Meat Jerky Recipes

[enduro]

I know there are a few threads on the subject already, but I am hoping to consolidate the pure content into a single thread. Perhaps the Mods can create a Sticky Thread that resides at the top of the Subforum.

I invite you to post your tried and tested jerky recipes here.

Let's try to keep the chat to a minimum and just post the recipes so we can create an excellent reference.

[enduro]

I'll go first ...

I spent most of Saturday afternoon devising ingredients with my professional cooking skills to create my perfect jerkies. Firstly I made a plain Jerky, a Lemon Grass and Bush Lime Jerky and this one below. I tried the Lemon Grass one again tonight and it is getting really good with a days rest.

Beef (or Lamb) [1200g of lean beef = 300g Jerky]

500g lean beef (I used roasting meat for this recipe)
1 Tblspn Tarragon
1 tsp ground dried garlic
1 tspn ground dried onion
1tsp ground salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Grind all spices in a motar and pestle.

Remove all fat from the beef. Divide the slab and 5mm slice into 2cmx5cm strips diagonally across the grain. (cutting 90’ to the grain will leave you with fragmented jerky later). Slightly frozen meat slices more easily.
Arrange on a plate and dust both sides with spice mix.
Place on rack and dry in oven at 100'C-130'C for about 2.5hrs in the oven. I used a fan assisted oven.
Prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon to ensure good ventilation.
The Jerky will be ready when it snaps in the fingers when cooled.

[Son of a Beach]

Biltong
(as quoted to me by a Sth African physiotherapist during treatment)

Ingredients:

game meat, or beef
vinegar
worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
coriander

Method:

Cut meat into thin slices.

Mix remaining ingredients together. Pour over the meat and marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Remove the meat and hang in a cool place until dry right through (or in a food dehydrator).

I usedabout 300 grams of meat (wallaby or beef), half a cup of vinegar, 2 teaspoons of coriander (seeds), about a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, small amount of pepper and about 3 teaspoons of salt (I like my jerky salty, and when I was given some biltong from Sth African doctor once, it had salt crystalised on the outside of it).

[Son of a Beach]

This one in completely different to Jerky, but I love it. I usually add a LOT of hot chilli sambal oelek (not the sweet kind) to the recipe.

This recipe is based on a steak marinade recipe, but replaced the 2 tbsp brown sugar with 2 teaspn salt.

Again, this one is best with wallaby or game meat (more flavour).

Marinade for Jerky

Ingredients:

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teasp grated green ginger
2 teasp salt
1 tbsp BBQ sauce (use tomato sauce if you don't have BBQ)

Method:

Mix all together and soak meat of choice for several hours in the fridge or overnight.

Dehydrate to you liking (some like it chewy, some like it drier).

[Liamy77]

For mine i marinate thin slices of lean beef neck for 24 hoursin:
soy sauce
a little white vinegar
cayenne pepper
garlic
salt
chicken stock
onion
bay leaves
then dry it in an old mozzie head net hung near the metal flu of our wood fire for a few days or so - depends on how thick the slices are
ps i freeze the meat a bit so it is easier to cut the strips really thin.
happy waistlines!
Liam

[Liamy77]

just a question-
Has anyone tried chicken or rabbit (or other meat types) as jerky?
i would like to try rabbit or maybe fish but have no idea what spices might work and dont want to ruin an animal getting started... I would appreciate some help getting into the right "ball park"
cheers, Liam

[Macca81]

i prefer to use Kangaroo for my jerky for a couple of reasons. a) i think it tastes really nice, b) it is really really lean and so needs little to no trimming of fat, c) its one of the highest natural sources protein, and d) its got heaps of iron. all round, a great choice
i usually just use a bit of salt and pepper, and let the flavour of the meat come thru.

i do have a recipe that i do like to use sometimes, but as i usually just make it without thinking ill have to get back to you on the ingredients... maybe in the morning when i make it

[Son of a Beach]

I agree that kangaroo and wallaby are my favourites for jerky. It's worth emphasising that minimal fat (preferably none) is very important for dehydrating meat, as the fat just doesn't dehydrate well and can go rancid (so they tell me). Apart from the better flavour this makes most game meats more suitable for jerky than some of our usual meat cuts.

[Macca81]

as the fat just doesn't dehydrate well and can go rancid (so they tell me).

i can assure you it does... i had a really marbled piece of beef once that just could not be trimmed, decided to give it a go anyway. it tasted fine, but it only lasted about 36 hours in the cupboard before it started to smell bad... in 48 hours it went to the dog (who LOVED it!)

[Macca81]

i do have a recipe that i do like to use sometimes, but as i usually just make it without thinking ill have to get back to you on the ingredients... maybe in the morning when i make it

ok so i actually took note of what i did, then i got bored and put it in a table...

Ingredients Parts Percentage

Garlic Powder 2 10
Salt 2 10
Pepper 2 10
Soy Sauce 5 25
Oyster Sauce 1 5
Tabasco 3 15
Red Wine Vinegar 4 20
Fish Sauce 1 5

TOTAL: 20 100


OK, So, to start with i put the garlic powder(granuals actually...), rock salt and peppercorns in the morter and pestle and pounded it to a dust, then i put half aside(see below). then i added all the other stuff (i have been using 'red pepper champagne'[cant remember who makes it] rather than tabasco lately, its hotter than tabasco which i like...).

the packets of roo steaks from woolies usually comes with 3 steaks in it, 2 get put into the liquid mixture, 1 gets put in the garlic/salt/pepper dust that i put aside earlier.

im about to go to my old mans for dinner, so by the time i get back the meat will have been marinating for about 4-5 hours... anywhere between 2 and 12 is good

so pull it out of the marinade, stick it on a few sheets of paper towel, put some more paper towel on top and roll it up to get rid of all the liquid. then stick it on a cake cooling rack and put it in the oven overnight. oven is turned on till you just hear it click on, fan assist is GREAT, door is cracked open with a tea towel or wooden spoon, just enough to keep the air circulating. jerky is dont in about 8 - 12 hours, depending on whether the oven is fan-forced or how open the door is or the temp/humidity in the kitchen (winter is less time because the air is drier usually).




now i hope that actually makes sense, because i have just written it as i have thought of it, so good luck

[corvus]

In my experience chicken does not turn out too good ,not tried Rabbit but should work being low fat and I would imagine Turkey leg and thigh meat would be OK , a mate does Fish and it works but the smell is horrendous when he opens the packet in a hut (tastes ok they tell me not really that into fish) however if you like fish I will ask him to post his recipe
My Beef jerky recipe is on another post on this forum so I will have a look and link the thread (if I can)
corvus

[corvus]

Jees I knew there was a thread but I guess I dropped the needle so here goes again.

Beef around 1 kg heart smart roast (or salt reduced corn beef fat removed)
quarter it lengthwise then slice it cross grain about 5mm thick
60 ml Worcestershire sauce
60 ml Soy sauce
optional 30 ml Brandy or Whisky or Vodka
2 cloves of crushed Garlic
1 tablespoonful of grated ginger root
20 turns of the pepper mill
1 tablespoon good curry powder (or Cajun seasoning)
at least 1 teaspoon of salt
Marinade in fridge for a minimum of 6 hours
It will take around 5 to 10 hours to dry in a Dehydrator you can check out oven methods
good luck
corvus

[Macca81]

a mate does Fish and it works but the smell is horrendous when he opens the packet in a hut

cut a cpl of slices off my tuna steak i had for lunch and chucked em in, just with some salt n pepper... will see what thats like in the mornin

[Liamy77]

... a mate does Fish and it works but the smell is horrendous when he opens the packet in a hut (tastes ok they tell me not really that into fish) however if you like fish I will ask him to post his recipe ....
corvus

lol ... Might be a good way to combat "hut crowding"???

I wouldn't mind trying his recipe if you don't mind... i'll just have to stay down-wind from everyone else i guess.

[corvus]

Ok will ask him to post .
corvus

[Liamy77]

got hold of another seasoning recipe:
corriander
black pepper
tumeric
powdered garlic
brown sugar
salt
chilli
vinegar

i havnt tried this one yet though...
happy masticating!... yes i said... masticating!
sorry did i mention i have a dodgy sense of humour?

[Macca81]

ok so i just tasted the result of a different method i tried. i went along the lines of a basic dry-cure method for meats (the same way as you would make ham or prosciutto etc).

i made a cure from salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper, stuck it in a ziplock bag along with 2 roo steaks, made sure they were completely covered and stuck it in the fridge for about 36 hours, giving the bag a good massage and turning it over every time i went to the fridge (after a few hours, a brine developed and turning the bag made sure the brine came in contact with all the meat). when it came to putting it in to dry, i pulled the meat out of the bag and rinsed ALL the seasoning off it, patted it dry with some paper towel, and sliced it as per normal.

the result, jerky that was perfectly seasoned all the way through, and didnt have any peieces of seasoning falling off it (this is often the part i find that breaks the ziplock bags i store it in while walking etc). it also meant that i wasnt eating chucks of salt or pepper along with the meat... all in all, i feel it was a full success! very tasty

[corvus]

If you can afford it heart smart rump steak gives a better end product
corvus

[MartyGwynne]

Marty's Veggie jerky.
When the fruit (any fruit) is as ripe as you can get it - it needs to be very ripe and sweet (you may be lucky and have your own tree) I have found very ripe blood plums the best and think cherries would be good.
Slice the fruit in half and get the pip/stone out, you may wish to slice the fruit into smaller pieces.

For the marinade.
Vanilla bean pod slit in half and seeds scooped out.
Sugar (brown/raw/white/palm) about 1 cup.
Juice of one or two lemons (depending upon the size of lemon and amount of fruit).
Add a dash of lime juice and or liqueur if you desire (optional).

Combine marinade ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil for 3-5 mins. Then cool the mixture.

Place halved/sliced fruit into a bowl and pour marinade over it and mix it all through coating all of the fruit.
Place onto your drying rack and slowly dry for the next few days or till the fruit is just still flexible (like leather).
Bag them up in zip lock bags or other airtight container.
Store for about a year if they are kept cool and dry (fridge or freezer works well).

Eat as a snack or for desert and if you wish they can be re-hydrated and have tasty fruit for your bush walking desert.

[corvus]

Wow Marty you had me worried when I started reading your recipe , I thought sweet Meat Jerky no way
till I read further and realised that you were talking about " dried fruit" sounds like a nice recipe.
corvus

[MartyGwynne]

Sorry I did/may have misled some with the meat jerky heading.
Yes it is just another dried fruit recipe, but please make sure you have sweet fruit to start with as I have read that some people have used some 'tart' fruit and were not impressed with the result.
Cheers.
PS by the way there are some great meat recipes here which I will be trying out.
Marty

[Wollemi]

Does kangaroo need to be cooked normally prior to making 'joey jerky' in the dehydrator, or is it placed in raw after marinating ? I have only done beef previously - which was not cooked in the normal manner first.

[enduro]

Does kangaroo need to be cooked normally prior to making 'joey jerky' in the dehydrator, or is it placed in raw after marinating ? I have only done beef previously - which was not cooked in the normal manner first.

The marinating process should pickle or cook the meat sufficiently.

Jerky is normally preserved by smoking, marinating or just drying the meat and there is no need to cook it first.

Store it in a dry place away from humidity, light and heat. I store mine in the freezer and it's still perfect after a year.

[Gadgetgeek]

I know this is an older thread, just wanted to add a couple thoughts, Potassium nitrate (meat tenderizer) is worth adding unless you have a health concern to not.
As far as non-beef meats, just be really cautious as wild, or near wild meats are more likely to have parasites. In theory if you had trichinosis free pork you could use that, but that's why you don't see pork jerky. since rabbits can have parasites, I'd like to know I was getting good quality meat, but that's no guarantee.

[Strider]

Costco sell pork jerky

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Gadgetgeek]

I suppose I could say, its why pork is not a traditional jerky meat, trichinosis not being the problem it once was, I guess someone has tried to market it. cool.

[enduro]

Having had direct experience I would avoid using Potassium nitrate if the persons eating the produce have an over active thyroid condition.

Potassium nitrate is known to engorge the thyroid with blood and create mild to moderate choking sensation and affect thyroid function (in those with hyperactive thyroid).

[n5750547]

Biltong
(as quoted to me by a Sth African physiotherapist during treatment)

Ingredients:

game meat, or beef
vinegar
worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
coriander

Method:

Cut meat into thin slices.

Mix remaining ingredients together. Pour over the meat and marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Remove the meat and hang in a cool place until dry right through (or in a food dehydrator).

I usedabout 300 grams of meat (wallaby or beef), half a cup of vinegar, 2 teaspoons of coriander (seeds), about a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce, small amount of pepper and about 3 teaspoons of salt (I like my jerky salty, and when I was given some biltong from Sth African doctor once, it had salt crystalised on the outside of it).

Biltong is easily my favourite with Droewors a close second!

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

[DanShell]

I am only new to dehydrating food but I tried some beef jerky as my first attempt.
I didn't have a recipe as such I just threw a heap of ingredients and spices together that I thought I'd like and marinaded it for about 24 hours.


Then it was into the dehydrator for about 4-5 hours.



I rotated the trays every half hour or so and it seemed to dry out ok. It's very dark and tastes great.





I'm not really sure if it's been dried too much or not enough to be honest.
I put it into ziploc bags and in the freezer. Although I noticed today when I took some out that it doesn't really freeze as such, maybe due to lack of moisture but it still tastes great.
I just used a lean chunk of beef that would normally be roasted and cut it into thin chunks.

How long should it last in the freezer? I'm thinking several months?

[keithy]

Well, Santa got me a dehydrator to play with. And having been away, I've not had the chance to crank it up.

I've made jerky before at home, but using the oven instead - in the oven I run a skewer through about 5-6 slices of meat and hang them from the oven racks, set to 70C on a fan forced oven, and prop the door open with a wooden spoon and run for around 10 hours.

Normally I do something like this:

1.5-2kg beef roast, fat cut out. I like my jerky a bit thicker, so cut it in thicker slices. Some people like it thinner and drier.

Marinade (kinda varies with what's in the pantry, but it's usually):

• Kikkoman soy sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• teriyaki sauce (I used a teriyaki powder as I ran out of sauce)
• liquid smoke (it’s hard to find, so I used a steak powder with smoke flavour)
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cayenne pepper
• brown sugar
• crushed chilli

I went a bit light on cayenne as usually when I've made jerky in the oven a bit of chilli goes a long way. But this time I used too little and forgot the crushed chilli and it is barely spicy. And I ran out of onion powder so didn't add as much as I normally do.

Marinaded overnight. Dried the slices and racked them. Only had enough for four racks.
Dehydrated at 65-70C for around 8 hours, probably could have gone for a bit longer.

Mmmmm.... About 1.7kg roast became 590g

Strangely the smaller chunks kept disappearing from the racks while checking the progress of the dehydrator (and into my stomach). My new dehydrator has uneven spots, but the racks are easily moved and turned around to try even out the drying. Ran it in the bathroom where there is an extractor fan so the house doesn't stick of meat!