Caveman Recipes: Beef Jerky

So you bought a dehydrator and you're bored of drying fruit in it.  What else is a dehydrator good for?  Beef Jerky!

If you're like me, you need to snack a lot even on the Paleo diet.  Some days nuts and fruits just didn't cut it, I needed something fulfilling.  That's when the idea hit me, I'll just go and buy a lot of beef jerky.  Well if you've checked the prices, beef jerky is not cheap, but the ingredients and the effort used to make it is.  That's when I made up my mind, I was going to make it myself for way less than I could buy at the store.

Andy's Paleo Beef Jerky Recipe:

Ingredients

1 pound of Beef (Flank, tri-tip, eye of round, any one of these will do)

1 teaspoon chili

1 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons sea salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon lemon pepper

1/2 cup chicken broth (or beef broth)  [optional]

1/2 cup water  [optional]

a few drops of lemon  [optional]

You can ask the butcher at the store to thinly slice your meat.  They normally do this much quicker than you can yourself.  But if you want to give it a try here's how you do it.

First freeze the meat for a few hours to help crystalize it for easier cutting. This isn't neccessary but it makes life easier. Once lightly frozen, trim as much visible fat off the meat. Fat is difficult to dehydrate, not very nutritious, and is prone to become rancid much quicker. I don't really recommend tri-tip because there's usually a lot of fat still embedded in the slab.  Eye of Round I've found is the cheapest/easiest to work with. Begin to slice the meat into 1/4" thick slices. If you lay a knife flat sideways on the table the distance between the table and the blade is generally about the thickness you're looking for.

Mmmm, thinly sliced meat...

Cut along the grain for a nice chewy texture. You can easily see the direction of the grain in a nice lean cut of meat.

Just follow the ridges!

In a bowl mix together chili, cumin, salt, garlic, onion, and lemon pepper.  Mix well and pour out onto a flat surface.  Begin to coat the individual slices of meat with the mixture.  Just lay it in and the mixture generally tends to stick to the meat.

It's like magnets on the fridge

Set the spiced meat aside in a closed container.  If you'd like, I know I do, I pour in the Chicken Broth and water to give it a better marinade.  Squeeze in some lemon juice, only a few drops.  The citrus acid helps tenderize the meat.  This actually works with regular cooking as well give it a try.  Let the coated/marinated meat sit in a closed container, refridgerated for at least 4 hours.

Lightly salted please

Once you're satisfied with the duration of the coating/marinade lay the individual slices in the dehydrator.  Be careful not to overlap any pieces as this will lengthen the dehydration time and produce uneven results.

I just need some space right now

If you're dehydrator has a temperature setting, set it around 90 deg.  You want to dry the meat, not cook it.  Leave it in the dehydrator for roughly 5-8 hrs.  Refer to your dehydrator for recommendations.  Once the meat obtains a dark brown, leathery texture it's done drying.  But you're not done yet!

Mmmm leather...

Just to be safe place all your jerky on a pan and bake it in the oven at 150 deg for about 30 mins to stave off possible salmonella.  If you want a smokey/hickory taste leave it in for longer until it gets a darker almost black color.  Finally, remove the jerky from the oven and dab any remaining moisture with a dry paper towel.  Let it sit for a little until it is no longer hot and store in containers or plastic bags.

Not that expensive stuff you buy at the store

There you have it, Beef Jerky!  This is just my trial recipe.  I'm still trying to nail down my favorite mixes.  Be creative experiment on your own.  Throw in some bacon grease for your marinade, try more or less spices.  it's your Jerky, you make it how you want to eat it.  If you don't get it right the first time around, try it again.

As a warning Beef Jerky has a shelf life of a few weeks; storing it in cool dry places (e.g.plastic bag in a fridge) helps prolong the shelf life.

Next time:  Making you're own Dehydrator.  Awww Yeahhh!! (It's pretty ghetto)