Jerky

[brewmonkey]

Does anyone have some tried and true jerky recipes that can be made at home with basic equipment, ie-I don't need to buy a RONCO dehydrating machine?

[Bill Harsey]

How big is your elk?

Anything from Hi-Mountain....(http://www.himtnjerky.com/)

This was the winner from our jerky-off at work:

1/8 cup find ground black pepper
1/8 cup course ground black pepper ( use pepper mill, can't beat it).
3-4 cloves fresh minced garlic or 1tbs garlic powder
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Dales steak seasoning (if you can get it or another 1/4 cup soy sauce)
1/4 cup Moores Marinade
1/4 cup A-1 Steak sauce (more if you like it)
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce to taste
1 cup water/3-5 lbs of beef (London Broil)

Mix marinade in a large bowl - adjust ingredients to your taste.
Marinade meat for minimum an hour.

To speed up the process we have found that cooking on the lowest heat possible works just as well. A group of us bought the hi-mountain jerky hanging device ($29 - also available at bass pro). Hang the meat and cook at about 200 degrees (just as good as dehydrated). You can usually get a batch done in a few hours instead of a day. Some small meat markets will cut it for you as well...ask around.

I wouldn't suggest my co-workers scheme. He decided to hang the meat over the oven rungs - about 11lbs of the stuff. The plan worked except for one small flaw which resulted in him getting banned from the kitchen. He didn't add a drip pan to catch the fat which overflowed into the bottom drawer, under the oven etc.........I was amazed he showed up at work with all limbs.

[Bill Harsey]

Guinness,
Good recipe.
Make sure to spell your contest title carefully.

[Peregrino]

Originally Posted by ghuinness

Anything from Hi-Mountain....(http://www.himtnjerky.com/)

This was the winner from our jerky-off at work:

I use Hi-Mountain too. I like the dry rubs because its not quite as messy and it dries quicker. I also use a vacuum sealer to store the prepped meat in the fridge for a couple days and give the cure time to be absorbed. It helps ensure a uniform distribution of the cure throughout the meat. With the cure on it you can leave it there "until you get around to it". When I was still on AD we used to trade recipies and samples at work. One of the guys liked to make really spicey jerky in the hopes that it would result in a more equitable distribution (everybody might have a chance to try some). The bag usually didn't survive the 2nd/3rd 7th Gp or 1st Gp guy to get his hands on it. Those were the days. Peregrino

[Huey14]

You know, I've never had jerky. It's not something that's popular down here so noone sells it.

I might have to wander down to the int food store where my mate used to buy Doc Pepper. Can anyone recommend any good brands?

[brewmonkey]

Originally Posted by Bill Harsey

How big is your elk?

It is going to be deer. A buddy of mine and his 2 sons all bagged deer in both states (we live a few hundred meters from the border) for both rifle and bow seasons and have more then they know what to do with.

Originally Posted by Huey14

You know, I've never had jerky. It's not something that's popular down here so noone sells it.

I might have to wander down to the int food store where my mate used to buy Doc Pepper. Can anyone recommend any good brands?

When I'm too lazy to make it myself I pick up this stuff.

Not widely available. I can only find it at small *butchers*.

[Bill Harsey]

Originally Posted by brewmonkey

It is going to be deer. A buddy of mine and his 2 sons all bagged deer in both states (we live a few hundred meters from the border) for both rifle and bow seasons and have more then they know what to do with.

That will work just fine too.

Huey14, does your Santa suit have pockets for jerky?
That would be a good energy food while running amuck late at night.

[Roguish Lawyer]

Originally Posted by ghuinness

This was the winner from our jerky-off at work:

Nice contest title, Beavis!

[BryanK]

I hope someone here can help!

After searching the internet high and low I get too many varying answers on drying times for deer jerky. I figure the experienced chefs of the forum could enlighten me! I've ruined (crispified) two batches (5 lbs) of deer meat so far in my quest for perfection. I've switched to a dehydrator instead of the oven this time, and was wondering how often the trays need to be rotated, and roughly how long it takes to cook. It’s a cheap dehydrator. No fan, and the heating element is on the bottom. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. The marinade is a “family secret” so I can’t divulge that information at this time without proper clearance

[CSB]

Quick and simple:

Buy a pound or two of the leanest (no fat at all) beef.

Either have the butcher shop slice it for you, or you slice it
yourself with a sharp knife, into slices about 1/10 inch thick.

Lay the thin flat strips on some foil or wax paper.

Sprinkle with Morton's "Nature's Seasoning,"
or
salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.

Pound the spices into the beef with a meat tenderizer (hammer looking thing with pointy faces). Flip the strips over, repeat.

Put one rack as high as possible in the oven. Take out all other racks. And yes, line the bottom with foil.

Take toothpicks, and one by one pierce each slice of beef, then hang the beef from the rack by the toothpick. Fill the rack back to front, until it is a mass of hanging strips of beef.

Turn on the oven to the lowest setting possible (I'm using an electric oven, so the lowest is about 225 degrees or so. I don't know how this would work with a gas oven).

Go to sleep.

When you wake up in the morning the rack will be filled with strips of beef jerky. Pull out the toothpicks. Store in a large clean dry jar, maybe with some rice grains in the bottom to help absorb moisture.

[Gypsy]

Thanks CSB, that sounds easy enough to do...passed along to my brother. Hell might try it myself!

[Nightfall]

Originally Posted by Nightfall

So I don't have a secret recipe, thus I'll share, works out damn good for me

This is per approx 1lb of meat, typically deer for me:

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup worchestershire
couple of tbls balsamic vinager
several large crushed garlic cloves
crushed red pepper to taste
tbls of onion powder
tbls of black pepper
tbls of oregano
tbls of basil
Shot of whiskey
If you have it, I do love putting in about a tbls of Old Bay Seasoning but I can't always find it so I sub Cavender's

Mix and marinate the meat overnight. At this point the meat is technically "cooked" and can be eaten due to all the salt and alcohol and acid. I don't really recommend it though

After that, I set my oven to 170(lowest mine will go) and give it a good 10-12 hours depending on how thick you sliced the meat. I tend to slice the meat after the marinade.

An interesting side note, if you ever watch Good Eats, you should check out his youtube on jerky. It seems to be a silly show, but in reality he is like Bill Nigh the Science guy of cooking and researches stuff down to the letter. On jerky, he says that cooking it is not specifically jerky and that it should be dried. So his solution was a box fan, a/c filters and bungie cords. I haven't tried it yet, but he hasn't failed me to date.

Real thin slices may only take a couple of hours, so keep an eye on it...

[BryanK]

Thanks for the reply. I had to make my last batch last night. Turned out okay, but it's still a bit moist after sitting in a dehydrator for upwards of 20 hours. I think I put too many pieces on the trays. Turned out nice though!