From: njs@scifi.uucp (Nicholas J. Simicich)
Subject: Recipe:  Spicy Hot Beef Jerky
Organization: Nick Simicich, Peekskill, NY
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 23:51:20 GMT


Well, as far as I can tell, commercial beef jerky comes two ways:
Cheap flaked stuff that doesn't taste good or expensive slab stuff
that tastes better, but not quite what I wanted....

So, when dehydrators went on sale at the local store, recently, I
bought one.  This batch of beef jerky came out real well, and is
pretty much my own recipe.

4 LBS BONELESS TOP ROUND ROAST.  I scientifically chose Top Round
because it was (1) cheap, and (2) unmarbled, that is, the red meat was
almost devoid of visible fat.  This should be sliced, somewhat against
the grain, into slices just less than 1/4" thick.  You can partially
freeze the meat to make it easier to slice, or you can do what I did
and take it to the deli counter at the store and let them slice it for
you.  Remove all visible fat, as the fat doesn't dry well, and the end
product will be better without the visible fat.

6 HABANERO PEPPERS. chopped fine, with seeds.

3/4 CUP HOT SAUCE.  Use your favorite.  I like Crystal brand.

1/4 CUP WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE.  I abhor Frenches, and like Lea and
Perrins or Agnostura.  Use what you like.

1 TBSP LIQUID SMOKE.  For a slightly smoky flavor.  Optional.

2 TSP GARLIC POWDER.  Alternatively, you could peel raw garlic and
mash it with the dry ingredients intil thoroughly pulverized.  But the
powder will have plenty of time to rehydrate in the period that the
meat is resting in the sauce.

4 TSP SALT.  The manual said to use a minimum of 1 tsp of salt per
pound as a preservative.  This other stuff is pretty salty, but I put
the salt in anyway.

1/2 TSP CAYENNE PEPPER POWDER.  I dunno, I just put it in.

2 TBSP BLACK PEPPER.  I did this for the pungency that you get from
Black Pepper which you don't get from habaneros or hot sauce.

Mix all of the above up except for the beef. Layer the beef in a glass
or plastic marinating tray, and spoon on a layer of sauce, then a
layer of beef, and a layer of sauce.  Make sure that the beef is
completely coated with the marinade.

Refrigerate for 24 hours.  Stir or turn occasionally.

Arrange the beef on the drying trays.  The edges can just touch, as
they will shrink, but they shouldn't overlap.  The marinade should
stick to the beef as much as possible.  Drizzle the remaining marinade
onto the beef.  You want the bits of habanero to dry onto the beef.

In my case, the beef was dried properly in 14 hours.  This will vary
based on humidity and outside temperature.  It is dried properly when
it cracks when bent and isn't soft.  Heck, you've had beef jerky.  The
drier I'm using pushes warmed air over the layers of food.  I've heard
of folks who have made jerky in the oven with a pilot light for heat.

The manual says that 4 lbs of raw beef will make 1 lb of Jerky.  At a
cost of $12 for 4 lbs of beef, and maybe a buck for the other stuff,
that makes it $13/lb for pretty good jerky.

Well, next I want to make fish jerky.  Any suggestions?

-- 
Nick Simicich - uunet!bywater!scifi!njs - njs@watson.ibm.com
SSI #AOWI 3958, HSA 318, NAUI #14065
Join the movement ---  turn 'to bush' into a verb.