Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Any beef jerky connoisseurs?

Ok, my dad said he used to know a guy that had a great recipe for home made beef jerky, and used his standard kitchen oven. I was thinking you needed special equipment.

Anybody have a killer recipe/instructions I can follow without having to purchase extra equipment?>

Let me check with my wife and her mother. They do it all the time.

Cool, thanks Ken. I have found a few websites that say it is pretty simple. We get all of our meat free from the inlaws farm, so only the best.

It'll probably be a day or so. My in laws don't check their email very often.

ha ha, I can relate.

I made some a few years ago. Its pretty simple, cut your meat into 1/8" strips and marinade over night. Move the top rack towards the top of the oven and hang your strips. Don't forget to put a pan on the bottom rack for drips. Turn the oven onto the lowest setting, let it go for 8-10 hours.

I cant remember the proper temperature, but I remember leaving my oven door open a crack to get it low enough.

Using a smoker results in much MUCH better jerky than the oven method. Full sliced meat is the best of course, but the ground meat recipes actually aren't all that bad.

And for deer... the big muscles of the rear haunches makes awesome jerky.

Bren R.

Not to mention - using a smoker keeps your whole house from smelling like jerky for a week. (the downside is that every dog in the neighborhood will be trying to dig a hole under your fence while the jerky is smoking)

I LOVE beef jerky!

However, REAL jerky is not make in an oven, or with heat for that matter. Or so I am told. I guess that the best way to make jerky doesn't take an oven, or a smoker, or a dehydrator, but a 20" x 20" box fan, three cheap paper air filters (20" x 20") and some bungee cords to hold it all together. The massive airflow dries the meat without cooking it.

I bought a 20" box fan this past summer specifically with this idea in mind, and have yet to use it.

It was something that Alton Brown from the Food Network did, and of course during the show, he explained all of the reasons for it.

Search for "Alton Brown" "Box Fan Jerky" or something similar and you will find it or click here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/beef-jerky-recipe/index.html

Here is a link with pictures, but they didn't get the right filters. The cheap paper ones allow for the meat to site in the accordion like groves...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Box-Fan-Jerky/

Yet another (and the last) link with some pictures of it done right in the filters...

http://annarbor.albertelli.com:85/weblog/?p=86

Funny Nick, I found a guy on youtube that uses that exact recipe. Looks like Alton has a 5 star rating after 90+ reviews. Some people substitute the paper for a mesh/screen type material to make it washable and that way you don't have to keep buying the filters. May give it a shot today.

My wife's Father gave us one of these several years ago Excaliber It is great for jerky and fruit, my wife will usually marinate thin strips of beef in different types of teriyaki sauce, the jerky comes out great, much better than store bought.

It's just dried meat... but I like the flavour the (cold) smoker gives it... I guess I should have been more specific - not your backyard smoker.

Everything tastes better with carcinogenic residue on it.

Bren R.

OK, here's what she said:

You have to have a pilot light in your oven.

Use very, very, very lean beef-the trick is to cut off as much fat as possible. They use round steak.

Marinate in the fridge in salt, garlic salt, pepper, liquid smoke, turning frequently for about a day.

Hang it on drying racks (as in cookie drying racks) in the oven for 10-14 hours.

Whoops, forgot an important point: when you think there's enough salt, add more.

thanks Ken

Mmm... beefy jerks.

This ain't no tube steak.

Tube Steak Boogie

Well the first batch went so fast, I need to get another batch going. Ended up getting a nesco dehydrator from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Had a 20% coupon from my mom, so ended up being about $38.

Used Alton's recipe from the Food Channel, worked out great, very yummy and blows away any stuff you can buy from the store. I used Eyo of Round, versus the Flank steak.

After you started this thread, I decided to make a batch too. I use ground venison and mix it with American Harvest original mix. Run it through my Jerky Shooter from Cabela's on to cookie sheets and dry it in the oven on a little over warm for about 4 hours. My daughters eat it up faster than I can make it. Not quite the same as Jack Links or the like, but the ground meat is easier on my old chompers

The best beef jerky I ever had was in the United States (Buffalo of all places). It was homemade, I remember him explaining he used some fan contraption to make it in his home??? His jerky had more of a soft texture too it, it was not tough. It was very tasty and had a nice heat "kick" on the finish. I have not had anything as good as his.

The Nesco Dehydrator ???

Sounds like the replacement monster for the 'Necromongers' in "The Chronicles of Riddick II."

kinda unrelated... I love those 'messing with sasquatch' commercials.