Homemade Beef Jerky Question

Have a favorite trail recipe or technique you'd like to share? Please do! We also like reviews of various trail food products out there. The Backcountry Food Topix forum is the place to discuss all things related to food and nourishment while in the Sierra wilderness (as well as favorite trail head eateries).
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JWreno
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Re: Homemade Beef Jerky Question

Post by JWreno »

We make it a few days or weeks before the trips and it goes in gallon ziplock bags. It never hangs around long enough to get stale. It might be a few weeks old if it goes in a resupply package that needs to be shipped. The advantage of making it yourself, is you can make how you want it and not eat stuff a year old. We use a 5 tray Excalabur unit that we also use to dry all our fruit for the trail.
If we have left over we just put the bag in the fridge I take it to work for snacks until its gone. Never let it go long enough to go bad.
Jeff
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InsaneBoost
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Re: Homemade Beef Jerky Question

Post by InsaneBoost »

Didn't want to make a new thread being this was still on the first page close to the top, so I thought I'd ask about this being it was something I didn't like.

I made two batches, and finally did get a flavor I liked after playing with some recipes. With that said the 1/4" cuts I'm not a fan of, unless I just dried them way too long.

Mine weren't like bacon where it's cooked too long and crumbles, but when eating it was still rather harder/dryer, and I'm a fan of the softer chewier kind. Such as the thick pieces you would find in your typical beef jerky at a store like Jack Links, etc, the thick small pieces that aren't dried out and are super soft.

How would I go about doing something like this? Cut them thicker? But let them dry the same? Cut them the same, but don't dry them as long?

I'm fine with playing around a bit, just don't want to get super sick.
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AlmostThere
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Re: Homemade Beef Jerky Question

Post by AlmostThere »

How to make jerky:

Go to the meat market and ask for lean meat to make jerky. They will sell you the leanest cut, throw it in their freezer, slice it nice and thin along the grain. You come back a few hours later and pick up your prepped sliced meat, no extra charge. Take it home, marinate as you like, and dry it. I used a borrowed Excalibur dehydrator.

The end result was jerky without tons of preservatives, and seasoned with exactly what I wanted. I hate tough overseasoned crap that's barely chewable - I don't eat tons of jerky in the first place. Mine was still chewy but nowhere near as board-like as the stuff we brought home from Costco.
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freestone
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Re: Homemade Beef Jerky Question

Post by freestone »

This may have already been mentioned... you can get nice thin slices if the meat is semi frozen. I 'm not much for marinades, so salt, lemon pepper, and chiles on line. I also dry already slow cooked trip-tip, in shreds.

Has anyone tried making salmon jerky yet?
Short cuts make long delays. JRR Tolkien
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