Beef Jerky
 

I need to get some beef jerky for a friend for Christmas.

Any recommendations?

Is there a butcher/meat shop nearby that sells fresh jerky? It is way better than the packaged stuff.

If you have a South African community around your area; try to get some biltong. It's similar to beef jerky but much better.

Make your own?

Snap into a Slim Jim.

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I did some rough calculatin' on this and with the beef, other ingredients and the electricity to dry them out, it seemed like a hassle (although fun) that was not a huge money saver.

For a gift, value is not critical. Making by hand is a nice touch.

Just order some based on a web search.

Who knew:cool:

Thanks, Bill. I love jerky.

Pacific Gold jerky from Costco...I like their turkey jerky...if you're going for store-bought. Twin pack for $11 or so.

I make my own.

Really simple.

You want a lean cut of meat, it's the fat that goes rancid.

Trim it up then toss in the freezer.

After it's frozen take it out and let it start to thaw. You don't want it to thaw completely but just start to get soft. Makes it easier to slice.

Cut it into thin strips, 1/8 th in. You can cut with or against the grain, I find with tends to be more chewy / stringy so I go against the grain.

Marinade your slices overnight. I have a few different ones but a traditional Teriyaki with some fresh ground pepper always works.

Remove strips from marinade, pat off excess marinade, you don't want it "wet".

If you have a warming drawer in your oven you can use that.

If you can set your oven as low as 150 you can use that, leave the door cracked and if it convects then use the fan for airflow.

You can also make a dehydrator with a box fan, google that one.

While it's all drying design a nice Little Traveller label and package it up.

I like this brand best, not too sweet.....
Enjoy Foods, International

The best jerky in North America is made by Greg's Meats Greg's Meats - Home in Minnesota. They have a number of national championship jerky titles to prove it. Order some over the internet and they'll ship it anywhere.

Yum! I'm hungry for everything they offer.
No more for me though...gives me gout. :mad:

I make my own and that's how I do it. The freezing helps tenderize the meat. I have a store bought dryer.

Commercial jerky needs to have an infinite shelf life so it is really, really dehydrated, has that dry leathery fibrous texture.

Homemade jerky doesn't need to last forever, so it can have just a bit more moisture. It makes a huge difference in texture and taste.

My process:
- Flank steak, trim off most fat
- Cut into 1/8" strips across the grain, half-freezing the meat helps but isn't necessary
- Make marinade by mixing BBQ sauce, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, liquid smoke, plenty of brown sugar, whatever else makes you happy - I got for a slightly sweet tangy Asian flavour, think Korean BBQ
- Marinate meat for a few hours
- Place strips in single layer on a rack, with lots of marinade on the meat, and dry it. That can be on rack of oven at lowest temp w/ door cracked, on HVAC filters on a box fan, on tray of a dehydrator, etc.
- Dehydrate for 15 hours or so in the dehydrator, maybe a little less in the oven
- You want, or at least I want, the jerky to have a stiff crusty feel, a bit crystalline from all the sugar, just barely a hint of tacky feel, but not dried to death. It will keep in a zip lock bag in a dark cupboard for many many months - I've never had a batch go bad, and usually it is gobbled up in a few weeks anyway.

I do a lot of my own jerky. Plenty of recipies on the web. I go to a butcher who have "sandwich steaks" already sliced from London broil. The eliminates the hard part of slicing the meat. Season or marinate o/n it and put it in the oven at the lowest temp possible, 150-170, turn occasionally, about six to eight hours you are good to go.

Great suggestions, going to try to make some this weekend. She loves super-hot so going with a habanero theme.

That's it? I thought it took days. Sweet.

We used to get beef jerky at Brine's in Stillwater, back when it was a real place, a real town. Good times.