My family loves jerky. Making it ourselves not only saves us money but we are able to personalize the flavors according to our preferences. I love a sweet, smoky and slightly spicy mix. Hopefully your family will love it as much as mine does.
Supplies
The first step in making your own jerky is preparing the meat. This recipe will work with any red meat. You want to slice your meat pretty thin, about 1/4 inch. The meat tends to slice better if it is still slightly frozen. For this recipe cut about 2 pounds. Sometimes I will throw in a little more meat if after I begin to marinate the 2 pounds and it seems like I have more marinade remaining in the bottom of the bowl. No need to waste it, just add more meat and make more jerky … your family will thank you.
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds, 1/4 inch sliced red meat 1 cup Yoshidas 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon liquid smoke 1 tablespoon honey 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 teaspoons ginger 2 teaspoons onion powder 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder
Mix Marinade
For the marinade combine 1 cup of Yoshida’s sauce, 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke, 1 tablespoon of honey, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of ginger, 2 teaspoons of onion powder, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of chipotle pepper powder.
This seems like a lot of ingredients but it makes such a lovely bouquet of flavors. I really like the chipotle pepper powder. You could do other varieties of peppers but the chipotle adds that smooth, smoky quality to it.
Coat Well
After Combining all the ingredients together for the marinade, add the sliced meat and coat it well. Store the mixture in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.
After allowing the meat time to marinate and absorb all of the flavorful goodness place the meat spaced out on the dehydrator trays.
Dehydrate at 145 degrees fahrenheit for 5-12 hours depending on your meat and your machine.
Enjoy!
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or the freezer.
