This
fantastic beef jerky recipe and photos was shared with me by my
sister-in-law, Shirley Roth. She especially made this batch for my husband,
Don, as he loves her beef jerky and begs for it!
Check out all of Linda's
Beef Recipes
using
various cuts of beef.
Beef Jerky -
Homemade Beef Jerky Recipe
Recipe Type:
Beef,
Dried Beef, Jerky
Yields:
makes many servings
Prep time: 30 min
Drying time: 8 hr
Ingredients:
4 pounds
whole very lean top round roast or London Broil roast*
Marinade (see recipe below)
* It is very important that you
use lean meat when making jerky, as fat goes rancid in a hurry. Marbling and fat
are bad when making jerky.
Preparation:
Place wrapped meat in to freezer approximately 1 to 2
hours to partially freeze the surface of the beef to the make it easier to slice
evenly.
Prepare Marinade; set aside until ready to use.
Once the beef is partially frozen, remove from
the freezer, and unwrap. Using a sharp knife, remove all visible fat. Slice the
partially frozen beef against the grain approximately into 3/8-inch thick
slices. NOTE: Trim the fat as you go along, since fat does
not dry.
Add the sliced beef to the prepared Marinade,
making sure all the meat slices are covered in the marinade; cover and
refrigerate approximately 10 to 24 hours to allow the meat to absorb the flavor.
When ready to dry the beef, remove from the
refrigerator and drain off the marinade; discarding the marinade. Using terry
cloth towels, pat the meat dry.
Most dehydrators will come with instructions
for making jerky. Follow those directions, as they can vary from machine to
machine.
Arrange
the meat strips on the trays of your food dehydrator (leave enough room between
pieces to allow air to flow around the meat) and dry at your
dehydrator's highest setting until done to your liking. Depending on your food
dehydrator and the thickness of the meat slices, it can take from 6 to 14 hours to dry a batch.
NOTE: Rotate the trays in the top half down to
the bottom in the morning and evening.
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Marinated beef strips placed on the drying trays |
Shirley's Food
Dehydrator |
When your jerky is done, let it cool completely
and then store in plastic zip-lock bags or air tight jars. You can tell the
jerky is done when it does not break when it is bent - this is when the jerky is
done. Properly dried jerky is chewy and leathery.
Store the jerky in the refrigerator or freezer.
Marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
* The marinade can be adjusted
to your taste with more or less water for saltiness and more or less cayenne
pepper for spiciness.
In a large (approximately 9x9x2-inch) plastic
container with a lid, mix together the soy sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce,
liquid smoke, and cayenne pepper; set aside until ready to use.
