NGC Jerk that beef

[Perazzimx14]

Wifey want me to jerk some beef so who am I to argue:

1 - whole eye of round trimmed of fat, split in 1/2 then cut into roughly 1/2" x 1/4" slices.

Marinade:

1 - 12 ounce bottle of soy sauce
1 - 16 ounce bottle of Worcestershire sauce
1 - palm full ea of crushed red pepper and black pepper
1 - Jalapeno powder (I used abot 3 tablespoons)
1 - gigantic glug of Franks hot sauce (1/4 to 1/3rd cup)
1.1 grams of cure #1 pound of meat.

1. Mix the marinade in a non-reactive vessle large enough to hold it and the meat.
2. Place the strips of meat in the marinade and mix well coating all the pieces of meat.
3. Cover and place in a refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours stirring 1/2 way through.
4. Drain meats in a colander. Do not reserve the marinade for another batch. It is a one use only marinade.
5. Place strips of meat on dehydrator racks without the meats touching
6. Set dehydrator for 160 degrees for 1 hour and then lower to 120 degrees until desired dryness (approximately 6 to 8 hours)
7. Around the 5 hour mark start checking some of the thinner pieces and if dried pull and put in a paper bag. Once all the meats are dried put in paper bag fold the end over and let sit overnight for the moisture in the meats to even out. When 1st off the dehydrator some meats will be dryer than others. The bag rest makes them all the same.





   

[yogidozer]

 Wifey want me to jerk some beef so who am I to argue:

hey, whatever makes her happy 

[lucian]

Nice!   I'll bet those have a  nice little kick to them.

[Perazzimx14]

Nice!   I'll bet those have a  nice little kick to them.

They'll have flavor not sure about kick. Earlier this year I bought Ghost Peppers to make some spicy jerky and for the 1st 5lb batch went very conservative and used 2 Ghost peppers because of what I read and how hot they were suppose to be. The jerky was good but not even remotly hot like what I wanted. Next batch I thre everthgin I had at it. 30 or so Habanero's, 15 Ghost Peppers a bunch of Jalapeno powder, crushed red pepper, black pepper and hot sauce and it was a little over 1/2 of what I wanted on the hotness scale. Waiting for some Carolina Reapers to find there way here and then I'll try again.

[LowRyter]

Pera.  Next time try nitro-methane or whatever they run in those big dragsters.   

[Chuck in Indiana]

Note to self. Find cheap (Guzzi content) dehydrator.

[Perazzimx14]

Note to self. Find cheap (Guzzi content) dehydrator.

Lots of dehydrators out there for under $40.

Quality jerky runs $35 to $45 a pound. If you are the type that can't tell the difference between SlimJims and handcrafted Sopressetta then Jack links or any beef jerky offereing you local gas station has on the shelf is for you. If you want known quality taylored to your palate and at a huge savings over premade then making you own is the best option. A dehydrator pays for itself in one or two uses.


Also you get to make what you like not what a manufacturer thinks you like and you know exactly whats in it. 

[tpeever]

When I saw the title thought we were doing some real jerk, Jamaican style Yah mon!

[yogidozer]

This post must have a virus.
Every time I click on, this shows up. 

[jcctx]

To keep it simple try lime juice and fajita seasoning as the rub/marinade~yummi!!!

[Chuck in Indiana]

It looks like the Nesco snackmaster pro is a winner..
I used to make jerky on a borrowed dehydrator. I guess I'll just have to pony up the bucks and b bbb buy one. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Just to make sure, that's 1.1 grams of cure #1 PER pound of meat?

Just how hot is this recipe? I'm fully aware you think ghost peppers are candy.. 

Edit: oh, forgot. This recipe is for a roughly 4-5 lb. eye of round roast?

[Perazzimx14]

Just to make sure, that's 1.1 grams of cure #1 PER pound of meat?

Just how hot is this recipe? I'm fully aware you think ghost peppers are candy.. 

Edit: oh, forgot. This recipe is for a roughly 4-5 lb. eye of round roast?

This recipe has enough liquid to cover a whole eye of round once trimmed of fat and sliced. A whole eye of round trimmed of fat is usually between 4-1/2 to 6 pounds.
   
Cure #1 is based on the weight of the meat at 1.1 grams per pound of meat.

Spices amount are entirely up to you. Actually a big squirt of honey to the marinade also plays well as it adds just a wee tad of sweetness to the final product. If you want you can add, omit or decrease any of spice as its is flavor only and nothing to do with the cure.

If you are a little gun shy about the heat cut way back or don't even use the hot components. Soy, Worcestershire, honey, black pepper and cure #1 will make an excellent marinade that will turn out some excellent jerky.

As far as how hot a friend of mine who is not a pepper eater thought it was spicy but tolerable. 

The Nesco Snackmaster Pro is a sound choice. I also think they are expandable (you can buy extra trays) to up the capacity. Honestly it doesn't take a whole lot of extra effort and ingreidents to double or triple you batch. Then you have lots of jerky and only have to clean  up the mess once. Before te holidays I bought a case of eye of rounds (not thinking there would be a dozen of them in there) and ended up buying 5 more racks for my dehydrator to be able to dry two (2) eye of rounds at once. Also the dehydrator is great in the summer when fruits, vegetables and spices in season and inexpensive. Or even over the winter and you buy fresh spices like basil and only use half the bunch put the rest in the dehydrator then crunch up between you hands and put in the dried basil spice bottle. No waste in product or money.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ok, thanks for that.  I'll maybe cut the jalapeno powder down by half for the first batch. I like hot, but don't want to make something nobody else likes..

[Huzo]

I love innuendo and toilet humour as much as the next bloke, but no way would I have gotten away with that thread title..

[Chuck in Indiana]

I wondered when you'd chime in..

[Perazzimx14]

I love innuendo and toilet humour as much as the next bloke, but no way would I have gotten away with that thread title..

Why? Jerking beef is the process of drying salted/cured beef 

[Huzo]

Why? Jerking beef is the process of drying salted/cured beef 

In Oz, it's also a process whereby ones hand (generally the right, but not exclusively so), can be held at or about waist level with the palm facing up and the wrist allowed to droop provocatively loosely at a distance between 3" and 9" from the torso.
Upon achieving this juxtaposition of torso and hand, a rhythmic oscillatory motion can then be employed to perform a function that most people who need to can and often do, perform once a day.
What I'm referring to is the act of dispensing sustenance to the fowls from which we derive our daily egg supply.
Over here it's known as...
"Feeding the chooks.."

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ok, I have my brand new dehydrator in hand.  got my cure #1, got my jalapeno powder. Dorcia's off to the store, and she'll bring me back an eye of round. 

[Perazzimx14]

Ok, I have my brand new dehydrator in hand.  got my cure #1, got my jalapeno powder. Dorcia's off to the store, and she'll bring me back an eye of round. 

Not knowing your knife skills but it will help to put the EOR in the freezer for an hour or 3 to firm up making it easier to slice. If you get one in a cryovac pac remove it from the package drain off any liquid and pat dry with paper towels before you put in the freezer. If you just throw the whole cryovac pack of meat in you end up with a layer of bloody sno-cone to scrape off.

Did you or do you have a low value scale able to weigh out the cure? Reloading scales work or there are several options on Amazon for less than $15 that are accurate down to 1/100th of a gram.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Not knowing your knife skills but it will help to put the EOR in the freezer for an hour or 3 to firm up making it easier to slice. If you get one in a cryovac pac remove it from the package drain off any liquid and pat dry with paper towels before you put in the freezer. If you just throw the whole cryovac pack of meat in you end up with a layer of bloody sno-cone to scrape off.

Did you or do you have a low value scale able to weigh out the cure? Reloading scales work or there are several options on Amazon for less than $15 that are accurate down to 1/100th of a gram.

I'm chief cook here.. and have the tools.  I *am* a tool guy. Thanks, though..

[Chuck in Indiana]

I made a half batch, and cut down the jalapeno powder by half just in case.. they turned out fine. Dorcia says she wouldn't want them any hotter.
Tasty, and I have an idea about what flavors I want in the next batch.
Thanks! 
2019-02-14_02-04-09 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr

[Perazzimx14]

Congratulations it looks fantastic 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks.  The Nesco pro dehydrator makes it simple. Every piece was done at the same time, no turning pieces , no shuffling racks.  At the price they get for..uh.. mediocre jerky, this bad boy will pay for itself in no time.

[Perazzimx14]

Thanks.  The Nesco pro dehydrator makes it simple. Every piece was done at the same time, no turning pieces , no shuffling racks.  At the price they get for..uh.. mediocre jerky, this bad boy will pay for itself in no time.

Told you so. Once you have homemade known quality you realize how terrible and WAY overpriced the mass manufactured stuff is.

Next try curing you own bacon or dried beef. If you have a fridge and a smoke or grill you have all the hard parts.

Let me know if you want to give either a shot.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Told you so. Once you have homemade known quality you realize how terrible and WAY overpriced the mass manufactured stuff is.

Next try curing you own bacon or dried beef. If you have a fridge and a smoke or grill you have all the hard parts.

Let me know if you want to give either a shot.

I have plenty of hobbies..don't need another right now.  I've followed some of your more elaborate things. Yeah, I have a smoker, and know how to use it. (For what I want to do..) Smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving (with misgivings)  It was awesome.

[Perazzimx14]

Since I have to eat I don't figure food prep as a hobby but rather a necessity.

Bacon or dried bee or really most cured meats take time but are not time consuming. 95% of the time they set in the fridge curing.


Bacon:

Day 1 remove pork belly from package apply cure and spices put in fridge

Day 1 thru 14 leave in fridge flipping every couple of days

Day 14 remove from cure rinse the meat with cold water place on a rack and back into the fridge for a day or 2

Day 15 or 16 Either cold smoke for up to 12 hours or hot smoke until 160 degree IT is reached.

Put back in fridge over night to age

Next morning done.

Yes it a 17 or 18 day process but the hands on time is minimal. The 1st time you fry up a slice and it doesn't' shrivel up to 10 of its original size because it wasn't pumped full of water it all worth it. Then take a bite and its really worth it.


 

[cliffrod]

A great way to help fit these worthy food efforts fit into your life is to help them fit into your fridge so you don't disrupt your entire life & schedule to do a simple job.  Commercial hotel pans with lids go a long way to maximize limited space.  If you have a used restaurant supply store nearby, stainless steel or lexan whole, half and third hotel pans with lids are as affordable as Betty Crocker home-grade items from regular stores. Think some hotel pans are also available at some Costco & Sam's types of stores.  A 2" deep pan with a lid will just raise the floor so you can still stack regular items on it.   True commercial-grade items are marked NSF, which means they are approved to be easily cleaned/sanitized.  In general, real nsf gear is the way to go. 

For flat foodstuffs & rub/dry curing meats, I have used a flat seafood tote with lid for many years.  these are thrown away  at the local seafood counter- you can usually get them for free, just ask.  They bleach fine and won't smell like fish or anything else.

This is a quick shot of my fridge right now




Flat blue tote holds the leftover pizza we made last pm, stacked on two third pans of fresh stock waiting to go in the freezer with stainless container on right for the dough/sourdough we always keep.   We use a similar round container for wet cure like corned beef- St Patrick's Day is almost here....

Doing simple maintenance on your bike is easy when your shop space is organized.  Your kitchen is just another workshop.  Flipping a side of meat- ribs, bacon, gravlax, etc- is a great use of your time when your kitchen is organized.  When you regularly make something as some of us do, it's just normal to do a little every day or so.   Eating well is good to do.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Since I have to eat I don't figure food prep as a hobby but rather a necessity.

Bacon or dried bee or really most cured meats take time but are not time consuming. 95% of the time they set in the fridge curing.


Bacon:

Day 1 remove pork belly from package apply cure and spices put in fridge

Day 1 thru 14 leave in fridge flipping every couple of days

Day 14 remove from cure rinse the meat with cold water place on a rack and back into the fridge for a day or 2

Day 15 or 16 Either cold smoke for up to 12 hours or hot smoke until 160 degree IT is reached.

Put back in fridge over night to age

Next morning done.

Yes it a 17 or 18 day process but the hands on time is minimal. The 1st time you fry up a slice and it doesn't' shrivel up to 10 of its original size because it wasn't pumped full of water it all worth it. Then take a bite and its really worth it.

Ok ok.. I'll bite. I assume that is the Cure #1. What are the spices? I could make room in the beer/wine fridge for a couple of weeks..

We are big into food prep, as far as that goes.. but.. some of your "molding in the smokehouse for weeks" is a little above and beyond for me. 
Yesterday, we had our first batch of home grown mushrooms. They were wonderful..but.. I'd call that a hobby. 

[Perazzimx14]

Ok ok.. I'll bite. I assume that is the Cure #1. What are the spices? I could make room in the beer/wine fridge for a couple of weeks..

We are big into food prep, as far as that goes.. but.. some of your "molding in the smokehouse for weeks" is a little above and beyond for me. 
Yesterday, we had our first batch of home grown mushrooms. They were wonderful..but.. I'd call that a hobby. 

Here is a good bacon calculator. Converting to metric is the easiest way when curing. 

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/calculator/dry_cure_bacon/

The hotel pans are a good idea. I use food grade bus pans.  You can use zip top or vacuum sealer plastic bags for curing. If using zip top bag set them on tray to catch any possible drips. If you use plastic bags leave a little air in them. If the plastic is sucked tight to the meat you won;t be able to slosh the accumulated liquid around.

One other critical thing. If you buy 1 piece of meat and cut it into 3 pieces so it fits into a bags for curing you now have 3 piece of meat. Each piece of meat the cure and spices is calculated separately and it gets its own separate containment.