How to Make Jerky at Home
Have you ever thought about how great it would be to make your own jerky at home, but then wondered: how much work would that actually be?
Well, making your own jerky is simpler than you might think — just follow these 4 easy steps:
1) Choose the perfect cut of meat
The first step, and also the most important one, is to choose very carefully the type of meat you'll use to make your beef jerky.
The most popular meats for making jerky are definitely beef and pork, but there's nothing stopping you from trying other types of meat to experiment with different flavours.
But how do you choose the right cut of meat for making delicious jerky?
The secret is to use cuts of meat that are as fat-free as possible or, if not, to make sure you trim away all the fat before you start.
This is because fat doesn't dry out the way lean meat does — it holds onto much of its moisture, which compromises the shelf life of your jerky, since it's exactly that trapped moisture that leads to spoilage.
We'd recommend a lean cut; for your first attempt, you could try buying beef sirloin from your trusted butcher — a cut that's easy to work with and has very little fat.
Either way, remember to trim away any remaining fat — this will also give you a healthier jerky that lasts longer.
That said, since it's a homemade product, we recommend eating it within a few days.
2) Slice the meat
Now you need to cut the meat into long, thin strips. The thickness of the meat is directly proportional to the drying time and oven temperature; for your first try, we recommend a thickness of 0.5-1cm, which will give you a jerky that's meaty but not too tough.
If it's too thick, it risks not drying all the way through; if it's too thin, it's very likely to dry out too much and become very tough.
A little tip:
to make it easier to cut the meat into long strips, pop it in the freezer for a short time (20-30 minutes at most) so it firms up enough to make slicing easier, without actually freezing.
Be very careful though — if it does freeze, ice crystals will form in the meat, which once thawed will make the meat slightly stringy and less flavourful.
3) Prepare the marinade
Now comes the fun part, where you can really get creative deciding what flavour your jerky will have.
The marinade can be made in different ways: wet or dry, sweet or savoury, simple or more elaborate.
For now we'll look at a couple of very simple ones, suitable for beginners, which will help you understand the marinating process.
Example of a dry marinade:
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground rosemary
Prepare the spice mix — the proportions will vary depending on the flavour you want to bring out. Once ready, sprinkle the mixture over the meat strips you cut earlier; it's best to repeat this on both sides so the flavour is evenly distributed.
At this point, place the meat in a sealed container in the fridge for at least 24 hours — 48 is even better if you have the patience!
Once the marinating time is up, arrange the meat strips on an oven rack. Some people prefer to rinse the marinade off the meat, but that's really up to how intense you want the flavour to be — don't worry if the meat changes colour, that's part of the dehydration process caused by the salt (remember that curing meat with salt is an ancient preservation method).
Example of a wet marinade:
• Soy sauce
• Paprika
• Curry
• Pepper
First, pour a little water into a bowl to create the liquid base, then add the rest of the ingredients — again, the proportions depend on the flavour you're going for, but be careful not to overdo it with the soy sauce, as it has a very strong, salty flavour. Mix until you get a smooth liquid, then dip the meat strips in one at a time, making sure they're all fully submerged in the solution.
Now all you need to do is let everything rest in the fridge in a tightly sealed container for 24 hours.
Once the 24 hours are up, place the meat strips on an oven rack, making sure to remove any excess liquid — you can pat the meat dry with kitchen paper to help.
4) Dry at a low temperature
Assuming not everyone has a dehydrator at home, let's finally see how to dry our meat using nothing more than a regular home oven.
Place the meat on an oven rack, and put a baking tray on the bottom of the oven so it can catch any excess liquid dripping from the strips.
Now turn on the fan oven to a temperature of 60°C for 6-8 hours, leaving the oven door slightly ajar.
It's very important not to raise the oven temperature above 60°C, or the meat will start to cook — we only want the water it contains to evaporate.
