How to Make Beefiness Hasty

homemade-beef-jerky

Equally a young girl, I desperately wanted to live in a sod house on the prairie and have my own little cow to milk. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series impacted me securely, and while today my house is fabricated of wood (thankfully) rather than sod, I tin can at least happily collect eggs from our chickens. The story of Laura's babyhood helped shape how I think well-nigh nutrient. Visions of maple processed, dark-green pumpkin pie and Ma's vanity cakes fascinated me, as did the process of actually making food. Theirs was truly local, unprocessed food; they grew, hunted and traded for each ingredient.

Although I eat a vegetarian diet more often than not, beef jerky is something that securely appeals to me and satisfies my inner pioneer. Making beefiness jerky brings Pa Ingalls and his smokehouse correct into my kitchen. It connects me to a time-honored process of preserving food which is deeply rewarding and evokes simpler times.

While I don't want to render to pioneer life, I exercise try to incorporate some of those values into my mod-day cooking. October Unprocessed inspires me to think about every ingredient I melt with and to ask myself if it can be fabricated in my (or Ma's) home kitchen. Fifty-fifty though I make much from scratch, it's centre-opening to realize that not all of the ingredients I use ever authorize. I'm enjoying using whole ingredients and the process of "unprocessing" and the push to stretch and abound in my tiny kitchen (I'thou sure Ma pulled out drawers on which to balance cutting boards, besides).

When my husband first mentioned homemade beef jerky years ago, it didn't take much research to realize it was something I could easily do. With each batch I fabricated, I tweaked the marinade a scrap or learned something new, such as freezing the brisket for a short time makes thin slicing with a knife much easier. I must say, information technology'due south been a fun experience! I first marinate the beef slices in a mix of maple syrup, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Store bought Worcestershire lists high fructose corn syrup – definitely does non qualify as unprocessed – so I started making homemade Worcestershire sauce, too.

Lacking a smokehouse in the backyard, I instead use wooden toothpicks to append the strips of beef from an oven rack and a depression oven temperature to dry information technology. The corporeality of time varies, depending upon how thin your slices are and how dry or chewy you lot adopt your jerky.

This is pure, unprocessed, succulent meat without any MSG, subconscious ingredients or weird sounding additives (no packaging either). I accept two teenagers who come home ravenous afterwards school and a jar of beef hasty makes an ideal snack. Equally I watch my sons munching abroad, I call back the Ingalls family would be proud!
drying-homemade-beef-jerky

Beef Jerky

If at any point in that location is a need for using upwards 3 pounds of beefiness, this should be your go to recipe.

Prep Time 1 day 1 hour

Cook Time iii hours

Total Time one twenty-four hour period iv hours

Yield 14 servings

Calories 239 kcal

Author Hannah Cordes

  • 3 pounds organic pasture-raised beefiness brisket
  • 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce preferably homemade
  • i/ii loving cup organic unpasteurized soy sauce
  • three tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons freshly basis blackness pepper
  • 2 large cloves garlic minced
  • Wooden toothpicks

  1. Popular the brisket in the freezer for virtually 30 - 45 minutes; this will make slicing information technology easier. Whisk together the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, maple syrup, black pepper and garlic and set aside.

  2. Remove the brisket from the freezer. Slicing with the grain, piece the beef into strips as thin every bit possible (I try for 1/8-1/4 inch slices). Identify all the beef slices in a ziploc bag and cascade the marinade over. Seal the purse and squish and movement the strips around to evenly coat the beef. Place the beef in the fridge and marinate for 24 hours.

  3. Take both of your oven racks out of the oven. Set one rack bated and place the other over your kitchen sink. Line the bottom of the oven with foil (to catch drips) and preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

  4. Bleed the marinade from the handbag. Take a beef strip and stick a wooden toothpick through it nigh the meridian (typically 1/4 inch from the top). The toothpick is used to suspend the beef strip as it hangs from the wires of the oven rack. Place the beef strip betwixt 2 wires of the oven rack so the beefiness strip is suspended and hanging into the sink. Repeat with remaining strips. The beef strips can be hung close to one another, but should not touch 1 another. The entire batch should fill a standard oven rack.

  5. Open the oven door and carefully slide your filled rack onto the top rung of the oven. Close the door and let the beef cook for three hours. At this signal, begin checking/tasting the beefiness to see if information technology is to your liking. This will depend upon how thin your slices are and how chewy vs. dry you lot prefer your jerky. I unremarkably allow it melt for 3 - iii ane/2 hours, but have cooked it as long as 4 hours.

  6. Remove the jerky from the oven and store in jars or other sealed containers. Shop the hasty in the fridge or a cool area for piece of cake snacking.

Nigh the Author

Hannah Cordes lives in Seattle and the Methow Valley with her husband and two college-aged sons. She is the possessor of a kitchen shop named Aspen Grove.  She was the chef at Hillel UW for 6 years and these days she tin can't resist a DIY project in her kitchen. Hannah prepares fresh, seasonal food for her family and friends and writes near it on her blog, Blue Kale Road. Her happiest place is around her family table crowded with guests. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.