Hillbilly Backwoods Jerky (Finished - with photos)

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dward51

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Nov 24, 2011
2,864
538
McDonough, GA
The AGS counter top meat tumbler came in the other day, so I figured it's time to crank out a fresh batch of jerky.  I'm going to finish these on the LEM 10 tray dehydrator instead of the WSM.  This will be the 1st time I've used both the AGS and the LEM dehydrator for jerky.

Picked up just shy of 5 pounds of meat from the local grocery store. They had sliced "breakfast steak" which appeared to be just 1/4 to 3/8" thick slices of round and oddly enough it was less expensive than the whole round roast was per pound.  They also had some 3/8" x 3/8" "stir fry" strips for the same price.  Looked like a winner to me as the cut work was already done (I did slice the flat steaks in half to make manageable sizes though).

The recipe is one of Rick's (NEPAS) that seems to have been pretty popular.  His recipe was for 5 pounds and since the AGS instructions said to not exceed 4 pounds of meat (I had a little over 4.5 pounds), I split the marinade in half for each batch in the AGS. This is the first time I've used this marinade and the only change I made was to add 1 TBL of Colgin liquid hickory smoke to each of the 1/2 marinade mixes since I'm finishing this in the dehydrator instead of over a smoker.

NEPAS Hillbilly Backwoods Jerky
  • 5 pounds of lean meat strips (or lean ground beef)*
  • 2 TBL non-iodized salt
  • 1 tsp cure #1 (pink salt)
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1 tsp crushed black pepper
  • 2 TBL onion powder
  • 1 cup soy sauce (regular or low sodium)
  • 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 cups cold distilled water
  • 2-3 TBL liquid smoke if dehydrating (omit if finishing in smoker)
*Note - if using lean ground beef, reduce the water to 1 TBL and the soy and Worchestershire to 2 TBL each.  If the meat mix feels really dry and tack, add 1 TBL more of water and remix (repeat as needed).

Mix all the above together and let marinade in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.  Then smoke or dehydrate as normal.

Cast of characters


Sliced meat will be in the first batch to be marinaded.  Mixed marinade is next to the meat.


All vacuumed down and set for a 30 minute spin in the AGS marinade mixer.


More to come as this progresses.....
 
Last edited:
Meat has been in the marinade for about 18 hours.  Time to load the dehydrator.  Only needed a couple of the trays.  Going to start these at 125-130* and check after 4 hours.  I think the strips and flats will be done at different times and I really do not want to over dry the meat as I can always let it run a little longer, but I cannot go back.


 
Took about 4 1/2 hours to get them where I wanted them.  Like cracked leather, but not totally dry and crunchy.  Taste is pretty dang good and not too much heat.  Rick's (NEPAS) recipe is getting a thumbs up from me! I really like how those strips came out. I started with 4 1/2 pounds and ended up with approximately 2 pounds dried.  Doubt it will last the week as I promised to bring some to work and I'm on a low carb diet, so this is the perfect snack between meals!




It would have been 2 pounds instead of 1 pound 15.6 ounces had I not eaten a strip or two.  Had to sample the wares to see if they needed more drying time.


 
2thumbs.gif
 Nice work Dave!

Your jerky looks great!

Enjoy!
 
sure does look good... Rick's marinade is pretty damn good.. isn't it... I've used it 3 or 4 times ... minus the liquid smoke since I dried in the smoke house.... wanna try it with liquid smoke and use the dehydrator...
 
Lookin good. i just finished a batch of Hickory Deer Jerky. I used High Mountain Seasoning Jerky kit. Where did you get the recipe for your Mix
 
 
The AGS counter top meat tumbler came in the other day, so I figured it's time to crank out a fresh batch of jerky.  I'm going to finish these on the LEM 10 tray dehydrator instead of the WSM.  This will be the 1st time I've used both the AGS and the LEM dehydrator for jerky.

Picked up just shy of 5 pounds of meat from the local grocery store. They had sliced "breakfast steak" which appeared to be just 1/4 to 3/8" thick slices of round and oddly enough it was less expensive than the whole round roast was per pound.  They also had some 3/8" x 3/8" "stir fry" strips for the same price.  Looked like a winner to me as the cut work was already done (I did slice the flat steaks in half to make manageable sizes though).

The recipe is one of Rick's (NEPAS) that seems to have been pretty popular.  His recipe was for 5 pounds and since the AGS instructions said to not exceed 4 pounds of meat (I had a little over 4.5 pounds), I split the marinade in half for each batch in the AGS. This is the first time I've used this marinade and the only change I made was to add 1 TBL of Colgin liquid hickory smoke to each of the 1/2 marinade mixes since I'm finishing this in the dehydrator instead of over a smoker.

NEPAS Hillbilly Backwoods Jerky
  • 5 pounds of lean meat strips (or lean ground beef)*
  • 2 TBL non-iodized salt
  • 1 tsp cure #1 (pink salt)
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1 tsp crushed black pepper
  • 2 TBL onion powder
  • 1 cup soy sauce (regular or low sodium)
  • 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 cups cold distilled water
  • 2-3 TBL liquid smoke if dehydrating (omit if finishing in smoker)
*Note - if using lean ground beef, reduce the water to 1 TBL and the soy and Worchestershire to 2 TBL each.  If the meat mix feels really dry and tack, add 1 TBL more of water and remix (repeat as needed).

Mix all the above together and let marinade in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.  Then smoke or dehydrate as normal.

Cast of characters


Sliced meat will be in the first batch to be marinaded.  Mixed marinade is next to the meat.


All vacuumed down and set for a 30 minute spin in the AGS marinade mixer.


More to come as this progresses.....
Trying to stay away from the Soy as I am not a fan of the taste but not sure it would be an issue regarding Jerky, I have not made any yet, but have all the ingredients coming in the next few days, back to the soy, would it be a flavor issue if the soy was omitted and salt used ?
I am asking since I have seen many use the soy instead of the salt, just wanted to know if it would really affect the flavor or you were using as a salt/sodium replacer.

Looks really good, TY for the recipe  :)


Guy
 
HILLBILLY?!!! I resemble that remark!!

Great job, Dave! Looks good, bud!

By the way, I have that same scale, but in the 75 pound unit.
 
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