Homemade Beef Jerky

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
We don't usually eat beef jerky, but we do like to have some on our camping vacations. Hubby mixed up a good batch for our upcoming trip. We bought some London Broil when it was on sale, had it sliced like a thick bacon, and froze it until ready for use. When the jerky's done. we seal it airtight for the vacation, to keep it fresh. The store-bought jerky is always too sweet, due to the preservatives, etc.

Here's the approximate recipe...

Put Soy Sauce (Kikkoman Less Sodium) in a bowl, usually takes 1 medium size bottle for a couple of pounds, enough to cover the meat. Add some Liquid Smoke, can be a few sprinkles to a couple of teaspoons according to taste. Add ground black pepper. Taste liquid before adding beef.

Once liquid tastes to suit, add beef slices, and marinate for approximately 20 minutes. Too long will make it too salty.

Line oven wire racks with aluminum foil, line bottom of oven also, although it should not drip that far. Using a dehydrator is too slow and messy. Place the slices of beef onto the racks after marinating.

Slow bake in the oven for approximately 8-9 hours on a low setting. Around 150 degrees, we just keep ours on the Warm setting. Keep the door of the oven open a bit to let out the moisture and humidity. Turn every few hours.

We have an extra wire rack, so we use three. After 4 hours, switch the positions of the racks, so that the bottom is on top, etc. Our latest batch came out really well, and we'll have some good snacks while hiking in the woods. Not good for sharing with the furkids though, due to the seasonings.
 

I like jerky but have never made any. A guy I used to work with brought it to work. Mild, hot or xtra hot. $5 a bag and it was really good. I usually just got the hot but xtra hot was good too.

One of the few things I miss about work.
 
My husband just made another batch of jerky that came out really good. We don't use the foil on the oven racks anymore, we bought a large non-stick baking tray and that works very well. We can do a 2 pound London Broil at a time, it was on sale for $2.79lb. We also let it marinate longer, close to an hour.
 

We also like to make it and love the eating part. I'm pretty close to your recipe but I also like to use some paprika and minced garlic in the marinade. Then I'll sprinkle some coarse black pepper on the meat just before drying them. Yum.. :p
 

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