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"No Idea" Beef Jerky -- back to top
I decided to get back into jerky making. And, I also decided I wanted to go back to ground beef since, with the help of my new jerk gun (think caulk applicator but for beef), it is so easy to use.
I am calling it "No Idea" Jerky since the flavors are hard to describe. It was inspired a bit by Bilton and also some (but not all) recipes for bresaola.
Below is the recipe I used. I debated the salt content. I read through many recipes both from my own and a few books. They tended to have about 1/2 cup of soy sauce per pound. I had done that too with low sodium making it about 2300mg of sodium. That is about 1 tsp/pound of table salt. I think this worked well. It probably could have been a bit saltier but I kind of liked it not being over whelming. Therefore, I think the general guidance (for me) is about 2300-2800 mg of sodium per pound of ground beef
Anyway, the ingredients and process I followed is below but see below that for comments
I microwaved it all but the beef for about 30 seconds to dissolve the sugar. I then let it sit for about 40 minutes. After mixing the beef in, I let it sit over night (probably about 15 hours or so.
I used the Jerky Gun to form strips and then dehydrated at 145 for about 5:45 (HH:MM). At about the 2-3 hour mark, I took each piece off, blotted it well with paper towel, put it back (flipped) and rotated the trays. I did it again at about the 4-5 hour mark
I chose 145 to try to avoid cooking it too much. The instructions say 160 but many people do it even lower. I figured this was an ok mix
There will be a next time. This came out really good. Not too salty and lots of flavors. I can't really describe it, but they were a nice mix.
Next time though, I think I will use just 1 pound of beef but tweak the spices a bit and scale the salt. This should make it more intense but still keep it from being too strong. I will adjust from there for the future
I will scale the salt to 1tsp but I think I will switch to Morton's Tender Quick to provide some curing agent. Just to keep it safer.
I will actually make another batch soon for the sake of experimentation and having the time.
(2016-02-19: Final version of this recipe is now here)
"No Idea" Jerky (II) and Thai Jerky -- back to top
I made more jerky so we would have a good bit for the week.
I made them the night before. I heated the marinade to dissolve the sugar and marry the flavors. I let them sit for about 30-60 minutes, then I added the beef/bison (around 7:45pm on 2016-01-09). Then, around 2:30pm today (2016-01-10), I had it going at 145
I actually left the house and was out for longer than anticipated. Therefore, I did not blot it or anything. I came back around 7:00pm and stopped it. Therefore, it was about 18.75 hours marinating and 4.5 drying.
As I noted the first time, I wanted to try making the same basic recipe again but with less beef and keeping the rest the same.
That is essentially what I did. Below is the recipe. It again came out really good with lots of flavor. But, too much juniper. I would cut it to a scant 3/4 tsp next time but the rest can stay the same. The salt level was perfect
Heated all but the beef just until the sugar was dissolved then let sit for about 30 min to an hour.
(2016-02-19: Final version of this recipe is now here)
I debated exactly how I wanted to do this, but eventually decided on the following. I considered a Thai Chili pepper but decided against it since I was afraid the heat would be inconsistent. I wish I had done it as it was not very hot. I just thought of it now, but next time, I would use the blender to break it up.
The final result was good though. Maybe a tad salty but not bad. Not sure yet if the rice powder added anything
Again, heated all for a bit to combine. See above for comments and times.
Beef Jerky: "No Idea" and an attempt at New Mexican Red -- back to top
I made beef jerky again. I was a bit more time constrained. I made the marinades, let them sit to meld flavors for a little bit and then I marinated the meat for about an hour (out of the fridge).
I think I may have come to a stable recipe. It is basically like the one from last time but less juniper and I replaced the water with extra apple cider vinegar.
It started around 4:30 and I took it out around 8:40 after drying it at 145°F.
Combine all but the beef and heat just enough to dissolve the sugar. Let flavors meld for 10+ minutes and marinate with the beef for an hour to a day.
(2016-02-19: Final version of this recipe is now here)
I wanted to try to make something New Mexican so I went with red chile. The plan was to do it with close to normal amounts of liquid and blend it but the vitamix needed more liquid to grab everything. I think I ended up with about 1/2 a cup which made for a very wet jerky. I had to let it dry for about an hour more than the other one. I also did this one with the sticks instead of strips but I think from now on, I will just use the strips. I got some of the ingredients from red chile sauce recipes.
Flavor wise, it has a little kick and was overall ok. It could probably use some work on the flavors and more heat.
Toast the whole chili pods about half way, then cut off the stem and let the seeds stay in the pot. Finish roasting and add the water and turn off the heat (the water will likely boil right away). Let steep for ~5 min.
Remove the peppers but reserve the water. Combine all other ingredients but the beef in the blender. Add the minimal amount of water possible to the blender to get it going, starting with the pepper water (with the seeds removed). I needed about a 1/2 cup total. Use as little as possible.
House ("No Idea") and BBQ Beef Jerky -- back to top
I made my regular house (aka "No Name") jerky and a BBQ jerky.
I used the regular recipe except did half the apple cider and the other half water since this was unfiltered.
It come together and extruded normally, but for some reason, despite being the identical beef to the BBQ, this was so oily when I checked on it. I swear I couldn't even really blot it. I ended up at a certain point since it was late, turning it off, placing it open on a lined plate, and refrigerating it. It seems to have reabsorbed the oil or something since it was fine in the morning. As usual, I treat these as something you should refrigerate but can last some amount of time
I kept this super simple. I worked out the math on salt and went with:
I mixed the TQ and the water, then mixed it all. I know Sweet Baby Rays is super fake (first ingredient: high fructose corn syrup) but I like it a lot. These came out pretty good. Not overpowering amount of BBQ sauce and you could still taste beef, but also not super overpowering.
I marinated them both for about 3 hours, then started drying at 6:25pm at 145°F. At 10:45pm, they were super oily (especially the House) as mentioned above. After blotting them, I did another hour at 160 and then basically gave up. I think they worked out fine though.
House and BBQ Jerky -- back to top
This is basically a repeat of 2016-04-02. I basically did the same thing but with the cooker on 165.
They got really oily. The meat was supposedly 95% lean (from Whole Foods) but I am not sure. Also, it took a really long time. About 5 hours.
From now on, my rule is that if I am making jerky, it must be in my 4:30pm
Also, I didn't let it cool enough before putting it in the bags in the fridge. They were wet in the morning. I took them out and let it dry a bit and used a new bag.
Interestingly, the BBQ made about 9 oz and the House made 7.75 oz (probably due to the extra liquid to start)
House Flavor and Teriyaki Flavor Beef Jerky -- back to top
I've done this before on 2014-12-30 so I used a similar recipe, but I made some changes. For instance, we used Teriyaki sauce from 2016-07-24 which was very sweet so I didn't add extra sugar.
Anyway, it was:
The beef was super (!!!) wet. 1/2 cup of liquid is really the absolute upper bound I think for how much goes into it!
This was just my usual house jerky with bison. The only difference is that I wanted to use regular salt so I used about 2 1/4 tsp Diamond Brand1 kosher salt aiming for about 2500mg. I think it was actually a bit too salty this time. Other than that, I kept to my usual recipe.
I did both at 160°F.
Sure enough, the teriyaki did dry up pretty well. Still a bit more moist (and chewy) than I wanted but I think that is what should be expected
Also noted is a buffalo jerky recipe I was going to do but ended up doing teriyaki instead.
This one more coarse so this is still about 2500 mg sodium ↩