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Jerky Making

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Tsalagi:
Well, this isn't going to exactly be a making jerky on a wooden rack kinda deal, but I haven't seen any threads here about making jerky. So, I thought I'd share my jerky-making adventures.

With the recession, I'm out of a full time job and the part time "filler" doesn't have a whole lot of hours. So, when I find a sale on meat, I like to take advantage of it. But we have a limited amount of freezer space. What's to do? Make jerky! I've been playing around with some recipes and found one that is dead-bang the best marinade so far. I HATE---HATE!!!---that sweet, flaccid crap they call "jerky" in the stores. Yecchh! Too sweet. In fact, I don't like sweet at all in jerky. And I don't like jerky so soft it rivals butter. THere was a guy where I used to work (LOL, used to work---sounds funny after having been there 10 years... ::) ) who made this jerky that was great. Tangy, kinda sour, a little heat. I could see the crushed red pepper on it, but he wouldn't let on what was in the marinade. Well, I found it within two tries! Here's my jerky marinade for about a pound and a half of meat:

2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup Yamasa shoyu (Use real shoyu; Kikkoman's will work. La Choy is just a chemical formula. Don't use it.)
1/4 cup Bragg's Unfiltered/Unpastuerized Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke
3 tablespoons crushed red pepper

That's it! I marinade in a covered crockware bowl in the fridge at least 6 hours; overnight sometimes. Then I put it into a Nesco American Harvest dehydrator at about 140 for usually over the day or overnight. I don't like my jerky too soft. I like it a bit more on the "brittle" side, though still a tiny bit chewy. I don't bother getting good cuts of beef for this. I buy the cheapest of what's on sale. That's the whole point. It's going to be jerky, not filet mignon smothered in asparagus tips. Once, I saw some beef fajita strips that were on sale for $1.99 a pound. I used those---they were already cut up for me, see!!--and made some killer jerky with that. I bought a bunch and just kept marinading and loading the dehydrator for days. Almost had me an assembly line operation going.

Today, I am trying a new marinade. Using straight Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce can be pricey. And I wanted to make a "mock pemmican". So, being that pemmican used berries in the mix, I decided to try something new with the marinade. Fruit juice! I wanted to use berry juice for at least a stab at authenticity. This marinade I list below is for about close to 4 pounds of beef round steak that was on sale at $1.99 a pound.

1 cup Welch's Black Cherry and Concord Grape juice
1 cup Ocean Spray Cranberry-Blueberry Juice
1/3 cup Bragg's Unflitered Apple Cider Vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup Yamasa Shoyu
1/6 cup or 4 tablespoons Wright's hickory liquid smoke
a handful of crushed red pepper
 a couple pinches of chipotle powder

I mixed this up into a bowl and am marinading in two bowls. One will marinade for 6 hours and be started tonight. The rest will marinade overnight and be on standby to go right into the dehydrator after the first batch is done. I haven't tried this marinade yet, so I will post on how it is. I picked those fruit juices because they're not sweet, they're tangy, just a little sour, and are berries. 

On meat, I discovered that mutton and lamb make EXCELLENT jerky. Around here, mutton can be had pretty cheap because it's popular here with the Dine'h. So, I lay hands of the cheapest mutton leg I can find and make jerky! It turned out great, better than great. Almost tasted wild. I haven't tried it with the new marinade yet, but it's next.

The next meat I'm going to make jerky from is jackrabbit. I can harvest several jackrabbits here a day and while we love 'em baked or barbequed, I gotta try making jerky with one and see how it tastes. If they're good, that'll give me even more reason to hunt 'em. Then I can bring a couple extra over what'll fit in the freezer and make jerky out of those.

sailordad:
hey thanks for the jerky  recipies
i too hat that sweet soft jerky
i like it jaw tireing hard,and a little kick in it
i hope to take my first sefl bow deer this season(actaully mi fisrt deer ever)
and i plan on making jerky
my sons(both of whom are in the NAVY)requested i send them jerky  ifn i get a deer
so that pepper recipe is the one i plan on using,providing the gods of the hunt and the forest smile upon me

thanks again

Tsalagi:
Glad to see another guy who doesn't like the store bought sugarmeat. I don't know why people love their jerky so sweet. It's like meat candy or something.

  With the Nesco American Harvest dehydrator, if the jerky is still too soft, just let it run a few more hours. I like it hard also. Not crispy, but something to work at while eating. Lasts longer that way and the chewing releases the flavors.

One thing I learned is not to add black pepper. It detracts from the flavor. Also, don't add salt. The soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce will add just the right amount of salt. I found the apple cider vinegar gives it an awesome tanginess that you just won't find in any store jerky. The crushed red pepper, a lot will fall off in the dehydrator. So, if you like your jerky hot, add more crushed red pepper to the marinade.

 I might one day experiment with adding some Tabasco to the marinade and see what happens. I'm thinking about two tablespoons should be the right amount for the first marinade and probably four tablespoons for the fruit-juice based marinade.

Tsalagi:
Well, the first batch using the new fruit-juice marinade is done. It only soaked for about 6 hours. It's not as savory, tangy, and tasty as the original marinade I use. It's good and the meat flavor really shines, though. You can taste just a hint of the marinade, though none of the fruit flavor at all. It just isn't as tangy as I like it. That could be due to the length of the soak. We'll see. I loaded the second batch which soaked for those 6 hours and all night. Tomorrow, I will see if the difference is made by the length of the soak.

nugget:
I marinate my jerky in Dales marinade. It acn be bought in most grocery stores. It is a steak marinade. It has soy, worchestire sauce, and all the other goodies already in it. I let it soak overnight and slap it in the dehydrator.  If I want it spicy I add crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper to the marinade.

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