Well, we’ve made our first ever batch of beef jerky and it is delicious!!!
We pulled a 2.24 pound beef round steak from the chest freezer and let it thaw out about half way before beginning to cut it into about 1/4 inch slices (partially frozen meat is much easier to cut).
Then we divvied up all our slices into three separate bags. Into bag #1 we poured some teriyaki sauce, bag #2 got worchestershire sauce and bag #3 was simply sprinkled with some salt and pepper.
The bags were then placed in the refrigerator overnight to marinate.
The next day around noon, we pulled them out and placed the meat from each bag onto one dehydrator tray. We set the dehydrator to medium and left it alone all day. When we checked on them at bed time, they still weren’t quite done. So, we turned the setting down to low and left them to fully dehydrate overnight.
The next morning we officially had beef jerky! And yes, it is delicious!
So, what does 2.24 pounds of beef dehydrate down into?
12 ounces! Yep! No wonder this stuff is so expensive at the grocery store! So, not only does making our own mean we are saving some money, but we also know exactly what’s gone into it!
Now, just to be safe, we are storing our jerky in plastic baggies in the fridge, though we are not certain it is necessary! Please share any experience with making and storing their jerky? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
xoxo,
M
here’s a nice marinade recipe: 1/2 cup Bragg’s liquid soy seasoning, 1/4 cup maple sugar (or honey or palm sugar), 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1 onion sliced, and 2-3 tsp chipotle seasoning. this is enough to marinade 1.5 – 2 lbs of jerky meat. after i slice it into 1/4″ slices i pound it a little with a tenderizing mallet and then marinade it for about 24 hours. i dry it at 145 degrees in my dehydrator for about 5 hours, so that it is dry but not too dry. this makes a nice tender jerky.
Cindy, this sounds delicious! Thank you so much for sharing, I will definitely be giving this a try!
Yum! I bet that doesn’t last long.
Ha! Nope. It was gone pretty fast! 🙂
Oh wow! I’m going to try this one!
I love some good Beef Jerky!