I made Jerky

[Oddley]

I made some Beef jerky today and I must say I was quite pleased with the two spice mixes I used for them. They are my own creation as I didn't fancy any of the spice mixes for jerky, that I have seen.

Franco was supposed to be giving me a Lem jerky stuffer to test for a review. but it hasn't turned up yet.

The image below shows what was left for me by my lot, after I went to get my camera.

700 gm lean Chuck steak
Cure #1 1.2 gm (Nitrite 100 ppm Or use 1 gm per 1 lb meat)

Chicken Arsed Jerky

Half the Beef
6 gm Chicken Arsed Spice mix

Chicken Arsed Spice mix
8 gm sea salt
1 gm fresh ground black pepper
2 gm smoked paprika
2 gm onion salt
1 gm granulated garlic (ground)
0.2 gm cayenne pepper


Burger Jerky

Half the Beef
6 gm Burger Spice
1 tsp soy sauce
4 gm homemade onion powder


Method

Mince the beef 4.5 mm plate. Add Cure #1 and mix well put in the bottom of the fridge overnight to cure.
Split the beef in half add appropriate spices and mix thoroughly. Now roll the beef out to about 1/8 in thickness by placing the mix between two sheets of cling film, then rolling with a rolling pin. Cut into 2 in by 1/2 in strips. This is accomplished by cutting through the cling film into strips first lengthwise then across the strips. put the strips on a rack in the oven at 200 deg f for about 1 hour and fifteen minutes then turn over and cook for 1 hour and fifteen minutes.

[Platypus]

Looks good Oddley,
Thanks for the spice mixes, but err... Chicken Arsed

[Oddley]

Hi Platypus. Yes the jerky tasted very nice in fact there is none left. The reason for Chicken arsed is the spice mix was the last that I have created as a chicken rub. Therefore Chicken rub and arse end of development.

The next time you cook a piece of BBQ or roast chicken rub on 8 gm per 1 lb of chicken arsed mix before you put it in the oven. See what you think.

[aris]

Is onion salt the same as onion powder? Where do you get your onion salt from?

[sausagemaker]

Hi Aris

The answer is no onion salt is made from onion extract spread on salt, you should be able to get some from a good whole foods type shop.

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Oddley]

aris I got the onion salt from Tesco.

The onion powder I made myself. It took 24 hours in the bottom of the oven with the door ajar. But it came out fine. A really nice taste. About 1 lb onions went down to about 20 gm.

[Platypus]

Oddley,

I realise you probably made the dried onion for other things as well, but to save time and as the Jerkey is going to be dried anyway, couldn't you just use fresh onion and increase the time you dry the Jerky?

[Oddley]

Platypus,

I'm not sure that would work haven't tried it. The spice mix on it's own is quite good. I use it in homemade burgers so I think, I would either buy some onion powder or leave it out.

If you do buy onion powder, it might be stonger in taste than mine.

[phillmypintpot]

hi oddley, cheers for the recipe.

please excuse my ignorance, but i'm new to all this.

would it be possible to substitute sausagemaking.org's traditional dry cure (in the recommended usage) in place of the #1 cure? if this is possible, would the timing for curing alter?

many thanks, phill.

[Oddley]

Before I answer this, I am going to have to think about it carefully.
I don't want to put you wrong, leave it with me and I will get back to you.

[Oddley]

After thinking about it I would not use the bacon cure.

The reason being, I don't know how much nitrite/nitrate is in it. Also as it is a quick cure and you are not air drying, nitrate in my opinion is not warranted or wanted.

It would also be a bugger to get the recipe right.

[phillmypintpot]

thanks for your help.

i'll just have to purchase some cure #1

[phillmypintpot]

oddley, thinking about it further.

how about if the beef was dry cured as a whole piece, using traditional bacon cure, using timings/ method as for bacon?

at the end of curing process, wash/ dry cured beef, mince cured beef, add spice mix (minus additional salt), let marinate for a bit, then roll out and cook as in your recipe.

that may get around the problem of using a slow cure to cure minced meat.

OR

i could just purchase some cure #1

[aris]

Check my website for making Biltong - which is a South African style of Jerkey:

http://www.biltongbox.com/

[Oddley]

Hi phillmypintpot.

If you want to go to all that trouble and make what is essentially salt beef, then make jerky out of it then I see no reason why you can't. But make sure you use the bacon timings.

You will have to adjust the recipe to take account of the salt in the cure also there is sugar in it, whereas there is none in my recipe. But oh well. I suppose you would have to do some experimentation.

I originally designed this recipe to be a quick easy way to make minced meat jerky. But by all means do with it what you will.