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There are 101 recipes
for beef jerky. The Indians and early settlers made it primarily
from deer and buffalo
using salt and whatever spices they had. The meat was then dried
(cured) in the sun. Obviously, this
required a lot of salt to prevent spoilage and that was rough on
the taste buds. Yours and mine can be a
little more palatable thanks to easier drying methods. Jerky can
also be made from turkey and pork. But,
due to spoilage (poultry) and fat content (pork), you really have
to be an expert to be safe. Jerky, being pure
meat, is great for satisfying a growling stomach when you are out
on the water or in the field. In fact,
anytime you're a bit hungry, it will fix you up.
The best jerkys, from
our standpoint, are good tasting, simple and require little clean-up
afterwards. This
is my favorite recipe for homemade jerky. The basics are the Worcestershire
sauce, liquid smoke, salt and
brown sugar. All the other ingredients are a matter of taste. But,
I suggest you follow this recipe fully the first
time and then vary the ingredients to suit you taste, if necessary.
Use aluminum foil liberally and you'll
prevent too much mess.
The Jerky
Marinate
3/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 tblsp liquid smoke
1/2 oz bottled garlic juice OR liquid from two garlic cloves
1 level tsp salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 lbs. lean meat
Course ground black pepper
Louisiana hot sauce (optional)
After eliminating as much exterior fat as
possible, cut a beef eye-of-round (London broil will do) into long
strips approximately 1/3 to 1/2 inch square (slice with the grain of the
meat). (Deer, moose, elk, and caribou
are also fine, but use lean cuts and slice with the grain.) Mix all
marinate ingredients, except the pepper.
Use the following formula for the hot sauce:
1 shake for pussycats
2 shakes for good amigos
4 shakes for tough hombres
19 shakes for snotty neighbors and former
spouses
Place marinate and meat in a ziplock bag.
Squeeze out the air and seal. Place in a bowl/pan in the
refrigerator for 2 - 24 hours (longer gives a deeper flavor).
Line a large roasting pan with aluminum
foil and place wire cake racks in it. Spray the racks with a non-stick
cooking spray (Pam, etc.). Lay the marinated meat strips across the
racks and sprinkle liberally with very
coarse-ground black pepper. Place in an electric stove oven for about
7-8 hours on the very lowest warm
setting (I like 11pm to 6am). Additionally, the oven door should be
cracked open an inch or so to allow the
moisture to escape (a metal kitchen spoon does fine). Over-curing
(drying) will make the jerky dry and
brittle, so be careful.
The beef in this recipe can also be dried
nicely in a dehydrator.
This jerky needs no refrigeration for a
least two weeks. After that, I don't how long it will keep because it
always gets eaten too fast. However, I would use common sense. If green
'things' (literal interpretation: mold)
start growing on it, toss it.
Tips:
1. Before slicing, put the meat in the
freezer until just firm (2 hr.); it will slice much more easily and
uniformly.
2. You can slice the strips of meat thin
and wide, like bacon, if you like. However, don't make them too thin
or they will be crisp.
3. An electric food slicer save time and
gives a uniform thickness to the meat. Be sure not to set it too thin.
4. Make a small batch the first time and
see whether your taste will want more/less garlic, salt, brown sugar,
etc. The `heaviness' of the Worcestershire sauce can
be diluted with water, if need be.
5. Store in a zip-lock bag for freshness.
6. Be sure to cut WITH THE GRAIN of the
meat when slicing!
6. Hide some if you expect to have any
the next day. It will go fast!!!
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