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Jerky Anyone?

Hopefully hasnt been done before, a Jerky thread, all types but especially making your own.

Had a crack at this the other day, turned out great, will be doing again this weekend i think, but a whole lot more. Got eaten in one night by everyone.

Started out with about 1.5kgs of Topside, cut into 5mm thick strips. Marinated in a mixture of soy and worcesterchire.

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Then placed on wire trays and seasoned with a mixture of herbs,spices and habanero powder.

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All dried up, tasted awesome

What you think

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You didn't mention how you dried it out... looks like oven on low heat with the door cracked?

I've been making jerky for a few years now. I used to make it in the oven (couldn't justify buying a dehydrator when the oven did the exact same thing...), but I decided to try a new method after having seen it on Good Eats. The great part is, it involves no heat. All you need for the drying process is a box fan, some 25x25 HVAC filters, and bungee cords. Here's the video.

Now, the real discussion is: Who's got an awesomely spicy marinade recipe?

PS - if you're looking for awesome store-bought jerky, the best I can find is Uncle Mike's. I really like the Hot & Spicy flavor, and recently tried the Habanero, which I thought was pretty good, too.
 
ncbeerbrewer said:
Looks great!! I have never made jerky before, did they just air dry or did you use a dehydrator or something else
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BaronScarpia is right, low heat oven, door cracked and for several hours. Next time i will be trying it in the wood fired oven.

Made a heap, 5 different flavours, on the weekend will post tonight.

I use a base marianade of plain old soy sauce and worcestechire, then pat dry on paper towel and cover with desired flavours of herbs and spices
 
Awesome, Booma, I'm excited to see how it works out in the wood fired oven. I recently got a smoker, and have been pretty excited to get a batch in there. I'll be sure to put up pics when I do!
 
Ok over the weekend decided to have another crack at making some more jerky, bought a huge slabe of topside, cut it all up, marinated in soy and worcesterchire. Then layed out on 5 trays. Made a pepper steak, cajun, habanero, original/plain, and smokey bbq

Let the pictures do the rest

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Thanks for the heads up on the Uncle Mike's brand. The only one I have tried is Trader Joe's turkey jerky. It has a mild smoky taste and is quite chewy.
 
So far have only ever done it in the normal oven, hopefully once the weather clears up a bit, and my fire wood has dried, going to do it in the wood fired oven, but no, never tried smoking it before.

Another thing on the list to add to get. Got the webber, bbq, wood fired oven, Just need a big smoker too.....
 
OMG, you are so close to outdoor kitchen nirvana!
Actually it sounds like you're pretty much there, lol.

We just bought an el cheapo smoker, but decent. (MasterBuilt) that's why I was asking.
I really would like to keep this thread going for jerky noobs like mahseff!
 
Booma, did you cut your meat along or against the grain? Makes a difference to the chew factor.

Along = chewy and against = easier to chew. I like my jerky chewy. Kinda like meat flavoured chewing gum :D

And damn these threads inspiring me to cook stuff. I gotta stop coming in here when I'm hungry.
 
Yeh, once the sun is out, all my cooking is done outdoors.

Im a noob at this myself really, only made jerky 3 times, but gets better each time, just having a crack at it

I cut with the grain, so it sorts of breaks in chewy long strands, ill try it against next time for a comparison.
 
Man, I dunno Booma, I would be scared it would turn to sawdust like bits. I'm with DTS on that one.
Maybe a good idea would be to just do a few peices for comparrison, and see before you're stuck with something that hasn't been proven. It looks what you got goin is working! Just my 2¢ :)
 
Jerky is mostly cut along (with) the grain unless you're pretty old and can't chew anymore, but then again, if that was the case, you could always stick it in the processor and shred it to death after it was dried. That way you have jerky flavored dip/snuff. Just a little dab between yer cheek n gums will do ya.




Anyhow, you're doing a fine job exactly the way you're doing it now. Smoking it gets a little trickier cause meat can absorb the smoke like a sponge and sometimes it comes out being too smokey.
 
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