Oven Dried Beef Jerky Food

HOW TO MAKE BEEF JERKY IN THE OVEN

Steps:

• A lot of beef cuts come with a fat cap. Trim the fat off and cut the meat into manageable pieces that will be easy to slice. Then put the meat in a plastic bag and put in a freezer for a few hours. Freezing will firm it up and make it a easy to slice evenly.
• When the meat is firm, slice it about 3/16" - 1/4" thick. Thinner sliced meat tends to come out dryer and less chewy. Thicker will take a long time to dry.
• To make the jerky chewy, slice it along the grain.
• To make the jerky less chewy, slice it across the grain.
• Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a large Ziploc bag and shake.
• Add the meat slices, shake and massage the meat really well.
• Refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours, flipping the bag and massaging the meat every 6-8 hours. Strictly speaking, marination is not necessary, but it makes jerky much more flavorful inside out and tenderizes tougher beef cuts.
• Remove one rack from the oven so you can start hanging the meat slices on it. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300F.
• Hang the meat on the oven rack. The most efficient way is to hang the meat slices vertically, as shown on the picture below. This way you can have about 5 lbs of meat on one rack, properly spaced out.
• Once the oven is preheated to 300F, bring the meat in, close the oven door, turn the temperature down to 275F and bake the meat for 10 minutes. This will bring its internal temperature to the safe level of 160F.
• Drop the temperature further to the lowest setting your oven can go, e.g. 170F. Crack open the oven door and insert a thick wooden spoon to secure it in that position.
• After about 30 minutes, when the temperature in the oven has stabilized at its lowest setting, turn on the convection fan, if you oven has it. It will expedite the drying process. You will have to find a creative way to keep the button down to activate convection.
• Continue drying jerky until it's ready. The jerky is dry enough when it bends without breaking, while surface develops cracks when you bend it. This will take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, depending on whether you use convection and the thickness of meat slices.

OVEN BEEF JERKY

Steps:

• Bake for about 4 hours, or until the jerky is dry to the touch, can be bent, but not break. Check the jerky often since drying times will vary due to oven differences (the process might take as long as 12 hours). Remove from the oven and raise the temperature to 275 F.
• Arrange the strips on a clean baking sheet, fitted with a clean rack, so they are close together, but not touching or overlapping. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

OVEN-DRIED BEEF JERKY

Steps:

• Prepare a large baking sheet with a wire rack to fit on baking sheet.
• Put the flank steak in the freezer for 30 mins, or until firm, but pliable.
• Slice the steak very thinly across the grain, about 1/8-in thick; or ask your butcher to slice the meat at time of purchace.
• In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, honey, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, salt and pepper; mix well.
• Mix and coat the beef strips with the sauce mixture.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 180F.
• Place the strips on a wire rack on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 12 hours, or until meat is dried (it should bend, but not snap).
• Store in an airtight container when cool.

OVEN-DRIED BEEF JERKY

Steps:

• Trim and discard all fat from meat. Slice meat in long 1/4-inch thick strips (easier if meat is partially frozen). Combine remaining ingredients.
• Add meat strips, coating all surfaces. The meat will absorb most of the liquid. v
• Cover tightly (I use a Ziploc bag) and marinate overnight in refrigerator.
• Drain off any liquid.
• Arrange meat strips together but not overlapping, directly on oven racks.
• Dry meat at lowest oven temperature, 150 degrees to 200 degrees until meat turns brown, is dry and feels hard (about 10 hours or overnight). Cut into 1-inch pieces, using scissors.
• Cool thoroughly before storing in airtight containers. Beef jerky keeps indefinitely at cool room temperature or in refrigerator.

OVEN BEEF JERKY

Steps:

• For the BBQ jerky: Stir together the ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, salt, garlic powder and paprika in a bowl. Thinly slice the frozen beef against the grain. Coat the meat in the mixture. Marinate the meat, refrigerated, for 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and set a baking rack on top.
• Lay the slices of meat flat on the baking rack in a single layer. Bake until the jerky is completely dried, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
• For the teriyaki jerky: Stir together the soy, sugar, sriracha, Worcestershire, garlic, ginger and lime juice in a resealable plastic bag. Thinly slice the frozen beef against the grain. Place the meat in the bag and marinate the meat, refrigerated, for 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and set a baking rack on top. Lay the slices of meat flat on the baking rack in a single layer. Bake until the jerky is completely dried, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.