Beef Jerky

[whistlepig]

I love beef jerky. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start on making beef jerky? Other than a smoker I have no equipment. I have researched making jerky and it seems one could spend hundreds of dollars on jerky making stuff. I don't want to do that.

 

[s2k9k]

Well if you have a smoker or oven all you need is some meat and some spices. Don't need to spend hundreds of dollars, though a slicer does help but not absolutely necessary/ Have you searched "jerky" on here? There are hundreds of threads about it. 

To keep this short i will hit the basics. Get a good cut of beef, the less fat the better, you don't want fat because it won't dry and can turn rancid. Slice it thin, about 3/16 - 1/4 inch. Find a recipe that sounds good (there are hundreds) and it might take a few batches to get what you like. Marinate the slices for 24 - 48 hours. Lay it on the racks or hang it with skewers in your smoker. Start at a low temp around 120* and after a couple of hours start increasing the temp but don't go over 170* or else you will be cooking instead of drying. If you've had jerky before you will know when it's done. It should be dry but not burnt up and will have a translucent look when held in front of a light.

That's the Readers Digest condensed version but it really is that easy. 

Read a bunch of threads on here and you will get a lot more info on it and find a lot of good recipes.

Another way which I want to try soon is to get a jerky gun where you can use ground meat and a gun to shoot the jerky right onto the racks, it has a much different texture and is really good.

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Yeah, we made it for decades with just a cardboard smoker, no need to make a big investment.



~Martin