Making Beef Jerky In an Oven

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Have you ever brought beef jerky on a camping trip?

  • Yes - great lightweight food.

    Votes: 181 73.6%
  • No - would like to but just haven't made or bought any for the trip

    Votes: 61 24.8%
  • No - I prefer tinned or fresh meat.

    Votes: 4 1.6%

  • Total voters
    246

Treemonk

Forager
Oct 22, 2008
168
0
Perthshire
There is a recipe for vension proscuto or similar in hugh F-W's meat book I think - marinade of red wine, rosmary, thyme, chili, garlic and citrus peel. I've used it a few times now for beef jerky and have to say it absolutely rocks!
 

Melonfish

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 8, 2009
2,460
1
Warrington, UK
Whelp, just made my first ever jerky,

got some frying steak from the local asda, which was nicely tenderised already, cut into thin strips and left overnight in baggies of this:
jim.jpg


which i absolutely love (costco is where i got this from)

and i ended up with this:

JERKY.jpg


and i've got to say its exceptionally edible! quite possibly the best jerky i have ever had, next i'm getting some decent serloin and some venison and i'll give em the treatment. this is the kind of thing that would see me to the top of mountains!
all thanks to the articles on this forum/site btw ;) cheers chaps.
pete
 

firecrest

Full Member
Mar 16, 2008
2,496
4
uk
honey is the only food that keeps indefinately. And its made by insects not humans. What does that tell you about intelligence eh! Mind you, its mostly nectar and if you think about it, amber stays in its state for millions of years, yet it can be melted back into resin. Honey found in tombs is the same, it has formed into hard rocks that can be remelted.
 

EdS

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
made some over the fire at the weekend.

Fire tray with a Tripod BBQ wrapped around with an old duvet cover.

Vension and:
Sloe gin
Port, Juniper and a little chilli jam
Chilli & pepper
plain

All slow moke with a mixture of apple, plum and damson wood.
 

T1tch

Forager
Dec 24, 2007
137
0
Cambridgeshire
I do love a smokey accent to my jerky, so in addition to marinading it, I use a cold smoke generator bought off evilbay (I don't have access to any land where I can smoke it traditionaly) which is bolted to the side of a galvanised dustbin. I have to say it makes all the difference. Then I throw it in the dehydrator. I have used the oven a couple of times, but just could not get the temperature right and the jerky always ended up sweating oils which is just asking for trouble.
 
Yeah I've heard of the stuff, but I'm not sure it's something readily available over here...

Well, you can make your own liquid smoke:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2087417_make-liquid-smoke.html
Things You’ll Need:

  • Charcoal grill and lid
  • Grilling rack
  • 8" cylinder
  • 8" steel funnel
  • Duct tape
  • 5 lbs. charcoal
  • 16-qt. bucket
  • Glass coil condenser
  • Plastic container
  • Plastic tubing
  • 5 lbs. hickory wood chunks
  • Aluminum foil
Step 1
Position the grilling rack in the center of the grill. Put an 8-inch steel cylinder on top to serve as the chimney. Turn an 8-inch steel funnel upside down and tape it to the top of the grill. Place charcoal inside the cylinder. Ignite the coals and allow them to burn. Step 2
Fill a 16-qt. bucket with ice water. Tape a glass coiled condenser to one side of the bucket.
Step 3
Push the other side of the coiled condenser through the top of a 1-qt. plastic container. The liquid smoke drips into this container.
Step 4
Tape one piece of plastic tubing approximately 20-inches long to the outside end of the bucket. Make sure the tubing rests on the bucket since the smoke coming through the tubing later on must come in contact with a cold surface. Attach a second piece of similar sized tubing to the top of the steel funnel. Place hickory wood chunks on top of the burning coals.
Step 5
Cover the grill with the lid and seal around it with aluminum foil. The hickory wood flavors the smoke produced by the burning coals. The smoke then passes through the tubing in the bucket, is condensed by the ice water and the condensed liquid flows into the plastic container.

Enjoy!
 

T1tch

Forager
Dec 24, 2007
137
0
Cambridgeshire
Thanks Mungo - thats good to know how these things are made, but I think I'll stick to just smoking the stuff in my dustbin - its' a heck of a lot simpler :)
 

reddeath

Forager
Jul 29, 2007
126
0
50
Kilkenny, ROI
i just made my 1st batch of oven jerky today mighty impressed but alas the smoke has allured me and i dont recolect seeing liquid stuff in shops - would them hickory chips in a tray on the oven floor work?
 

Greg

Full Member
Jul 16, 2006
4,335
259
Pembrokeshire
I made my first ever batch of beef jerky the other night having borrowed John Fenna's De-hydrator. Six hours worth of drying £5 worth of beef joint and it was gone in 10 mins once the wife got her hands on it!:rolleyes: I have to say it was very moorish!!:D
 

clcuckow

Settler
Oct 17, 2003
795
1
Merseyside, Cheshire
i just made my 1st batch of oven jerky today mighty impressed but alas the smoke has allured me and i dont recolect seeing liquid stuff in shops - would them hickory chips in a tray on the oven floor work?

I might give it a go but I would doubt it would get hot enough to smoke. I remember Heston Blumenthal doing something that might work though.

He toasted some bread very slowly and very brown then soaked it in water. Then strained and filterd off the bread leaving 'toast water'. I would have thought this could be reduced to concentrate the flavor. That said I have not tried it, but it might work and if the bread was toasted over a wood fire it might be even better.
 

stretch3144

Full Member
Feb 3, 2009
206
0
51
North Tawton, Devon
I've been quite lazy when making jerky. I buy the 2 for 1 offers in the supermarket and marinade one of the packs in a homemede concoction of soy sauce, wine vinegar, Tabasco sauce, chopped peppers (spice rack) and crushed garlic.
I will put it all in the fridge for a day or two and will give it a shake now and again to distribute the meat and marinade. I use a tupperware container for the job.
To make it into jerky, I will place the pieces on the dehydrator grills, usually 3 rack deep then switch on the dehydrator. Its basically like a hair dryer with hot air coming from the fan at the bottom and circulating over the jerky. Every two hours or so I will rotate the grills allowing more even drying of the meat.
The jerky is good to eat after 6 hours, but I tend to do it for about 8 hours overnight.
As said earlier, it is "more-ish"....once I've tried a bit then I have to have another, and so on!
I like the jerky nice and spicy hence the garlic and crushed peppers.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE