Marc Z Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) Hi guys, Had a bash at making some over a few days, thought I'd share my efforts with you. Been looking at lots of jerky making recipes lately so decided to get myself a food dehydrator. Jerky/Biltong can be dried in a low oven or strung up in front of the Aga, but with a dehydrator the process is really controllable, doesn't take up the oven space for a whole day and there's tons of other things I can dry out with it. Bought it from Amazon for about £40. For the recipe... Per 1 pound of lean beef (makes about 230g jerky, a large jar full) I got a reduced 500g topside roasting joint, for £3.12 Pop it in the freezer for an hour, then you can easily cut it into quarter inch thick slices without it flopping around. 4-6 inch by 1 inch cuts are a good size to aim for. Edited September 3, 2012 by Marc Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Z Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) 3 oz dark soy sauce 1 teaspoon of season-all (mainly pepper, onion powder, garlic powder mix) 1 teaspoon of lea and perrins 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke or 4 teaspoons of smoky bbq marinade a few good twists of salt and pepper Put the meat into a large zip-lock freezer bag. Make sure its a good one which holds air/liquids well. Then chuck all the ingredients in, zip up the bag and mix up good and proper! Open the bag, lay flat on the counter and squeeze as much air out as possible before zipping the bag back up. It almost vacuum packs it. Pop it in the fridge and forget about it for at least 24 hours. 36-48 is better! (I managed 36 before getting too excited to wait) It should darken nicely in your marinade, and look like this... Now all you need to do is spread the meat strips out on the dehydrator trays, leaving plenty of air circulation around them Turn it on, if variable temperature I had it at around 50-60 degrees centigrade, for 8 hours. Turn it over after 4-5 hours. Check it after 7 and you should know if it needs another 1 or 2 hours. It should be firm and dry to touch, any thicker bits shouldn't 'bounce' back after you squeeze it. Edited September 4, 2012 by Marc Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Z Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 The end result should look something like this This is a basic recipe, and is ripe for customing. Could try with a teaspoon of tobasco, or extra garlic. Thanks for reading, Marc Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin lad Posted September 3, 2012 Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 looks like you been having fun mate, i have been getting into dry curing and making some more rare things at work my latest project has been biltong i have made it with beef,venison,turkey and rabbit, the venison is lovely shall be making jerky in a week or two as i have a batch of chorizo on the go at the moment colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddJob Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 I love jerky. Which dehydrator did you go for? Lovely pics as well, loving the effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMart Posted September 4, 2012 Report Share Posted September 4, 2012 I have tried making venison jerky,pemmican and biltong several times with varying degress of success. Ranging from complete disaster to reasonably edibile. The best results achieve were in the bottom oven of the Aga. The air dried/ smoked attempts where complete losses.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshwarrior Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 Instead of a dehydrator use a box with a light bulb inside. That's how I do my biltong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hedd-wyn Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 Shot mate, looks amazing. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconFN Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 Looks good. I make very good biltong by hanging if from hooks above my wood burner - I roll strips of beef in salt, black pepper, crushed corriander seed and chili powder. Just bought half a pig so I'm going to try making hams next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 i have done any for a wee while but bought a cheats jerky gun and just mixed the mice with packs od cure bought of evil auction site in various flavours .....squirt out onto cake racks and do in the oven and good results with venison , pigeon , beef,& mutton mince here easy to do i now also got hol dof a home made biltong box which has a 60w bulb & a pc fan in it and followed instructions of a guy i know from zimbabwe and used red deer haunch in strips....soaked in malt vinegar then rolled in safari biltong spice mix and done for 3 days in biltong box...was amazing...still slightly moist in middle instead of thru n thru chewy..will definately be doing that again ...seeing as the spice i bought the amount gonna last a loooong time :-) paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billywoodsman Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 Looks like a tasty snack there Mark Z,I have made some by hanging over the woodburner which turned out very tasty. Just one thing bothers me with eating uncooked meat,is there a chance of getting worms or something worse ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 thats a mouth watering post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Funker Posted March 17, 2013 Report Share Posted March 17, 2013 Oh dear,,,,, I feel a new project looming, a biltong box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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