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How to Make Beef Jerky | The Ultimate Guide
Beef Jerky is rich in flavor and nutrients, it has been a popular snack for years. Another feature is that it has a long shelf life and is easy to carry. Do you want to make your own beef jerky in a dehydrator? In this article, you will learn how to make beef jerky. The process includes selecting meat, slicing, curing, dehydrating, and packaging.
Step 1: Choosing The Right Cut Of Meat
Choosing the right cut of meat is the most critical step in making beef jerky, and be sure to choose lean beef. Because the fat will make the jerky greasy, even spoiled with a bad smell. The best lean cuts include sirloin, top and bottom round roasts, and eye of round roast. Remember to remove excess fat from the outside. If you have a lot of beef fat or fascia that needs to be removed, you can choose to use a beef fascia removal machine instead of doing it manually.
How Does The Beef Fascia Removal Machine Work
Step 2: Slice The Beef
Before you start slicing, it’s best to wrap the beef in plastic wrap and let it cool for 1-2 hours to make it easier to slice. Just make sure your meat is firm to the touch, it doesn’t have to be completely frozen.
There are two ways to slice it. One is to cut it in the direction to the beef grain. This will make the beef jerky more chewy. The other is to cut the beef in the opposite direction to the grain, and the beef jerky will be more tender. Then use a sharp knife or meat slicer to slice the beef into 1/8 to 1/4 inch uniform slices, depending on your preference. The meat slicer will help to get more even shape, and you can choose to go with the stripes or the other way around.
How Does The Meat Slicer Work
Step 3: Preparing the Marinade
To make delicious beef jerky, the marinade is crucial. Different marinade recipes can be made according to personal taste. Our commonly used marinade combinations include: soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, honey, brown sugar, salt, pepper, meat tenderizer, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder. The beef jerky produced in this way is very delicious, with a slightly sweet, salty and spicy taste.
Step 4: Marinate Beef Slices
Then add the beef slices to the marinade, stir well and soak for 6-18 hours in the refrigerator to get the best flavor. For business to marinate more beef, you can use the vacuum tumber to help. You just add the beef slices and marinade into the vacuum tumbler, the machine does the job automatically. The vacuum tumbler uses the continuous rotation of the drum under vacuum to flip the meat pieces and marinade up and down in the drum and stir, so that the marinade is fully absorbed by the meat.
How Does The Vacuum Tumbler Work
Step 5: How to Make Beef Jerky In A Dehydrator
The first thing is to choose a dehydrator. There are many types of ovens. Here we recommend two types, one is a commercial beef jerky dehydrator and the other is an industrial beef jerky dehydrator. In this article, we used industrial beef jerky dehydrator for testing.
Place the marinated beef slices evenly on the tray, leaving gaps between them for hot air to pass through. To save you the trouble of cleaning the tray later, you can place a layer of non-stick mesh on top of the tray before placing the beef slices on top. This step is optional based on your needs.
Place the tray on the trolley and push it into the dehydrator to wait for drying. Drying temperature and drying time are related to the thickness of the beef slices. Generally, the recommended temperature for the dehydrator is between 160°F and 165°F, and the dehydration time is 4 to 8 hours.
How Does The Beef Dehydrator Work
During the drying process, you can observe the doneness of the beef jerky every 2 hours to avoid over-drying the beef jerky and affecting the taste. If the beef jerky can bend but not break, it means the jerky is dry. At this time, turn off the power and place the beef jerky on the cart until completely cooled.
Step 6:Store And Packing Beef Jerky
Finally, store beef jerky in a ziplock bag, vacuum seal bag, or airtight container in a dry place. Properly stored jerky can be stored for 1-2 months. You can also choose to refrigerate to extend the shelf life. If the pieces of meat are too large, cut them into pieces and store them later.
