JERKY JERKY JERKY

[steinyboys]

Well its been 4 hours now and looks and feels like an old boot not sure if another hour will make any difference doh might be a bit thick as well will put some pics in after but might put this down as a FAIL

There done and yes I think my first attempt was a fail, BUT they are dry and a bit tuff but sitting here with a brew chewing bits off I am happy, and its better than that stuff that comes in a plastic packet, it will get eaten! the Hark was a night mare to keep under 180 so looking forward the PROQ Excel Elite22, hoping it will be easier to choke down to low for jerky we will see some pics to see

[Bentley]

Hey Buddy! If you want them that thick, I think you will want to try about a 3cm wide strip. You did not do anything wrong, other then I think, trying to make a steak size piece of meat into jerky. If you want that much "area" for your jerky, you will need to get about 4 slices out of the pieces you are currently using. If you have a slicer, partially freeze the meat, then use #4 or 5 setting for the slices...if you want more of a thick jerky, try the strips!

[steinyboys]

I think I would have preferred them to be a lot thiner, we have a lot of Asian butchers that have ham slicers I will get them to slice it thin and even next time and will wait for me new toy to arrive for next batch, The Hark gas smoker was to much of a head ace to keep the temp low on

[Jemlok]

Nice Jerky Bentley. 180F is a little high though, Its beginning to cook.
65C / 149F is the magic number, Semi freeze and slice 1/4 inch.
I know the pics above were not at 180F of course.

Saying that, There is a wide open line between keeping jerky and eat within the next week jerky so going over the magic temp is not such a bad thing. And that can also include salt levels.
It dont need to be salty if its going to be polished off in short order.

[doc dogg]

I had a go at making some beef and kangaroo jerky in the dehydrator. The beef was a 'heart smart' silverside and the roo was a fillet. As this was a test I cut half across the grain and the rest with the grain. Started off with thin slices but as the meat defrosted they got thicker Trimmed as much fat off as possible (easy on the roo, bit harder on the beef)

Initial Marinate:
1 cup Kikkoman Soy
1/2 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup oyster sauce
Good splash of Apple cider vinegar
#2 cure (because food poisoning isn't fun)
1/2 Tablespoon of sun dried chilli flakes
4 cloves of crushed oven roasted garlic
Tablespoon dried onion flakes
Splash of liquid smoke

Once mixed I balanced the marinade with extra vinegar, sweet soy and a few more shakes of the onion and chilli to taste.

Marinated meat in separate bags in the fridge for two days because the wife gave me a bunch of jobs on the first day and I ran out of time

Dehydrator set to Max (about 68°c) and checked every hour and trays rotated. Thin stuff was ready in 3-4 hours, thicker stuff took 6-7 hours.

Obligatory photos:




Here is a photo of my chilli flakes, a mixture of 3 parts fleshy milder chilli (5/10 heat, peppery flavour), 5 parts hot, seedy chilli (9/10 heat, sweet burning mouth sensation) and 2 parts "Bunnings special" chilli that I'm sure is from Hell itself (12/10 heat, can't feel my lips for 4 hours mouth sensation, enhances other foods flavour via magic).



Pretty good jerky for my first go, maybe a bit too salty. Next time I'll marinate over night, add honey or brown sugar to sweeten and cut it all with the grain.

[Bentley]

Just did a batch a couple of days ago myself!

[Kirty23]

Hi guys. Long time jerky eater, first time maker here. I will tomorrow be recieving my biltong machine ( a dryer for making biltong and jerky). I currently have some tenderised round steak that looks like beef for schnitzels, that I have flattened out. My question is, is this suitable to make jerky? And seeing as it has soaked up majority of the marinade, how much do I need to remove before I dry it, and whys the best method? Cheers

[titch]

Hi guys. Long time jerky eater, first time maker here. I will tomorrow be recieving my biltong machine ( a dryer for making biltong and jerky). I currently have some tenderised round steak that looks like beef for schnitzels, that I have flattened out. My question is, is this suitable to make jerky? And seeing as it has soaked up majority of the marinade, how much do I need to remove before I dry it, and whys the best method? Cheers

No idea, never made Jerky. I,m using you for my Tutorial to a future attempt.
Good luck and show us how its done.

[Kirty23]

Hi guys. Long time jerky eater, first time maker here. I will tomorrow be recieving my biltong machine ( a dryer for making biltong and jerky). I currently have some tenderised round steak that looks like beef for schnitzels, that I have flattened out. My question is, is this suitable to make jerky? And seeing as it has soaked up majority of the marinade, how much do I need to remove before I dry it, and whys the best method? Cheers

No idea, never made Jerky. I,m using you for my Tutorial to a future attempt.
Good luck and show us how its done.

Lol well this will be interesting...

[titch]

Hi guys. Long time jerky eater, first time maker here. I will tomorrow be recieving my biltong machine ( a dryer for making biltong and jerky). I currently have some tenderised round steak that looks like beef for schnitzels, that I have flattened out. My question is, is this suitable to make jerky? And seeing as it has soaked up majority of the marinade, how much do I need to remove before I dry it, and whys the best method? Cheers

No idea, never made Jerky. I,m using you for my Tutorial to a future attempt.
Good luck and show us how its done.

Lol well this will be interesting...

Cant be any worse than if I tried, you want help with sausage ask me, Jerky is your baby unless someone else pipes up

[lockyer]

I love Jerky...

Will be interested in knowing what is involved in making it. Like Titch I'm not much help and someone is bound to come along with the right answer/s.
Cheers L

[Tmb99]

Thought I'd throw down some info as I've been making jerky for yrs with great success. Its really simple, you only need basic stuff to do it. It's funny as I was thinking last week that I haven't made a batch in ages and was thinking about making a batch using a smoker. I threw this together and used these pics which were taken many yrs ago!

Meat
No fat, no connective tissue. Lean cuts are what you want. Top side is good, just simple ol topside roast from Coles will do the job. I only use beef as that's what I like.

Cutting
Nothing fancy except a sharp chef's knife. I don't freeze or anything, just trim it and cut straight after buying it. However all my knifes are SHARP!

Try and cut pieces same thickness, about 5-10mm I find good. I mix it up across & with grain and different widths (but similar thickness).



Marinate
Nothing fancy, just chuck a bunch of stuff together. I look through the fridge/cupboard and chuck it all together in a plastic bag. I've left it to sit as little as an hour and it tasted about the same as days of sitting in the fridge. Below is a list of things I normally have in my mix.

Salty - sea salt, soy, worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar.
Hot - chilli (flake, fresh or powder all work), cracked pepper (lots), whatever hot sauces you have in the cupboard (hotter the better!).
Sweet - tomato or BBQ sauce (often both), yellow mustard, dried rosemary, any jams or apple sauce can work as well.
Smokey - liquid smoke



Drying
I just use my oven. Both houses I've lived in the last 10yrs had fan forced electric ovens so can't comment too much about other types. However I know someone who used to sun dry it - so anything will work!

I place the meat on baking paper on the racks to stop too much mess - as I don't like cleaning ovens. After a couple of hours I get rid of the paper as the marinade has dried and won't drip.

I put the oven as low as it will go (on my oven around 50c) and open the door a touch, usually just put a tea towel in the door to open a crack. If the oven wasn't fan forced or was hotter I'd open the door a lot more.

Leave it for 4-8hrs depends on heat and thickness. I pick up the pieces and bend them. They should go white and feel kinda stiff but not brittle. Trial and error with this part to find how you like it.




Enjoy
Awesome snack to have in the car or in desk, on a cheese board, or with a beer mmmm. And I've also given as a shitty Xmas present to friends in the past!

Big thing is don't over think this, it's really simple! As said at the start nothing fancy needed.

[Tmb99]

Ok so I had time to put together the Hark smoker yesterday so did some jerky today. Bit of a funny thing to start with as I didn't really plan to use the gas side of things in the smoker!
I picked up some skirt steak on the cheap, sliced it pretty thick strips, dumped in a bunch of marinates from whatever was laying around.

Stacked in the smoker



Fired up a coal with the blow torch



Over about 2 hrs I had it smoking. I then moved it to the oven to hold it at 50 degrees for another 4-5 hrs



finished product