How to Make Your Own Jerky
In the modern world it’s hard to get more “primal” than dried meat. Consider it one of Grok’s many talents and culinary achievements. Jerky is essentially strips of lean meat that have marinated and dried. The result? Tasty, rich, salty and pumped with about twice the protein gram per gram of regular “hydrated” meat. To boot, you’ve got a snack that travels well under circumstances as varied as weekend camping trips to NASA missions. Awesome, huh?
But when we say jerky we mean something so much better and healthier than the processed strips and sticks (e.g. “Slim Jims”) you find at the gas station checkout. The best jerky is made from whole-muscle meat, homemade or in small batch varieties. We’ll agree that there’s some great small label jerky out there. Meat shares from small farms often include it. To try out a few varieties, farmers’ markets are a great place to pick up some of the real deal especially if you’re new to the world of genuine jerky.
But there’s real pleasure and a very primal sense of accomplishment in making your own. But rest assured that the endeavor needn’t be the tedious, complicated effort many people think it is. Sure, the overall time commitment involves several hours, but most of it is plain old “dry” time when you have the liberty to go about your business at home, fixing the front steps, weeding the garden, watching the kids in the pool, catching a cat nap, etc. Consider it a great excuse to enjoy hanging out at home on a weekend afternoon.
But don’t I need a dehydrator or smoker? Nope. If you have an oven, consider yourself set. Many long-time jerky connoisseurs actually find oven-made easiest and on par taste-wise. If you’re, in fact, using a dehydrator or smoker, simply follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If you’re going the oven route, we’ve got some tips.
The Devil Is In the Details (of prep, that is)
Tip #1: Go for a meat with next to no fat. This is not the time to look for marbling. When it comes to jerky: fat just doesn’t work. It goes rancid – unhealthy and, well, downright unappetizing. Jerky can be made from beef, venison, bison, and (less often) pork, turkey, and chicken, ostrich, and salmon. Beginners might start with beef for simplicity and availability sake. An easy and common cut is flank steak. London broil cuts are a good option as well. (As always, we suggest clean, grass-fed meat if you can get it.)
To save time and frustration, you can always request that the butcher do the trimming and cutting for you. Go for long, ¼ inch strips cut across the grain for tenderness. A tip for trimming your own: put the meat in the freezer long enough to firm up but not harden and then get out the ginsu.
The next step involves the marinade. You’ll get a lot of advice on marinades. A million different opinions, actually. In addition to the marinade recipes themselves, there’s the marinade method. As the folks at Oregon State University tell us, the USDA recommends that jerky meat “be heated to 160 degrees F before the dehydrating process in order to destroy pathogenic microorganisms.”
Some people dry in the oven at this temperature, but another method for heating is the “hot marinade” option. Instead of letting the meat “soak” overnight in a plastic bag, you can boil your marinade mix and drop in your meat strips for a minute or two. Rest assured that a lot of people swear by this method just for the taste itself. If you’re using conventional meats, going the safe route is a good idea. Raised, grass-finished might present less risk. The safety of wild meats like venison often depends on factors as various as overpopulation to butchering mastery.
As for marinade recipes, chalk it up to personal taste. We’ll offer a humble suggestion to get you started in your experimentation.
For a 2-lb cut:
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. liquid smoke
3 minced or crushed garlic cloves
2 ½ tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. hot chili powder
½-1 tsp. each of salt and black pepper
(Hint: For a hotter taste, add red pepper flakes or hot sauce. To add a hint of sweetness, include a Tbsp. of honey.)
The Heat Is On
Again, if you’re using an oven, you’ll use the power of the dry heat to dehydrate the meat over several hours. Lay the strips across clean wire racks or a broiler pan, and place in the oven. You’ll want to put a lined pan in the oven a couple rack bars lower than the strips in order to catch the drippings. If you don’t have racks that will hold the strips, line backing sheets with aluminum foil, and lay your jerky strips on the pans. Make sure the strips don’t touch. Particularly if you used a hot marinade, you can use a lower temperature (150 degrees is common) for 6-8 hours. Turn strips half-way through cook time.
Jerky is done when it’s darkened and cracks when bent. (It shouldn’t break apart.) Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
Call It Good
Once the strips are fully cooled, it’s time for storage. Homemade jerky (i.e. jerky without all the nitrates and preservatives) won’t store long at room temperature. Vacuum sealing is your best bet for this option. The packaging will allow you to bring the jerky with you on that longer backpacking trip minus the fuss and worries. In the meantime, your best bet is refrigerator or freezer storage. Wrap or vacuum seal in plastic, and store for 2-3 months in the refrigerator. (Freezer storage, provided you’ve wrapped the jerky well to prevent frostbite, will buy you a few more months.)
There you go. A nice big batch will give you plenty of portable protein nourishment for days walking on the trail or biding your time in the airport. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be a jerky convert, we guarantee it. It’s a subculture in itself, we tell ya.
Got stories, recipes, tips and trials in your own jerky-making ventures? Do share, we say. Enjoy!
alau2, lightsoutfilms Flickr Photos (CC)
Further Reading:
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At http://georgesrecipes.blogspot.com/2008/03/angry-jerky.html You can find a great recipe for jerky that I invented – without the soy sauce. Its also a sweeter spicer flavor which everyone I’ve made it for (hundreds) love.
I’m a big fan of the slim jim. In fact, I like them so much I once almost mail ordered myself a slim jim bouquet. Anyway, always wanted to try making my own. Looks fun. If only I had a vacuum sealer.
Jerky is the preferred snack when I am out backpacking in Northern California. And as this article states, jerky is not at all hard to make, it is a little time consuming but not difficult. I like to soak my meat in teriyaki sauce for an hour or so before cooking.
as a woman who goes into the shakes if she doesnt git some jerky DAILY—-thank you for this post.
I need to make the time to make it more often.
my addiction? the TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE of Chipper Jerky.
I was in Alaska last month and had some great salmon jerky. I had never thought about salmon as jerky before.
Folks try making biltong…it’s ‘lekker ‘
Alton Brown has a nice recipe for jerky using a box fan and air filters instead of an oven or commercial dehydrator.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_31151_,00.html
I can’t forget about dogs, they love beef jerkey dog treats, too, my ShihTzu loved it. When i took her to obedience classes, it was such a reward and made it easier to train her!
In South Africa we’re lucky enough to have amazing jerky – Biltong (available everywhere, from any shop and in all good butchers). My family also regularly goes hunting, so venison biltong is never in short supply (Springbok and Kudu in particular). I’d say biltong is a truly South African speciality, much like Parma Ham might be to Italy!
Oh,I love Biltong.
I never liked slim jim’s, and having once read the ingredients list, I saw mechanically separated chicken parts – confirmed why I shouldn’t be eating them. Wow… just wow.
Hi. Just found your blog thru MizFit. I am so excited about this jerky info. I have been wanting to make some homemade, but didn’t know where to start.
It’s the perfect snack for traveling too. Easy protien while stuck on plane that thinks protien = bagel (seriously).
Welcome, P.O.M! I hope you find many other articles you like on MDA. Please take a look around and if you have any questions feel free to drop me a line. Cheers!
Hey I found this site on stumble and I’m very glad I did. I go hiking/backpacking a lot and have been wanting to make my own jerky instead of paying for it.
Kangaroo meat is almost fat free and makes some of the best jerky ever.Best eaten with home made chilli salsa.
As usual you “beautiful” people turn my stomach. If you use meat with a little marbling it will add tremendously to the tenderness and flavor of your jerky. However, if you prefer flavored shoe leather, then by all means use lean meat. When using marbled meat, just refrigerate the jerky if you are worried about it spoiling. It is usually not around long enough to spoil. I have made jerky dozens of time with marbled meat and have never had a problem with spoilage.
and if you’re in the meat business, you can then use your jerky for a business card: http://meatcards.com/
Do you sell the web feet rubber sandals I always see you wearing in your pictures on this web site if so I would enjoy buy some…
My husband and I live in San Diego but we’re from South Africa where it is common to eat Biltong. This is dried meat a little like jerky but the pieces are cut thicker and vinegar is used in the marinade to ‘cure’ the meat which is then dry hung. This means we can use ‘fattier’ pieces which is great because the fat is the yummiest part. My husband built a cabinet for our garage with a fan mounted on top where he can hang our Biltong – in a few days it is dry and ready to eat. My preference is to have it a little moist and my husband likes his really dry.
Oh … and biltong is also made from ostrich or game meats. All kinds of buck are common in South Africa and those meats are used.
If you’re from South Africa and live in the USA like I and several others here clearly do, you find jerky quite unsatisfactory compared to biltong. Jerky – at least shop bought – tastes too much like boiled meat. Biltong has a great “chew”.
For those interested there are lots of resources on the web for biltong; here’s an example:
http://www.markblumberg.com/biltong.html
Here is a really good comparison of biltong to jerky. The key differences:
- jerky is marinaded, biltong is salted (I guess this is the reason jerky is much softer)
- jerky is dried quickly with heat, biltong is dried slowly at a cool temperature (making it classified as “raw meat” by USDA)
- jerky typically uses pepper/garlic for flavoring, biltong uses coriander
http://www.jedsjerky.com/blog/difference-biltong-versus-jerky/
BTW the best biltong is made from Kudu. We can only dream of it here; I’ve been tempted at times to go night-time hunting at the local zoo in Seattle
I am definitely going to try and make my own jerky. I am tired of the dried out store bought stuff.