Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky is one of those luxury foods that I only ever get during the holidays, but I crave it often. One day it dawned on me that I am a ‘strong and independent adult who don’t need no store bought jerky’ and can just make my own.

I used a flank steak as my beef. It is supposed to be a lean meat which is ideal for beef jerky since fat does not preserve well compared to the meat. So if there is any excess fat on the flank steak, you can trim it off. Most people recommend putting the beef in the freezer thirty minutes before cutting as it makes it easier to cut into thin strips.

I then made the marinade. I used this recipe but there are lots online.

I placed the beef in a bag with the marinade and let it marinate for twenty four hours.

Once ready, I patted the slices dry a bit, placed them between some plastic wrap and smashed them thin with a hammer. We don’t own a meat hammer so I just used a regular old construction hammer and let me assure you it did the job just fine.

I then laid the strips on a cooling rack on a pan so that they were fully exposed to air for the dehydration process.

To dehydrate the meat, they need to sit in an oven for somewhere between 4-6 hours. Mine were in for 5.5 hours on 170 fahrenheit and the consistency came out great afterwords.

I let the meat cool a bit, then bagged it for eating the next day as by the time they were done dehydrating it was already after midnight. Don’t be fooled by the few pieces in the bag below – the recipe makes a fair amount but I had eaten the vast majority of the jerky before taking this picture.

Overall I was surprised at how simple the process was and the jerky came out tasting and feeling just like any beef jerky you get from a store. (I will say it was a bit salty – I may have let it marinate too long in the salty base)

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