Beef Jerky
Beef jerky is a wonderful treat and works great on the go or at home. It’s a protein packed punch if you’re a runner or cyclist in need of an energy boost. In addition, given many of the high protein diets that are popular today, it makes the perfect snack to get you between meals. If you’re not into running, cycling and dieting, then it’s just a delicious alternative to the popcorn and sweet snacks.
Ingredients
- Beef eye round cut (any size works, just affects the amount of jerky you end up with)
- Steak Marinade (double the recipe)
Instructions
- Trim your eye round removing as much fat as possible
- Slice your eye round in 1/4 in. strips, across the grain of the meat
- Place the meat slices in a zip lock baggie with the Steak Marinade overnight
- After marinating overnight, prepare your smoker with a sweet wood, such as apple or cherry
- Smoke the meat for about 45 mins. to an hour. The point isn’t to cook it, but to give it smoke flavor
- Remove the meat from the smoker and lay it all flat in a dehydrator. Avoid overlapping the meat.
- Dehydrate the meat for 4 – 9 hours, rotating regularly and checking for doneness
- Store in a zip lock bag
Notes
- Slicing your jerky is easier if the meat is slightly frozen. Put it in the freezer for about an hour before you are ready to slice it.
- Since jerky isn’t stored in the refrigerator and typically lasts for weeks, fat in the meat is a bad thing. Fat can cause the jerky to spoil and will make you sick. Remember to use lean cuts of meat and trim off any excess fat.
- Final amount of jerky is about 1/4 of the amount of meat you start with. For example, if you start with 2 lbs of eye round, you’ll end up with 1/2 lb of jerky.
- This recipe uses my Steak Marinade, but feel free to use other marinades and experiment a little.
- Because dehydrators vary greatly, the exact amount of time for dehydrating will also vary. Rotate the meat in your dehydrator to help keep it consistent. Also, smaller pieces of meat will obviously be done sooner than others. Pull them off as they finish up.
- You’ll need a large dehydrator for all of the meat that comes from a full cut of eye round. If you don’t have a large one, use a much smaller cut of meat. Or, split it up before slicing and freeze the unused portions for the future.
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