Trial and Error

My attempt at beef jerky...with questionable success :-)

I looked at about a dozen recipes for beef jerky and I wound up combining the 2 that I thought would most appeal to us.

One roast called for bottom round roast and the other called for a tri-tip roast. A standard in jerky making is that you want the least amount of fat possible so once I cut into the tri-tip (on the right) I was surprised at how much marbling there was.

I mixed the marinade recipe, added the meat and poured it all into a bag...I put it in the fridge and flipped the bag every few hours.

After 24 hours of marinating I put a single layer, well spaced apart, on the dehydrator trays. The manual said that it could take up to 2 days but mine was done after only 20 hours...slightly over done actually.

The flavor is really good...not quite what I was going for but I'll try a different recipe next time. Also, the tri-tip was much too fatty for long term storage. If I were making this jerky to store I would definitely need to use the bottom round only as it's much leaner. Also, I think it could have used a few hours less time in the dehydrator since it's almost a little crunchy in areas...but it's still tasty :-)

Here's the recipe I used:

2 small lean roasts

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic

1 Tablespoon ginger (called for fresh but my market was out so I just used powdered)

6 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Jack Daniels

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon chili flakes

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 Tablespoon liquid smoke

several dashes of Worcestershire sauce

The flavor has a bit of an Asian influence and while it's good I want something a bit more savory with a whole lot more cracked black pepper next time.