I love beef jerky but it costs a fortune here in the UK.

boymonkey74
reply to post by butcherguy

 

Didn't mean you though

Nah only messing you are fantastic

Wow, I guess it is a good thing I didn't include the African biltong recipe requiring a certain variety of 'bush meat'.

This is one of things i miss about visiting the states, Fishing/outdoor sport stores in the US have SO MANY FLAVORS its like dry meat version of charlies chocolate factory.

Jalapeno jerky was my favorite, HOT HOT HOT.

Sadly in the UK we are restricted to 2-3 flavors + original if you are lucky

Also dont come in here with the bill tong talk, its limp, crap and i wont have it!!!!

reply to post by Biigs


My 2nd wife used to get proper bill tong sent from South Africa and nothing like the rubbish version we get here, it was amazing.

boymonkey74
reply to post by Biigs

 

My 2nd wife used to get proper bill tong sent from South Africa and nothing like the rubbish version we get here, it was amazing.

Perhaps i just got really unlucky the first time round then, im willing to taste the horrible stuff again at the chance of finding some good stuff

It's expensive here where I live too. Beef & pork is always high price these days. I make a lot of deer jerky. It's far better than beef(IMO). I have two food dehydrators. I experiment with different spices/sauces. The good thing about it is that you can make a helluva lot of jerky out of one deer, and it's not hard to make at all. I even make the slim-jims too. A lot of people here where I live use deer more than beef because of the prices. It really helps a lot.

If you can find some good deals on beef you can just make your own. There are a lot of great recipes out there for beef/venison jerky.

reply to post by Fylgje


I think the point is that considering the U.K pretty much grow/farm and export the main ingredient, that being Beef(best beef in the world i might add). Expecting us to pay £2.50 for a 150g back of the stuff seems to be taking the proverbial vagina!

reply to post by Fylgje


Slim Jims? Condoms? you make condoms outa deer?.
Or does it mean something different lol.

reply to post by Fylgje


Pity I can't go and bag me a Deer, we have loads around me.
But I would have to punch it to death in the UK lol.

reply to post by boymonkey74


You could always set a snare trap, then again probably more tightly to catch a NED than a Deer unless you are out in the countryside!

reply to post by andy06shake


Yeah thing is I live in west yorkshire and town and country mix well and I can walk 20 mins and not see any houses but there are a lot of people walking up and down.
Myself and a neighbour looked into trapping one but If caught its jail.
They cull them every now and then and when they do the local butcher gets a load of meat and it is really cheap I may as well wait til then.

reply to post by boymonkey74


I would love to eat the Venison but personally i don't think i could kill the poor wee Deer myself. Am i big wuss when it comes to animals.

The cheapest way to go is using hamburger (ground beef) probably not going beyond 12% fat although 8% and lower is better (12 comes out a little greasy but ends up fine if you pat it dry while it's warm. With ground meat you can go easier on the marinade and it's best to lean towards dry ingredients although a little Worcestershire sauce, HP, liquid smoke, or soy is fine just keep the next step in mind when adding liquid.

After you let the flavors mingle (at least 6 up to prob. 24 hrs) lay down a sheet of plastic wrap place a portion of meat on top covered with another layer of plastic wrap and use a rolling pin to flatten into a vaguely rectangular 1/4 inch thick sheet, cut into strips with a pizza cutter or sharp knife and transfer individually to a wire rack (oven) or the racks that came with your dehydrator. Where i live It takes about 8 hours in my dehydrator without the airflow it'd probably take a little longer in a 150 F (66 C) oven.

In my opinion it is far superior to the ground versions of Jerky at the store while not being quite as satisfying as as whole strip Jerky I tend to make it when I cant find whole beef on sale. Also one must keep in mind that it is not as healthy as whole strip jerky which is usually 99% fat free.

Also of interest (although I don't know if this holds true in the UK) pork is generally much cheaper and pork jerky is quite good I use pineapple juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, bbq sauce and crushed red pepper to marinate. When using pork it is advised to freeze the meat in pieces no thicker than 6 inches for 30 days to kill any trichinella if present.

And, for the funniest part of any jerky instructable. Homemade jerky can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a month or 3 months in the freezer. Seriously if I have Jerky sitting around for a month, someone call search and rescue because I am trapped somewhere.

reply to post by andy06shake


My first job was a fishmonger and we sold game and such and I once had to butcher a 350lb deer...never did it before and split the gall bladder and that tainted a lot of meat.
I have killed chickens, lobsters (that takes some doing btw) and a fox I caught in a trap made for a rabbit (ate it also I was starving). So at a push I think I could do it.
The great thing about deer meat is the fat content, less fat than a skinned chicken breast....lovely.

reply to post by boymonkey74

I have to ask....
What did that fox taste like?

Don't say chicken.

reply to post by butcherguy


I skinned it like a rabbit but it took some doing and roasted it over a fire for ages til it was a bit burnt cos I didn't want to get poorly.
Very tough meat not fatty and a bit gamey.
I wouldn't go out of my way to eat it again.

Interesting topic, and food is one of my favorite topics.

Since you don't seem to have gotten many suggestions yet I'll add my 2 cents (plus a few bucks).

Many of my friends have said my homemade jerky was the best they ever had, and I live where Oberto is based.

I use a commercial grade food dehydrator with 6 trays, that's capable of drying almost 10lbs of raw meat at a time.
Mine is similar to this one: Dehydrator

I use the highest setting (i think its 135 degrees F) and it takes about 6-8 hrs to complete drying depending on how thick I cut it (usually I like really thick about 3/4" so its softer and easier to eat). It's really hard not to eat it all right as it comes off warm, SO GOOD!

Anyways the tricks that make the best jerky are seasoning and cuts of meat. Since meat is expensive i go for sources that are bulk but still quality. We have a place in seattle called Cash n Carry that is typically for restaurant supply but they sell 10lb bags of what they call "Special Trim" which is huge oddly sized overcuts of flank steak. I trim off the fat then cut 3/4" bias cuts so the grain is diagonal.

My next step is I grab several large freezer ziplock bags, and a large can of pineapple juice and brown sugar (sugar is the best red meat tenderizer Ive ever known) and partition the meat into 2-3 bags (as it fits and depending on how many flavors I want to make) and add several tb of brown sugar and about 1-2 cups pineapple juice (also a tenderizer) to each bag. I sometimes add some garlic powder and/or Sriracha and/or Mae Ploy chili relish. I then zip them up good and put in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hrs (48-72 is even better).

Now, as the meat is marinating I ponder my flavors, since the trick I do is make a glaze for each flavor batch I make. I have done simple spicy (Sambal Olek, Sriracha, garlic, and or Mae Ploy) or a Thai BBQ (fish sauce, lemon grass powder, Sriracha, brown sugar, anise, pepper and cilantro) or typical american BBQ (liquid smoke, mustard, catsup, brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne, worchestershire). These ingredients are approximated since i play by ear every time. But I make each up in small saucepan then add a small amount of cornstarch slurry (cold water and 1tb cornstarch) and thicken them so it sticks to the meat well.

I then lay out all the meat on the racks and set to high and start up the dryer, and at about 1-2 hrs I turn it over, then 1 more hour and I start using a basting brush to lightly baste the tops of each tray, then after another hour I turn each piece back over again and baste the backsides. then I typically continue to baste every hour or so until my basting sauce is all used up.

Also after the basting process (depending on how fatty the meat is) I start to dab the fatty drippings off the pieces of meat with a paper towel.

But the test I use to tell if pieces are done is first poke them, and if they are not squishy I will try bending a piece to see if it cracks and breaks. I want it to crack easily but not necessarily break (I go for a thick and chewy piece that has alot of flavor). So this drying process with the thicker pieces (they dont all get ready at the exact time, as I pull the done pieces off and continue drying) is about 6-8 hours.

I have heard of people using ovens with the door cracked on the lowest setting (typically most ovens only go down to 200 so it seems too hihg to me) with a cookie tray covered in foil beneath it, but they lay meat directly on the oven racks. To me this seems like it is even messier than using a dehydrator so I advise always getting a dehydrator since the savings will more than pay for it in a years worth of use.

Well there's my Jerky 101 course, I hope it helps and or inspires you to make some awesome dried meats.

Dang now I'm hungry!

reply to post by Aliquandro


My mouth watered as I read that
Great tips and ty.

Here's a recipe from Food Network's Alton Brown. It uses paper air filters and a box fan if you don't want to invest in your own smoker or dehydrator.

I have learned alot from Alton Brown but man this recipe doesn't look so great, but the technique might work well if you had nothing else to use.

And shame on Alton for recommending with the grain cutting (bias allows more flavor to soak in), and for marinating in soy. I've learned from Korean masters (ok just an ex gf who was a great cook) that salt toughens meat, whereas sugars tenderize it... and besides the drying is what cures the meat the most, not the salt. Besides if you glaze it, it gets more flavor than store bought and contains enough salt (yes I add soy to the glazes, just not the marinade) to cure it long enough to eat it, but is slightly messy to eat but so worth it. I thought Alton approached food with a scientific angle, but maybe not so much anymore?

If I make a 5 lb batch, i get about 2-3 lbs of dried jerky that I can store in the fridge, then eat as i want to. But generally it tastes SO good it never lasts more than a week even when you eat it by yourself

If you share your homemade glazed candied meat (I prefer that term for the type I make since it seems more appropriate) you will become very popular with your fiends, and might achieve hero status if you are not careful.

Don't get me wrong, Alton Brown has some knowledge and taught me how to treat beans correctly

Aliquandro
I have learned alot from Alton Brown but man this recipe doesn't look so great, but the technique might work well if you had nothing else to use.

And shame on Alton for recommending with the grain cutting (bias allows more flavor to soak in), and for marinating in soy. I've learned from Korean masters (ok just an ex gf who was a great cook) that salt toughens meat, whereas sugars tenderize it... and besides the drying is what cures the meat the most, not the salt. Besides if you glaze it, it gets more flavor than store bought and contains enough salt (yes I add soy to the glazes, just not the marinade) to cure it long enough to eat it, but is slightly messy to eat but so worth it. I thought Alton approached food with a scientific angle, but maybe not so much anymore?

If I make a 5 lb batch, i get about 2-3 lbs of dried jerky that I can store in the fridge, then eat as i want to. But generally it tastes SO good it never lasts more than a week even when you eat it by yourself

If you share your homemade glazed candied meat (I prefer that term for the type I make since it seems more appropriate) you will become very popular with your fiends, and might achieve hero status if you are not careful.

Don't get me wrong, Alton Brown has some knowledge and taught me how to treat beans correctly

My friend over in San Diego says that he makes his from local Mexican deli meat, pre tenderized beef just soaked in spices for dollars a bag meant for the BBQ. Sounds prefect for jerky-ising but alas im over the pond