Got a batch of ground beef jerky going tonight. This is a pretty basic recipe and I'm not using a jerky gun tonight so easy recipe/steps to try if you like the beef jerky sticks with just basic kitchen tools. You need to use the leanest mix you can find of ground beef, at least 90/10, preferably leaner if you can get it. Stuff with higher fat ratios is just going to fall apart as it dries and isn't going to dry properly and is asking to get sick, if you see a recipie around 80/20 or the like they always either load it up with nitrates or tell you it has to be consumed in a week as the high fat content is going to make it go bad (there are ways to preserve food with high fat content, this type of recipe just isn't the way). I'm using 93/7 from Walmart just because that's what I had available to purchase this weekend without grinding my own mix. This recipe is just a quick mix it and dry it unlike regular cuts of beef that need to be marinated, Prep time on this is maybe 15-20 minutes.
Recipe
2 lbs 93/7 mix ground beef
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 Teaspoons finely ground salt
2 Teaspoons finely ground black pepper
2 Teaspoons Onion powder
2 Teaspoons Garlic powder
1/2 Teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 Teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric
1 Tablespoon Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Teriyaki sauce
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Preparation.
In a large mixing bowl add in the ground beef, using a large spoon similar kitchen tool break apart the ground beef into as small of chunks as you can (this helps the spices mix in more evenly). Add in all the dry spices and mix it in thoroughly, you should see no clumps of spices or dry looking spice flakes when you're done, be sure and bring all the meat from the bottom of the bowl to the top as the spices tend to try and work down to the bottom of the bowl and under the meat when you first start to mix it. Once it's completely mixed in add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly, you'll end up with a sticky consistency of meat, there should be no liquid in the bottom of the bowl when it's mixed in well. Put down a piece of wax paper on your counter and place a baseball sized portion of mixture on it, cover it with another piece of wax paper and press it down to about 1/2 an inch thick with your hand. Using a rolling pin roll out the covered mix tills it's around 1/4 inch thickness. Use a pizza cutter to cut the mixture into strips, you don't want to bear down to hard or you'll cut through the wax paper and into your counter, all you're trying to do is score the mix so it will pull apart on the cut lines. Transfer it over to your drying racks, it'll want to tear so take your time and it's easiest to work with pieces smaller than your hands so you can keep them from falling apart as you move them.
Drying time.
165 for 2.5 - 3 hours, when dry it'll be a dark red shade of color and feel dry to the touch and you can bend it without it snapping (if it snaps you dried too long). Since this is ground beef you want to be extra careful that this gets up to at least 165 degrees to kill off anything in it so check with a good thermometer or do like I'm going to do and pull it out of the dehydrator once it's dried and still hot and put it in the oven at 250 for 9-10 minutes. It won't hurt the taste and will raise the internal temps to close 190 or so but not have time to dry out the jerky too much and make it tough to chew.
Pics coming up in reply from my phone, plus bonus pics of something I ran across the other day at the store and decided to see how it does as jerky. Jalapeno Sausage "Bacon strips", they're supposed to be pre-cooked so should be nice and safe, we'll just see how that turns out over the next couple hours.
Recipe
2 lbs 93/7 mix ground beef
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 Teaspoons finely ground salt
2 Teaspoons finely ground black pepper
2 Teaspoons Onion powder
2 Teaspoons Garlic powder
1/2 Teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 Teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Turmeric
1 Tablespoon Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Teriyaki sauce
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Preparation.
In a large mixing bowl add in the ground beef, using a large spoon similar kitchen tool break apart the ground beef into as small of chunks as you can (this helps the spices mix in more evenly). Add in all the dry spices and mix it in thoroughly, you should see no clumps of spices or dry looking spice flakes when you're done, be sure and bring all the meat from the bottom of the bowl to the top as the spices tend to try and work down to the bottom of the bowl and under the meat when you first start to mix it. Once it's completely mixed in add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly, you'll end up with a sticky consistency of meat, there should be no liquid in the bottom of the bowl when it's mixed in well. Put down a piece of wax paper on your counter and place a baseball sized portion of mixture on it, cover it with another piece of wax paper and press it down to about 1/2 an inch thick with your hand. Using a rolling pin roll out the covered mix tills it's around 1/4 inch thickness. Use a pizza cutter to cut the mixture into strips, you don't want to bear down to hard or you'll cut through the wax paper and into your counter, all you're trying to do is score the mix so it will pull apart on the cut lines. Transfer it over to your drying racks, it'll want to tear so take your time and it's easiest to work with pieces smaller than your hands so you can keep them from falling apart as you move them.
Drying time.
165 for 2.5 - 3 hours, when dry it'll be a dark red shade of color and feel dry to the touch and you can bend it without it snapping (if it snaps you dried too long). Since this is ground beef you want to be extra careful that this gets up to at least 165 degrees to kill off anything in it so check with a good thermometer or do like I'm going to do and pull it out of the dehydrator once it's dried and still hot and put it in the oven at 250 for 9-10 minutes. It won't hurt the taste and will raise the internal temps to close 190 or so but not have time to dry out the jerky too much and make it tough to chew.
Pics coming up in reply from my phone, plus bonus pics of something I ran across the other day at the store and decided to see how it does as jerky. Jalapeno Sausage "Bacon strips", they're supposed to be pre-cooked so should be nice and safe, we'll just see how that turns out over the next couple hours.
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