Homemade Beef Jerky

I cheat:


I buy it at Academy

I use a dehydrator.

Alton Brown has a good recipe. LINK

quote:

---

How many lbs does that cook?

---

Probably about 10-15 Lbs. I use a dehydrator too.

Which one did u buy?

I think that Jerky should be individual to your taste...almost like gumbo. But I like to marinade mine for 2-3 days in a heavy dales/mores, mustard, and hot sauce based marinade. Then hit it with garlic powder, black pepper and red cracked pepper as I take it out if the marinade and lay it on the rack.

I keep it simple on the ingredients. But if you like it sweeter...then add some brown suga. If you like it to burn your arse...then use some use some red pepper...if you like it to have a spicy pickled taste then use a jar of jalapeño juice in your marinade..... I've tried a lot of varieties and I eat every last piece of every batch cause it's hard to mess up but my friends and family always like the simple route the most.

How long does jerky take to cook in the dehydrator? I've only done it on smokers

If you don't want to buy a dehydrator you can just user the oven toothpick method. Marinate the slices cut really thin with the spices you want.

Then, hang the slices on the oven racks with toothpicks. Put a drip ban below.

Turn your oven on lowest temp before you go to bed at night. Use a spatula to prop the oven door open to allow moisture to escape.

When you wake up, you've got beef jerky.

Thank you everyone for all of the information. I'm going to use a simple marinade and maybe add a little red pepper and brown sugar. I'll try out the new dehydrator that I purchased over the weekend and will let you guys know how it turned out.

I left out the liquid smoke for fear of an e-beating. But I use it too.

quote:

---

If you don't want to buy a dehydrator you can just user the oven toothpick method. Marinate the slices cut really thin with the spices you want.

Then, hang the slices on the oven racks with toothpicks. Put a drip ban below.

Turn your oven on lowest temp before you go to bed at night. Use a spatula to prop the oven door open to allow moisture to escape.

---

This. But I won't mess up my oven racks by using them. And the drip pan is going to be very difficult to clean. Expect a 5:1 fresh meat to jerky ratio.