Jerky Recipe

[Nphunter]

Worlds best Jerky IMO. The recipe is for about 5lbs of meat.

Mix all ingredients well, microwave for 1 minute, stir and repeat until mixed well and sugar is dissolved.

4 cups Brown Sugar
2 Teaspoons Cayenne Pepper (skip if you don't want a warm aftertaste)
2 Teaspoons Black Pepper
2 Teaspoons Steak Seasoning (I prefer Montreal)
2 Teaspoons Seasoning Salt (Johnnys or similar)
2 Teaspoons Sage
2 Teaspoons Oregano
2 Teaspoons Old Bay
2 Teaspoons Creole Cajan Seasoning
2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
2 Teaspoons Basil
2 Teaspoons Garlic Salt
2 Tablespoons Accent
1 Teaspoons Dill

1/4 Cup of A1 Sause
1/4 Cup of BBQ Original Sause (Bullseye or Similar)
1/2 Cup of Water

Submerge all meat totally under the brine in a large bowl, cover in shrink wrap, and set in the refringerator for 24 to 48hrs.

 

[Nphunter]

I've used both a Big Cheif Smoker with no smoke to dry the meat and my oven turned all the way low, if you use the oven line the bottom of it with tin foil or wrap a large cookie sheet with tin foil and set it under to catch the moisture. Also because of all the moisture, you will want the oven door cracked. Eiter prop it open with a wooden spoon handle or if you have a locking oven engage the lock before closing and close against the lock.

 

[Nphunter]

Check the Jerky after about 5 hours and flip and leave for another 5+ hours. You can tell the jerky is done once you can pull it out and it starts to crack when you bend it. The jerky will still be pretty flexible when warm but stiff and will break when cooled off.

 

[Nphunter]

If you want dry jerky, then remove it from the oven and lay it out until it cools and then store it in small brown paper bags. You can put extras in the freezer and it will keep very well this way. If you like a tacky or sticky or tacky jerky place in bags right away, as it cools it will create condensation and make the jerky sticky on the outside.

 

[Nphunter]

If you overcook the jerky and it becomes very brittle and dry take it out of the oven and put it in large 1 or 2-gallon zip lock bags immediately and zip them closed, the condensation will suck some of the moisture back out to the outside of the jerky.

 

[Nphunter]

If I have a lot of meat I will make about 4 times the batch and mix everything into a new 5-gallon bucket and close the lid. It's typically pretty cool when I'm making jerky and I've left the meat out for 48 hours before drying more than once in 5-gallon buckets, I always make sure the meat is fully submerged in the brine when doing this but prefer to keep in a refrigerator if possible.

 

[Nphunter]

If you are inpatient and want to brine the jerky faster you can add the brine and meat into a vacuum sealer bag and remove all of the air. Normally if done this way the meat is totally saturated after 24hrs or less. You can tell the meat is fully cured by the brine when you cut it with scissors and it's dark all the way across.

 

[Nphunter]

I cut my jerky meat into 10+ inch strips about 1/2" across. If you have small pieces you can either buy some cookie cooling racks to put in the oven or smoker or go to the hardware store and buy some of the mesh they use to make rabbit cages or even use a small piece of chicken wire to keep the small pieces from falling down into the heating element as they dry.

 

[Nphunter]

I would recommend if your new to making jerky to go buy a big or little chief smoker and use that. Using the oven can really make a mess of it and your old lady might not be too happy with you next time she goes to cook a pizza and fills the house with smoke

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Sounds good! I added it to my try list!

 

[Muggles]

You might try air drying the jerky by attaching jerky in furnace filters with bungee cords on a box fan.

 

[Rbrown]

You might try air drying the jerky by attaching jerky in furnace filters with bungee cords on a box fan.

Sounds like the Alton Brown Jerky method. There's probably a YouTube video showing ya how to do it.

 

[UndeadPoet]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Muggles]

Rbrown, that is exactly what lead me to that technique. I think it really makes for better jerky and love the smell in the house when I do.

Alton Brown can be found on the program "Good Eats" on the Food Channel as well as YouTube as Rbrown mentioned if anyone has the interest.