Years ago, my dad would make beef jerky all the time, especially in the colder months. It was something I always looked forward to. But as time went by, I'm not really certain as to why, likely work got in the way, Dad stopped making his tasty jerky. Since then, I've been wanting a dehydrator to make my own and relive that wonderful taste of home made jerky and avoid the outrageous cost of jerky you can get in the store. (Seriously, 10$ for a bag of dried meat full of preservatives and chemicals???) Last year, my sweet hubby got me a number of kitchen gadgets and appliances, including a Nesco American Harvest food dehydrator. I was so excited! At last I could make my own beef jerky, flavored just how I liked it! But, making the jerky was proving a challenge, and after two tries, I was incredibly frustrated. Not with the actual process of making the jerky. Oh no! That part is easy! It was fighting with the butcher! I researched the proper cut of meat for ideal jerky making and all the major chefs agree: flank is the way to go! If you don't know anything about meat or meat cuts, flank is usually a really thick steak like cut of meat. Its not very easy to cut on a machine, which apparently most butcher's use these days. I went to my favorite grocery chain, HEB, where I buy all of my meat because I can get fresh, organic, hormone free meat. I am very particular about those sorts of things. So imagine my shock, and at times annoyance, when it was like pulling teeth to get someone at their meat counter to cut a flank steak into thin jerky strips. One even told me that she was afraid she'd cut herself. Hello! You work in the meat market! With KNIVES! Oh it was a trial indeed to get the meat cut how I wanted it. So how to solve this problem? We bought a meat slicer from the local Academy in their sausage and jerky food prep department! Now we can just buy the meat and slice it ourselves! Problem solved and now the jerky making can commence!
Now I have always made my marinade with a certain chaotic logic. Mostly it was along the lines of "Oh this might be good!" and throw it in a bowl and whisk it up before dropping chunks of meat into it. So this will be the first time I've had to actually measure things, but it did come out really good. However, this is by no means the "YOU HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY!" kind of recipe. Its a basic idea that I use and my family adores, but you can add and take away from it however you like to make it your own.
For my stealable beef jerky you will need:
1 flank steak (you can also use top round roast, the butcher folk don't have as much issue cutting that if you don't have your own meat slicer, or if you can't find flank. It works just as well, and will yield more meat, so you will have to increase your marinade a little bit and likely dehydrate in batches)
2 tablespoons liquid smoke (I used mesquite flavor)
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcester sauce
1/4 cup A1 steak sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons local honey
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon of yellow mustard
1 packet jerky seasoning (I found this in the canning/preserving section of Wal-Mart, thought it would be worth a try, and it was! Just don't use the curing salt, it makes the end product too salty)
First things first. Slice the meat if you did not buy it pre-sliced. Lucky for me, my hubby was home on his R&R and was able to help out on this! For flank, you are actually cutting lengthwise, which is one of the reasons butchers will give you a trial about it. If slicing it at home, it works best to cut the steak in half width wise, before putting it on the machine to slice. You want it thin, but not paper thin, but no more than 1/4 of an inch thick. Thicker meat will take longer to dehydrate, so try and keep the meat uniformly thick.
While Mike was slicing up the meat, I went ahead and got the marinade going. I went ahead and pre-measured everything to make it a bit easier to assemble.
Left to right, going across the top then to the second row we have: Soy sauce, Worcester sauce, honey, garlic, then A1 steak sauce, liquid smoke, hoisin sauce and mustard. Beside that is the packet of seasoning.
Combine all the ingredients into a bowl, and whisk them together. You may want to let the sauces warm to room temperature if they have been refrigerated as the honey will try to seize up on you a bit and you'll be whisking for a while to get it combined!
Drop in your sliced meat, insuring they are all pushed down into the liquid and completely coated. If you ended up with more meat than marinade, just add a bit more of the ingredients until its sufficient to coat all the meat. Be adventurous! Eyeball it!
Once you have all the meat in the marinade, cover it with cling wrap and park it in the fridge for at least four hours. Overnight is better, but four hours will allow the flavors to penetrate and marry if you're pressed for time.
After you have let your meat marinate for a good while, place the meat on the trays of your food dehydrator, making sure that the meat is fully flat, and not overlapping any other slices of meat. If you have a lot of meat, you may have to do this in batches.
Set the dehydrator to 165 degrees and leave alone for four-six hours, depending on the thickness of the meat. Don't make the mistake I did and leave it over night, and sleep way longer than you meant to. You'll have crispy beef jerky. Tasty, edible, but crispy and not quite what we're looking for. The best idea is to let the meat dehydrate but check it every so often to ensure its coming along nicely, removing any thinner pieces of meat that may have finished before the others so that they don't turn into beef crispies.
When the meat is done, meaning it is not soft, or wet in any places, or looking 'raw' (Again bear in mind that thickness of meat can make the drying temperatures vary), remove from the dehydrator and let it cool a bit, because it will be hot! Then, enjoy!
Beef jerky will keep well for weeks as long as its kept in an airtight container or zip top bag. Its likely it won't last that long! And be cautious of bringing jerky to a family gathering. It will likely go missing! In my case, it went right into my dad's pocket! I had to make another batch right away for my sister and her husband, and they declared it addictive!
When making jerky at home, you not only save money, but you get to experiment with flavor profiles and control exactly what goes into your finished product. You can cut back on the salt, if you need to watch your sodium intake, or use turkey instead of beef if you're watching your cholesterol. It can truly be a healthy snack that packs a punch when it comes to protein, and can be satisfying when trying to curb your hunger between meals. (So long as you don't mow down the whole bag! Its an easy thing to do!). I've found that making my own snacks at home, rather than buying them from the store is not only healthier, cheaper, but far more rewarding and usually tastier too!
Brightest blessings!
