The Making Of: Beef Jerky
From steamWiki
This article describes my first experience making Home Made Beef Jerky! I got my inspiration from an article in Backpacker Magazine. The article uses a Teriaki marinade and makes 3 lbs of Jerky (pre-cooked). I don't really care for Teriaki and didn't want to spend that much cash on my 1st try so I opted to make 1 lb and used a KC Masterpiece Steakhouse Marinade instead. The rest of this article details my own Beef Jerky creation and strays from the Backpacker article just a bit.
Shopping List
- 1 lb Sirloin Tip Steak
- 1 bottle KC Masterpiece Steakhouse Marinade
- A sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper
- A bit of Brown Sugar
- A smidgen of Garlic Powder
Procedure
- Cut the Sirloin Tip Steak into 1/4" thick strips.
- Combine all other ingredients in a bowl.
- Stir until homogeneous making sure you crush up all the Brown Sugar clump (note: I probably could have left out the brown sugar since the KC Masterpiece has a lot of Brown Sugar in it already. Next time I probably will).
- Put all the meat into the marinade ensuring every piece is covered. Put it in the fridge for a while (30 mins to 12 hours) stirring occasionally (I did 4 hours stirring once).
- Cover the bottom of your oven in foil (to catch dripping marinade)
- Place your strips of meat directly onto the oven rack (I used my fingers to squeegee off the excess marinade before doing so) and place them in the oven as far away from the heating element as possible (you want to dry the meat but not cook it).
- Turn on the over to 145° (or whatever the lowest setting your oven has... I used 170°) and cook (actually dry) the meat for 6-8 hours (I decided they were done after 6.5 hours).
- Eat and Enjoy! That's all there is too it! Don't forget to experiment with flavors. There are lots of interesting marinades to use from Carribean Jerk, to Lemon Pepper. Try different meats too but be sure to choose LEAN meats. This doesn't work well using meats with high fat contents.
