A few weeks ago my sausage making partner asked me how to make jerky, borrowed my (unused) jerky gun and went off to the races. Brings it in to work all the time and I gotta admit for a pre-mix, he does a good job. After talking about it, I figure I need to get back into the game after being off the bench for at least a decade.
So it hit -40 here tonight. I've cancelled plans for the week and am hunkering down. Working on the DIY curing chamber, although I still needed to scratch my jerky itch. Initially had plans for cold smoked chops this weekend but ol' ma nature decided that was not in my horizon.
So, as one would do, I pulled some rounds out of the freezer.
IR beef on the left, moose EoR on the right
Went with a super simple marinade on the moose, and cut it with the grain. Jerky is a soul food for me, I remember being a kid and pulling out a slab of jerky from the locker on the porch, and chewing it until supper time. Hoping to re-create that.
Upgraded the slicer, but unfortunately, can't figure out how to take it apart, so the $50 Nesco to the rescue. I can't say I was disappointed.
Batch #1
I mess around with flavors so if you're a jerky purist. scroll down or maybe just close the tab...
Caesar Jerky:
Other half was a spicy Caesar, same recipe except with banana pepper brine, a bit of Horseradish, and Crytsal.
Down to the most ridiculous batch:
One of my best memories of my salad days - my best friend's dad was a game warden. Every time his folks came to visit, they brought Elk meat, so for $1.99 we made "Elk Helper". There's something so salty and wrong about hamburger helper that I just freaking love to this day, so wanted to recreate it in a jerky stick...
80/20 ground which I normally wouldn't use, but think it's going to work, and I'm going to make sticks. Macaroni and cheese powder, nutritional yeast, and a little tomato paste. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.
So it hit -40 here tonight. I've cancelled plans for the week and am hunkering down. Working on the DIY curing chamber, although I still needed to scratch my jerky itch. Initially had plans for cold smoked chops this weekend but ol' ma nature decided that was not in my horizon.
So, as one would do, I pulled some rounds out of the freezer.
IR beef on the left, moose EoR on the right
Went with a super simple marinade on the moose, and cut it with the grain. Jerky is a soul food for me, I remember being a kid and pulling out a slab of jerky from the locker on the porch, and chewing it until supper time. Hoping to re-create that.
Upgraded the slicer, but unfortunately, can't figure out how to take it apart, so the $50 Nesco to the rescue. I can't say I was disappointed.
Batch #1
I mess around with flavors so if you're a jerky purist. scroll down or maybe just close the tab...
Caesar Jerky:
Other half was a spicy Caesar, same recipe except with banana pepper brine, a bit of Horseradish, and Crytsal.
Down to the most ridiculous batch:
One of my best memories of my salad days - my best friend's dad was a game warden. Every time his folks came to visit, they brought Elk meat, so for $1.99 we made "Elk Helper". There's something so salty and wrong about hamburger helper that I just freaking love to this day, so wanted to recreate it in a jerky stick...
80/20 ground which I normally wouldn't use, but think it's going to work, and I'm going to make sticks. Macaroni and cheese powder, nutritional yeast, and a little tomato paste. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.
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. If I was on a cooking competition show I'd have to call them "rustic".
