Beef Jerky Recipe
NEW! Even More Recipes For Beef And Venison

All ingredients can be more or less as you desire to your own taste except soy & 
Worcestershire which can be more, you must have enough liquid to cover meat. Brown sugar and corn syrup or molasses can be to taste for sweetness or not used at all (SEE TIP BELOW***).
Add all liquid ingredients into container (with lid is preferred or cover with a plastic 
wrap) (see tip below*) Now add all other ingredients into the container, stir frequently. Trim as much fat as 
possible off the brisket (meat). It is the fat on the meat that will go bad (rancid) not the 
meat. The meat is to be sliced with the grain as thin as possible (approx. 3/16").  
(see tip below**) To aid in slicing meat thinly, freeze until ice crystals are formed)
This allows for more slices and a quicker drying time. Place into marinade as sliced. Make sure 
all meat is covered with the ingredients and stir meat occasionally to ensure all areas of 
meat have been exposed to the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours or more,
occasionally shaking or stirring the meat at least 2 more times.

Now when ready to dry, place aluminum foil on bottom of oven and cover bottom entirely. Try 
to make a pan out of the foil because of the drippings (see tip below****)
(remove when it is obvious that there are no more drippings this is usually a while after the meat
 has been turned over, you will notice that the drippings will have a tendency to give off a burning 
smell because it is laying on the bottom of the oven, you can replace the foil at any time to avoid this.) It is 
advisable to place paper towels on the oven door while open and loading the trays to catch 
the drippings. Place the meat across the racks filling the top rack first (highest position) 
and then the second rack (next highest position). Set temperature to at least 160 degrees  
(160 - 180 degrees). When visible dripping has stopped, all meat has to be turned 
over because the top of the meat will be more moist than the bottom. Also the top rack will 
drip onto the bottom rack and the bottom meat will be more moist than the top. The meat 
should be checked for consistency in drying and should be move around accordingly (from 
bottom rack to top, from edge to center etc.) The low heat is to dry the meat, not cook it. 
It should take approximately 4&1/2 to 6 hours more or less depending how many & how thin the meat 
was sliced and the set temperature. Approximately the last  hour or so, the oven door should be 
propped open with a fork or spoon to dissipate the heat, to avoid cooking it is a good idea 
to leave the oven door propped open any time during the drying to keep a good flow of heat & 
air. You can tell the meat is done when it no longer bends and you could break off a piece 
with ease. But the meat should not be so dry as to be crisp & break. It is better to be more 
dry than under dried, so as to prevent mold. Let meat cool before storing. This is 
now ready to eat, you can allow this to air dry an additional day or so in an open 
container. This will now keep in a sealed container (zip lock bags are great) for months 
refrigerated although I have kept my jerky for months un-refrigerated. Remember this meat 
will continue to dry unless placed in a sealed container once totally dried. Do not worry 
about color changes of the beef jerky it will get lighter and harder as it continues to dry 
over time. It is only important to keep the jerky away from humidity for long term 
storage. The net result of all this fun will give you approx. 2.5 to 3 lbs or more of the 
best jerky in town. Try it you’ll love it, and you didn’t spend $30.00 a lb or more for 
commercial chemically processed so called meat.

E-Mail *Tips from satisfied recipe users:
Thanks for the great recipe! One thing that I do that makes the
marinating easier, is that I divide the meat and marinade into two of
the big, plastic bags that zip shut. that way I can slosh it around to
more evenly distribute the marinade, without the mess.
Our family is really enjoying your recipe, thanks!
Linda G.

**Dan Baxter reminded me to tell you to partially freeze the meat to make slicing thin easier!

***Hi guys my name is Steven Tomeno I live in Rochester NY.
The stores in my NY area have plenty of Jerky BUT nobody makes it sweet.
I just thought I would tell you guys what I do to make my Jerky sweet,
first I double the brown sugar and I put a couple of cans of Pepsi in with it.
I find that Pepsi is sweeter than Coke.
Just a hint if you like it sweet.
Here is my complete recipe,
4 table spoons soy sauce,
1 cup brown sugar,
1 small can tomato sauce,
1/4 tablespoon pepper and 1/4 tablespoon salt,
2 - 16 ozs cans of Pepsi (not Coke),
2 cloves garlic....
4 lbs rump roast cut into thin strips.
Marinate 4-6 hours.
Cook for 4 hours in oven @ 160 degrees.
Don't forget to flip the jerky after a couple hours.
If anyone makes this please E-Mail me let me know how you like it or dislike it.
This recipe is for sweet tooth people.
Good luck and have fun,
Steven Tomeno
(585) 880-3291
(reprinted with permission from StevenTomeno)

****Ben J. says,
In order to reduce the mess and subsequent cleanup: Place stackable heat
tolerant cooling racks like you would cool cookies on in a shallow baking
pan that is larger than the racks. Drape the meat strips over the racks. I
like to line the baking pan with aluminum foil for super fast cleanup. Put
the entire assembly on the remaining oven shelf and you are ready to go. The
drippings collect in the baking pan. You can throw the cooling racks in the
dish washer and toss the foil in the trash when you are done.

Fred R. says,
One thing you can do is to hang the jerky from the racks in the oven with toothpicks.
Skewer the end of the strips of meat to form a "T". Hang the toothpick across the racks.
You can fit a ton more strips hanging than lying flat.

Tom R. says,
If your jerky dries out too much put one or two slices of bread in the container with the
jerky for a day or two. I've tried roman meal and white bread, both work.
Didn't your Grandma put a slice of bread in the cookie jar to keep the cookies from drying out?
Works the same for jerky.
As for over dehydrating or drying out after dehydrating the jerky will absorb the moisture
from the bread and become more palatable instead of crunchy or hard to chew.
However, if you leave the bread in too long it will stick to the jerky.
Try it, works for me.

Here's what Bob B. from Allentown, PA. has to say,
I love your jerky marinade. I made a version which I coated both sides of the strips of meat
 with granulated garlic and coarse black pepper. After coating the meat I pressed the coatings
 into the meat with a large metal spoon. I suppose I could have use a rolling pin also. I placed
 the coated meat in a large Ziploc bag and into the refrigerator for one day. I then added enough
 of your marinade to cover the meat and refrigerated for three more days. Within the three days
 I gently mixed the contents trying to avoid scraping off the pepper and garlic. I was amazed to 
see most of the pepper stayed on the meat and that the pepper adsorbed the marinade also. 
The finished product contained a surprisingly good crunchy pepper-marinade flavor.

Another version I have tried with good results is a hot jerky. I lay the strips out on a table top 
and sprinkle cayenne pepper on both sides, work it into the meat and let it sit at room temperature 
for about an hour. I will refrigerate it overnight in a large Ziploc bag. To two cups of your marinade 
I add ½ teaspoon of Dave’s Insanity Sauce. Add the mix and refrigerate another 3 days, working 
the marinade around periodically. I use the toothpick trick and hang the jerky in the oven with a foil 
catch pan below. With this method I could dry about ten pounds of meat at 3/16” thick and 8” long.
 I set the oven temperature at the lowest setting, on my gas oven is about 160 degrees Fahrenheit. 
I stick a fork in the oven door for good circulation of the hot air. It takes about 5-6 hours to dry,
 but still moist.

I just made a 5 lb. batch of sweet and tangy jerky
and everyone seemed to love it, or they were patronizing me. I cut partially frozen
eye of the round beef into 3/16” thick by 1 ½ “wide strips. I coated them liberally with
dark brown sugar and let them sit for about an hour until thawed. I then placed the coated
strips into a gallon size Ziploc bag and refrigerated overnight. I mixed one cup of ketchup
into one cup of your jerky marinade and placed that into the bag with the strips of beef.
I marinated that for about 4 days periodically mixing the marinade in order to coat all the strips.
Before I placed them into the oven, I wiped most of the marinade off with a spatula and
recoated the strips with brown sugar. I let the strips come to room temperature (about an hour)
and hung them from the oven rack using toothpicks. The drying time was difficult to discern because
the sugar embedded into the meat gave it a false undried appearance. When I bent the meat to check it,
it did not open to show dryness in the grain. I dried it for about 9 hours, but it should have been
less for my liking. Bob from Allentown