The Best Homemade Beef Jerky Recipe – Once Upon a Chef

Cooked meat jerky recipe

Video Cooked meat jerky recipe

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This is the best homemade beef jerky recipe, and it’s easy to make without any special equipment.

After traveling by road with my family and tasting dried meat from gas stations along the way, and spending a small fortune on it, I decided to create a good homemade recipe for dried meat. The good news is that beef jerky is surprisingly easy to make and doesn’t require any special equipment other than a standard oven, baking sheets, and wire racks. However, most homemade jerky is not as tender as store-bought cecina. This is because commercial jerky producers use special equipment and curing preservatives to make their characteristic jerky. Finally, after falling into an internet burrow of pitmaster video tutorials, I learned the secret to making tender jerky at home: adding a lot of sugar to the marinade. Not only does extra sugar help preserve meat, but it also retains moisture. This recipe makes a salty-sweet jerky, smoked with a chewy but tender texture, similar to well-known brands.

What you’ll need to make homemade beef

jerky

When making beef jerky, it’s important to start with a lean, well-trimmed cut of meat, as the fat doesn’t dry out and accelerates spoilage. A round toasting eye is ideal; It’s affordable, accessible, thin, and easy to trim. Before slicing, put it in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours; It will be much easier to cut.

The marinade contains soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning and unseasoned meat tenderizer. Meat tenderizer contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down meat tissue. You can find it in the spice section of your supermarket (I use McCormick).

Step by step instructions

1. Slice

the meat

Cut the meat between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch thick with the grain. If the roast is too thick to cut easily, cut it in half horizontally before slicing. <img

src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.onceuponachef.com/images/2021/01/Homemade-Beef-Jerky-1.jpg” alt=”slicing the meat” />

2. Make the marinade

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, meat tenderizer, black pepper, red pepper flakes, onion powder and garlic powder

Beat until evenly combined and the sugar dissolves.

3. Marinate

the meat

Add the meat to the marinade and mix until all the pieces are evenly covered. Cover with plastic wrap (or transfer to a large, zip-lock bag) and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or overnight. Mix the meat (or flip the bag) once or twice to make sure the meat is marinated evenly.

4. Dry meat

Cover two baking sheets with aluminum foil for easy cleaning. Place a rack over each pan. Preheat the oven to 175°F and place two oven racks in the most central positions. Place the marinated meat on the wire racks in a single layer.

Bake, turning the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway, until the meat is dry, 3 to 4 hours. To determine if the jerky is completely dry, remove a piece from the oven and let it cool to room temperature. It should be dry to the touch, leather-like in appearance and chewy, but still somewhat tender.