I have been meaning to put this up for a while.
I have made beef jerky for a number of years now but not in the usual way. I tried the thin strips of beef sliced thin by my butcher, not too good. I tried slicing it myself, too fiddly. I have tried in the oven and in the sun, not the best. Marinating is hit or miss.
Therefore, I sat down and thought about it and this is what I came up with.
It always gives good results. It produces consistent sized jerky that is easy to store and carry. The results keep for many months, (I dont know the limit as it gets eaten long before there is any indication of rancidity or taint). The recipe is based on past best practice. The jerky tastes good.
Buy one kilogram of good, low fat, mince, do not use mince with more than five per cent fat, more fat goes rancid quickly. I usually snap it up from chuckout corner in Tescos when it (rarely) appears.
Throw it in a largish bowl.
Add the ingredients to the bowl.
30ml of Worcestershire sauce.
30ml of dark Soy sauce.
15ml of my secret ingredient. Very optional but gives it a certain Je ne sais quoi. Think up your own favourite.
Ground black pepper, to taste.
Ground Cayenne pepper, to taste.
Not too much, adds the heat but best to stay subtle with flavours to start with and experiment with future batches.
A garlic clove.
50g onion.
These are walking onions of which we have a glut but any will do.
20ml heather honey.
From my own bees (heather is an acquired taste, use ordinary or even sugar to add sweetness if you dont like heather honey).
Chilli powder to taste.
Stay subtle.
I have also added in the past Sodium Nitrate as a preservative. Also Potassium Nitrate and once Gunpowder (very traditional). I now dont bother as it does not seem necessary and there is an increasing volume of people saying nitrates are not too good for you
Add to mince.
Mix very well.
Roll out on the work surface with a rolling pin.
Roll out to three to four millimetres.
Cut into strips.
I use a plastic ruler.
Put strips onto dehydrator trays so they have plenty of air around them and dont touch each other.
Run dehydrator.
Three to four hours unless the strips are too thick. The strips should be stiff and hard when done. Almost cracking in two when bent.
Enjoy.
I store in the refrigerator individual strips wrapped zigzag in kitchen paper, to absorb any grease, in a polythene ziplock.
I have made beef jerky for a number of years now but not in the usual way. I tried the thin strips of beef sliced thin by my butcher, not too good. I tried slicing it myself, too fiddly. I have tried in the oven and in the sun, not the best. Marinating is hit or miss.
Therefore, I sat down and thought about it and this is what I came up with.
It always gives good results. It produces consistent sized jerky that is easy to store and carry. The results keep for many months, (I dont know the limit as it gets eaten long before there is any indication of rancidity or taint). The recipe is based on past best practice. The jerky tastes good.
Buy one kilogram of good, low fat, mince, do not use mince with more than five per cent fat, more fat goes rancid quickly. I usually snap it up from chuckout corner in Tescos when it (rarely) appears.
Throw it in a largish bowl.
Add the ingredients to the bowl.
30ml of Worcestershire sauce.
30ml of dark Soy sauce.
15ml of my secret ingredient. Very optional but gives it a certain Je ne sais quoi. Think up your own favourite.
Ground black pepper, to taste.
Ground Cayenne pepper, to taste.
Not too much, adds the heat but best to stay subtle with flavours to start with and experiment with future batches.
A garlic clove.
50g onion.
These are walking onions of which we have a glut but any will do.
20ml heather honey.
From my own bees (heather is an acquired taste, use ordinary or even sugar to add sweetness if you dont like heather honey).
Chilli powder to taste.
Stay subtle.
I have also added in the past Sodium Nitrate as a preservative. Also Potassium Nitrate and once Gunpowder (very traditional). I now dont bother as it does not seem necessary and there is an increasing volume of people saying nitrates are not too good for you
Add to mince.
Mix very well.
Roll out on the work surface with a rolling pin.
Roll out to three to four millimetres.
I use a plastic ruler.
Put strips onto dehydrator trays so they have plenty of air around them and dont touch each other.
Run dehydrator.
Three to four hours unless the strips are too thick. The strips should be stiff and hard when done. Almost cracking in two when bent.
Enjoy.
I store in the refrigerator individual strips wrapped zigzag in kitchen paper, to absorb any grease, in a polythene ziplock.
