Dehydrating with The_blue - Easy beef Jerky

Fourstar said:
Quick, to the butchers! Saw this thread earlier and had to give it a go.

I have a question about the original recipe.. how much is half a cup? Google says ~120ml which means my marinade totalled half a pint and I now have what looks like meat soup in the fridge :o :p
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Can't see pictures at the moment.... work hates imageshack.US
 
I've never tried jerky or biltong in my life, but the amount of people that rave about it makes me feel like I'm missing out.

Also, epic thread.

Also, space jerky:

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Biltong and Jerky can't be compared, not the same product. Each had its uses :)

I've done biltong but it's not user friendly to cut as you cure it as a joint/strip then slice. It's like slicing leather :D

I will try biltong style jerky though. Its only coriander and wine vinegar.

You cut your meat into strips WITH the grain so when you slice it at the end you cut across the grain. salt the meat, wash in vinegar then season with a corriander based mix. Dehydrate the strips by hanging until 1/2 dry (SA call it 'wet') or nearly dry (SA call that 'dry')

My next batch will be a trial of the above using jerky style slices. :)
 
Aod said:
agreed. lucky for me, i live just 5 minutes walk away from a Zimbabwean/SouthAfrican Butchery who sells all three of my favourite zimbabwean foods:
Biltong (both ordinary and "spicy"), Borewors (:D) and Sadza...


Hmmmmm, Sadza...
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Sadza as in Mielie Meal? The corn based mash potato substitute? ;)
 
The_blue said:
Can't see pictures at the moment.... work hates imageshack.US
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Any image hosts your work does allow for when I post some more images? :)

I'm sure the marinade quantities must be correct. It's just from the pics mine looks like soaking and yours basting.

Had a look at a couple of other recipes and they use quite a large volume of marinade.
 
I've got a dehydrater a few months ago and have made a good few batches :)

My usual beef mix involves the following stuff all measured using the "meh that'll do" technique.
Soy sauce
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Jack daniels smoky barbeque sauce
Worcestershire sauce
chilli powder

What I will say is the longer you can marinate the meat for the better, I'd say 24h minimum. I actually made a batch of honey and mustard pork stuff, it wasn't bad at all, I may try to do some fish or calamari (squid) jerky at some point.

I've actually got a batch of regular beef on the go at the moment, I've just started it going, I'll post some pics up of it at some point :) Oh and it smells sooooooo good :D

In the deyhdrator, just a cheapo one from tesco, does the job, mmmmmmm 800g wet weight of tasty raw dead animal.
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Fourstar said:
Any image hosts your work does allow for when I post some more images? :)

I'm sure the marinade quantities must be correct. It's just from the pics mine looks like soaking and yours basting.

Had a look at a couple of other recipes and they use quite a large volume of marinade.
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Can see them fine from home. :) looks good :D


The marinade amounts arn't exact. if it's not enough top it up. I find the amounts listed work.

The beef doen't soak it up like a sponge. You only need to exchange flavours and salt.
 
I'm following your first recipe and it's drying in my dehydrator as we speak, it can't dry fast enough as i keep on peeking at it. I did add 5 scotch bonnets as i like things mega spicy, though i don't think they've done the trick after having tasted the marinade. Am already planning my next batch, can anyone recommend a method for making it mega super spicy?
I was thinking of dusting the jerky after marinading with some extra hot chilli powder, would this work?

Thanks for making this thread The_Blue.
 
The marinate is never as spicy as the finished product. Concentrated flavor at the end.

Try loads of ground pepper as well. Thats what i'm doing. :)

Anyone fance a cheese making thread next?
 
The_blue said:
The marinate is never as spicy as the finished product. Concentrated flavor at the end.

Try loads of ground pepper as well. Thats what i'm doing. :)

Anyone fance a cheese making thread next?
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Yes i'd be interested in cheese, it happens to be my second favourite thing, with meat being the first. In fact i watched Gordon Ramsey make halloumi the other day which looked surprisingly easy and delicious.
 
Is there any way you can cook them at a higher temperature?

The oven I have only has gas mark temperatures. Lowest I have is half a gas mark which is supposedly 120 degrees which is double what it should be. There is also an 'S' setting but I have no idea what this is. Couple of places suggest 100 degrees but I'm not sure.

Is it do-able on this temperature or am I going to have to invest in a dehydrater?
 
I think you can, though you'll end up cooking the jerky rather than drying it. Though from a quick google it seems that some people with gas ovens just leave the pilot light on in the oven which seems to do the trick, however if you do wish to buy a dehydrator you can pick them up pretty cheaply - http://www2.westfalia.net/shops/hou...tives/dehydrating_/193811-food_dehydrator.htm
This is the one that i have.
 
Always have a couple of kilos of biltong on the go.

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48hrs, still a bit soft for my tastes.
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Like mine nice and dry, so let it hang for 72hrs or so.
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