Cliff's Beef Jerk
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The origins for this recipe started with a basic blend of the soy sauce, brown sugar, and liquid smoke. The spices were added to up the flavor. The jerky made below always gets good reviews.

Feel free to use venison instead of the Eye of Round roast. Anything that is very lean will work. Don't use something fatty, like brisket, for this jerky. If you do, the jerky will have a kind of rancid taste from the fat.

If you don't have a food dehydrator, then you can use a standard oven that is sat on the lowest temp that the dial has. Make sure to leave the oven door slightly opened to let the moister out.


3 1/2 to 4 lbs Eye of Round
6 tbls soy sauce
2 tbls brown sugar
2 tbls liquid smoke
3/4 tbls onion powder
3/4 tbls onion flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
4 or 5 dashes hot sauce

Slice the Eye of Round roast length wise into sections as wide as you would like the strips of jerky. Place these sections into the freezer, laying flat, until they are just barely frozen. This will make cutting the thin slices for the jerky easier.

When the roast sections are partially frozen, remove them from the freezer and slice them as thin as you desire using a long sharp carving knife. We usually cut them about 1/4" thick.

Next mix all the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. Place the sliced meat, now thawed, into a larger bowl or dish that can be covered. Add the liquid mixture, and mix to coat the meat well. Cover, and place the meat in the refrigerator to marinade. Let the meat marinade overnight, or at least 8 hours.

The next morning setup the food dehydrator. Remove the meat from the marinade and place the meat strips on the drying racks. Start the dehydrator, and allow to dry to your preferred texture (about 8 - 10 hours for us). Remove the dried meat from the dehydrator, and place in a sealed container and enjoy.