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No Need to Buy Expensive Jerky, Make It!Several years ago, I took a class in making jerky that was part of a several week coarse called "Pioneer Cooking". The class was taught by a lady and her husband that looked as thought they were pioneers. They taught classes for the local Nature Center. What Kind of Meat to Use?
The best jerky (easiest to chew) is made from lean tender cuts of meat. These are cuts known as tenderloin, back strap, eye of round, and the like. Now I realize that these are the most prized and most expensive cuts, but we are talking about the "BEST" jerky!! Other cuts can certainly be used if you are careful. After all, the Indians and Pioneers did not have the luxury of freezers and refrigerators, they "jerked" (dried) everything possible to keep it eatable as long as possible. By being careful, I mean that high fat and tallow content type of meat (like the brisket cuts) do not lend themselves to being preserved by making jerky from them. These cuts tend to spoil quickly so do not use them. Beef is certainly a favorite meat to use in making jerky. But since this is an Archery and Bow Hunting site, I recommend trying DEER, ELK, ANTELOPE, MOOSE, BISON, or whatever game that you bring home. Wild game is usually less fat than our domestic livestock and therefore, more of the meat can be made into jerky.
How To Cut Meat
If you do not remove these, your meat and jerky will not taste very good. If your butcher does not do this (always ask) or does not know what you are talking about, go to another butcher. You will find that the hind quarter has very good meat for making jerky. Have the butcher make roasts from the hind quarters and you can slice them for your particular needs. This will eliminate getting round steaks from the hind quarter, since you can not have both from the same hind quarter. When you slice the roast or other cuts of meat for jerky, be absolutely sure that you cut across the grain of the meat. If you slice "with" the grain of the meat, you will have leather to chew on. Another way to make extra tender jerky is to use hamburger or ground pork, season it like SAUSAGE , press it into strips or small slim jim size links, then dehydrate or smoke it. The sausage link will take you to our page and a video on the subject of sausage. How to Season the Meat
The class that I took recommended that you "blanch" the strips of meat before seasoning them. Blanching means that you have a pot of boiling water and place a few pieces of meat at a time into the boiling water for 5 to 10 seconds. This is just a way to kill bacteria on the meat. I have gotten away from blanching and have been using the marinating method for several years. Marinating your jerky strips will give it whatever flavor that you like. I use soy sauce, teriyaki, black pepper, garlic, and red pepper. I have also used steak sauce of various makes. I have also used just salt (sea salt no iodine) and pepper. Flavoring or seasoning jerky is a very personal thing. I like it spicy and hot (pepper hot). You may not like it that way, so experiment with different combinations of seasonings. Be sure to label each batch so when you find just the right combination, you can remember how you did it. No matter if you marinate or not, place the strips in a container (I prefer glass) 1 layer at a time and place the seasoning on each layer. If you choose to use soy sauce, do not use salt. The soy is salty enough. Place the next layer across the first layer (like a pie crust) in cris-cross fashion and season this layer. Continue the layering and seasoning until you use up your strips of meat. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours. If you marinate, cover the meat with you favorite concoction and you may want to let it stay for 48 hours. Then you are ready to dehydrate. How to Dehydrate Oven Method
When I took the cooking class, dehydrators were expensive and hard to find. This was way before Al Gore invented the INTERNET (yea right) for our convince. So, we used the oven in our kitchen. Be sure to get the OK from the Lady of the house or there may be trouble in paradise. To use the oven, be sure to drain the jerky strips very well. Put tooth picks through one end of the meat strips and hang on the oven rack. It is a good idea to put a cookie sheet covered with tin foil on the bottom of the oven to catch drips (there will always be drips). Do not let the strips touch each other or the sides of the oven. If you use the oven method, be sure the heat is on the lowest position, you do not want to cook the meat, you want to dry it. You may want to place a jar lid at the top of the oven door to hold it open a little if using a gas oven, to keep the temperature from getting too hot. Check often to see that the knobs on the stove are not getting too hot and from starting something on fire. You will need to check often when using the oven method. Each oven is different and depending on the thickness of the jerky strips and the oven temperature, the time to complete your project will vary. How to Dehydrate with Dehydrator
Dehydrators have become so common and inexpensive, I recommend that you use one. They are safer and cheaper to use than the kitchen oven and make less of a mess to clean up. You season the jerky strips just as above and drain well before placing them on the dehydrator. One step that I have learned that is most helpful here is to spray the dehydrator trays with cooking oil or a non stick oil before placing on the strips of meat. This keeps the meat from sticking and helps in the clean up of the trays. You can also add more pepper at this time if the marinate has washed it off. Did I mention that I liked pepper? Some Dehydrators have adjustable vents on the top cover and some have fans. Just play with these adjustments to see what works best. A full dehydrator (ours have 5 to 7 trays) can usually process all the meat (if thin sliced) in 1 day. I like to let it go for 8 to 12 hours then rotate the trays top to bottom, bottom to top, to get an even drying cycle. If you find that some of the strips are done in 12 hours (sampling is encouraged), then remove the jerky. Do not over dry. The thicker cuts will take more time, so as the thin pieces are done, just remove them. Even though jerky is supposed to be "cured" and not need refrigeration, I always store my jerky in a refrigerator. I Take what I will eat for a day in a baggie. I have even put a baggie in my ATV bag and nibbled on it for 2 or 3 days. There is simply no reason to take a chance on getting sick by not refrigerating the jerky. If I make an unusually large batch (2 or more dehydrators full), I freeze it in baggies until I am ready to use it. Need a Dehydrator? After geting to this page enter item # 38-620-582-00 in the product search box to view one similiar to the type we use. This is a high end unit and it will give many years of use. If you would rather start with a less expensive model, then paste item # 38-662-042-00 into the search box. I hope you have enjoyed this page. Return again as we will have more and more information for the Archer and Bow Hunter as time permits. If you have ever wanted to put up a web site to talk about your areas of interest and just thought it was just too expensive or hard, try the links below to see how easy and inexpensive it really is. Learn the proper way to write for the internet and the proven way to sell products on the internet. Learn how to have your site in the top 3 percent of all internet sites. These books have earned the writer thousands of dollars. Now they are yours at no cost. Just download and enjoy complements of Archers-Friend.com.
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