Jerky is true survival food. Humans have been drying and salting meat for thousands of years. Jerky was often literally the difference between life and death for fur traders along the Santa Fe. How can you make your own jerky?
1. CHOOSE HIGH-QUALITY CUTS
Good cuts give you jerky that’s chewy but tender. For the best results, choose cuts that don’t have a lot of fat. Flank steak, top round, eye round and sirloin are great for this purpose.
Game meat is naturally low in fat, so deer are excellent for delicious jerky, too. If you love to hunt, make sure to set aside some of the rump roast or eye round for jerky.
2. TRIM YOUR MEAT
Cut away any large pieces of fat. Fat won’t dry properly so it messes up the dehydration process and makes meat spoil.
3. SLICE THE MEAT
Cut strips between 1/8″ and 1/4″ thick. Cutting with the grain makes meat firmer, and going against the grain gives it a tender texture. In case you’re wondering, it’s OK to work with meat that is partially frozen to make it easier to cut. It won’t affect the quality of the jerky.
4. PREPARE YOUR MARINADE AND DRY RUB
Jerky is all about deep flavors. Some people prefer those sweeter jerkies with teriyaki sauce. Others can’t wait to make their own jerky so they can mix their own “five-alarm” spicy jerky.
5. MARINATE THE MEAT
Cover all of your meat in the marinade. Put plastic wrap over the bowl and put it in the fridge. You’re going to want to let the meat sit in the marinade for about 10 hours for max flavor. After five or six hours, stir the meat to make sure every piece gets marinated.
6. DRAIN MEAT AND APPLY DRY RUB
After you finish marinating, drain the excess liquid. Take each piece of meat and coat it in a dry rub. It’s easiest to put your spices in a bowl and dip both sides of the meat into the mixture.
7. DEHYDRATE THE MEAT
This is how to make jerky in your oven:
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Fahrenheit
- Like a few bake pans with aluminum foil
- Put a wire rack over the baking sheet
- Cover the rack with a single layer of marinated meat
- Bake at 175 for three or four hours, or until meat is dried
- Rotate the baking sheets once in the middle of cooking time
- Let jerky cool and place in airtight plastic bags
If you follow this method, the jerky should last about a week if kept at room temperature. In the fridge, it will last far longer.
TIPS FOR MAKING JERKY IN THE WILDERNESS
In a survival situation, you can make jerky using the sun-drying method and a fire. You would need to clean and skin your catch, taking care to remove all fat from the meat. Apply some sort of dry rub or brine. Salt is a natural preservative.
You need to build a vertical rack or stake that can hold your strips of meat laid out. This needs to sit in direct sunlight. Having a campfire helps because you can position the meat so it’s in the path of the smoke. This helps keep flies and birds away.
