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Home > posts > 2016 > 01 > 2016-01-08x2_BeefJerky.html

"No Idea" Beef Jerky Friday, January 08, 2016, 12:00 AM

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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.

Recipe and Salt Notes

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

• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• ~0.75 to 1 tsp ground juniper berries
• 1.5 pounds extra lean ground beef

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

Thoughts and next time

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)

Tags: beef_jerky, jerky