Maple-Sage Beef Jerky

[Nick]

OK, so I have this old Ronco food dehydrator from like 1996. I have no idea if it still works, but I'm going to have to give this a try. Sounds awesome and likely much cheaper than paying $6 for a bag of jerky at the store that's too dry and is full of bad preservatives. Thanks for sharing Nick. I'd love to hear some of your recipes too Clint.

How long do you think your jerky is typically good for storing? Do you have to eat it up right away?

I haven't figured out how long it will last because it's like crack and I can't stop eating it until it's gone. I'm sure that 3-4 weeks would be good but it's not filled full of preservatives and crap so I wouldn't let it go too long. If you aren't going to use it right away, store it in the freezer or fridge to prolong it.

I have a batch of this recipe in my fridge marinating as we speak, going to throw it in the dehydrator tonight!

 

[FourisTheNewOne]

How long do you think your jerky is typically good for storing? Do you have to eat it up right away?

I let mine get dried to the point where it starts to crack when it's bent - but not beyond - then let cool on the rack, and refrigerate. Refrigerated, 30 days or so. Frozen - longer, but not as good when thawed.

Here's a approximation of the recipe I use.

3-4 lbs of Roast or Steak (Wild game or Beef)
2/3 cup of Teriyaki Sauce (Yoshida's - find at Cost-co)
1/4 Cup Worchestershire Sauce
1 light beer - coors, pabst or the like
2-3 tbsp coarse ground pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste
AND - Sriracha pepper sauce to taste - my taste runs to 1-2 tbsp.

usually I play around with this. it's my experience that if you use something like soy sauce, it's really hard to regulate the saltiness.

to begin with i thaw my roast to the point where it's just to the point where you can push a finger into it.- basically full of ice crystals.
then - i cut it across the grain. it makes it much more tender and easy to break apart when it's dehydrated.
I try my best to cut it in 1/8-1/4 inch slices, this isn't really easy with a knife - I really want to find a used meat slicer.

Once sliced marinade the sliced meat at least overnight - if not a day or two.

then - last steps - dehydrate for 6-9 hours at 160 degrees - perfection.
because the slices tend to vary, i move the trays of my dehydrator around every 1.5 hours for the first while, then every 30 minutes or so towards the end. As you start to reach the far end of the process, I start pulling pieces out, and reducing down, from 5 trays down to a couple - pulling out the finished pieces and combining the unfinished pieces until it's all complete.

 

[Tyler]

I let mine get dried to the point where it starts to crack when it's bent - but not beyond - then let cool on the rack, and refrigerate. Refrigerated, 30 days or so. Frozen - longer, but not as good when thawed.

Here's a approximation of the recipe I use.

3-4 lbs of Roast or Steak (Wild game or Beef)
2/3 cup of Teriyaki Sauce (Yoshida's - find at Cost-co)
1/4 Cup Worchestershire Sauce
1 light beer - coors, pabst or the like
2-3 tbsp coarse ground pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste
AND - Sriracha pepper sauce to taste - my taste runs to 1-2 tbsp.

usually I play around with this. it's my experience that if you use something like soy sauce, it's really hard to regulate the saltiness.

to begin with i thaw my roast to the point where it's just to the point where you can push a finger into it.- basically full of ice crystals.
then - i cut it across the grain. it makes it much more tender and easy to break apart when it's dehydrated.
I try my best to cut it in 1/8-1/4 inch slices, this isn't really easy with a knife - I really want to find a used meat slicer.

Once sliced marinade the sliced meat at least overnight - if not a day or two.

then - last steps - dehydrate for 6-9 hours at 160 degrees - perfection.
because the slices tend to vary, i move the trays of my dehydrator around every 1.5 hours for the first while, then every 30 minutes or so towards the end. As you start to reach the far end of the process, I start pulling pieces out, and reducing down, from 5 trays down to a couple - pulling out the finished pieces and combining the unfinished pieces until it's all complete.

So your dehydrator has a temperature setting? Or do you do it in an oven?

 

[HomerJ]

This is the one I bought a few weeks ago. It has a temperate setting and fan to help things dry evenly. I've only used it once but like it so far. I used @ibenick's recipe, but I used ground beef as I wanted to do a trial run with something cheaper and see what I thought before I bought a roast. The ground beef is good, but it needs a little more spice/kick to it for me, it could be that I used ground beef instead of the roast.... I've been thinking of adding pepper or something and see what that does.

 

[FourisTheNewOne]

So your dehydrator has a temperature setting? Or do you do it in an oven?

I have the exact dehydrator that HomerJ just bought, and have made several batches of jerky with it. The regulation of temperature is awesome, plus the tray design allows you rotate effectively.

HomerJ - how did you do your ground meat - I've not done that yet?

 

[HomerJ]

I have the exact dehydrator that HomerJ just bought, and have made several batches of jerky with it. The regulation of temperature is awesome, plus the tray design allows you rotate effectively.

HomerJ - how did you do your ground meat - I've not done that yet?

I followed @ibenick's recipe, but used ground beef and substituted soy sauce for the Coconut Aminos and I could only find grade A syrup at the grocery store. After marinading it over night I rolled the beef out flat and then cut it into manageable sizes to place in the trays. I wanted a jerky gun, but the only ones I could find in town where for a full kit, the cheapest being $30, so I didn't get one. Because I'd just gotten me a new toy I didn't want to wait for the one on Amazon to be delivered and so I improvised! I used a rolling pin and rolled it to just over an 1/8" thick thinking that was the thickness I probably wanted it. Well, I forgot that it would shrink as it dried and now it's too thin for my liking.

 

[Nick]

I tried this last night with a Rump Roast instead of a Round and it's not so good. I wanted to use some grass-fed beef and that was my only roast option at the time. Not recommended, stick with Top Round/London Broil if you're using cow and this recipe. Also wouldn't hurt to add a little cracked pepper.

 

[Tyler]

Trying out some jerky today (for my first time). Giving Nick's recipe a shot, but adding a touch of siracha. Butcher at Harmon's was kind enough to offer to slice up the meat for me.

 

[HomerJ]

Trying out some jerky today (for my first time). Giving Nick's recipe a shot, but adding a touch of siracha. Butcher at Harmon's was kind enough to offer to slice up the meat for me.

What type of roast did you use? Let us know how it is!!!

 

[Tyler]

I'm just using the top round roast that Nick suggested.

 

[Tyler]

Just finished the first batch. HOLY SHIT! It's the best jerky I've ever had.

 

[HomerJ]

Just finished the first batch. HOLY SHIT! It's the best jerky I've ever had.

That's it, I'm off to the store....

Do you think I need to add more maple syrup as mine is only grade A?

 

[Nick]

Tyler, you should post up your variation of the recipe. The siracha sounds like a nice touch.

 

[DOSS]

Just finished the first batch. HOLY SHIT! It's the best jerky I've ever had.

Now you are making me want to get a food dehydrator....

 

[Nick]

Now you are making me want to get a food dehydrator....

I'll whip up a batch and bring some this weekend.

 

[DOSS]

I'll whip up a batch and bring some this weekend.

Why can't I like posts multiple times HEHEHE

 

[Tyler]

That's it, I'm off to the store....

Do you think I need to add more maple syrup as mine is only grade A?

I don't think so. Mine was grade A and it was just fine. The only thing I had to do was add a bit to each ingredient because my cut of meat was 2.5 lbs. It was just enough to soak up all the marindade (ended up tossing out about 1 tablespoon). Good luck!!

 

[Tyler]

Tyler, you should post up your variation of the recipe. The siracha sounds like a nice touch.

Nick, I barely varied. First, I didn't have any coconut aminos, so I used soy sauce as you said to. Second, I used grade A maple syrup as the store did not have grade B. Lastly, as far as siracha, I probably added about 1 tablespoon, if that. It was just a few squirts from the bottle as I was really worried about it altering the taste too much. Maybe I'll try more next time because it doesn't really taste very spicy.

I'm never buying Jack Links again!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HomerJ]

ibenick, you're the jerky god! This is so good!

 

[Tyler]

ibenick, you're the jerky god! This is so good!

Yeah, that touch of maple syrup and sage really makes it stand out as unique.