¼ tspn.
This is a very basic recipe; you can always add or subtract spices to your taste.

Clean meat; remove any fat silver skin and gristle.
Partially freeze the meat so its easer to slice thin.
Cut thin strips, about 1/8 inch against the grain.

Combine the meat with all the ingredients in a zip lock bag and mix well.

Set bag in the fridge and Let the flavours mingle overnight.
Next day take meat out of the bag and place on your dehydrator or smoker (whatever works for you).

Let it run until it dries the meat.
I put mine on in the morning and take it out in the afternoon.

If tasting the meat just as it comes out of the dehydrator it will taste crispy crunchy and a bit salty, let it cool down and the taste and texture will change a bit.
Let it cool and place in an air tight container, Enjoy

goosejerky.jpg
 
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Well, the first batch was good, but extremely salty.

Might of used to much soy sauce. Next batch I will probably try it without it. I'm not too worried about it spoiling as it obviously disappears way to fast.
 
canmapper said:
I actually have a jar of jerky sitting here on my desk at work. Now I am munching on it......

Used a small stackable dehydrator ($30 at walmart) for yrs. and then bought a bigger Cabela's model. One of the nice features is a temperature control.

It is great to dry fruit and veggies when they are in season. Makes backpacking a lot easier. Plum tomatoes - seeded, quartered, sprinkled with oragano and dried are great as a change to jerky.

I have made jerky from ground meat (with a jerky gun) but prefer the whole muscle type. Some of the guys I hunt and fish with like the ground meat better....... go figure.

Lots of recipes on the web...... one hint is to freeze the meat (not frozen solid - but enough so it can be easily sliced) and use as lean a cut as you can get.

The sky is the limit ........
Click to expand...

^^^^^
x2
love my new Cabelas dehydrator, did tomatoes in it last year for pizza....they are long gone, my kids make jerky dissapear
 
Wrong Way said:
Skip the dehydrator, buy yourself a smoker......I've done it both ways, and the Bradley Smoker jerky is soooooo much better.

Buy lean/long roasts, make a jerky board to easily slice 1/4" thick slabs, cure as per directions (I use High Mountain jerky cure and the garlic and black pepper spices), hang in the smoker over oak (my fave), hickory or cherry, smoke for 3-4 hours with vents wide open/no water in the catch bowl, leave smoker element on and vents open for another 6-10 hours until done. Put in a ziploc and right into the fridge (the condensation enhances the smoke flavour), open bag after an hour and enjoy (leave bag open all the time after the initial hour)
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x100%
 
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