Hot, Not Sweet, Jerky

March 18, 2015 1:34 PM

Looking for recipes for dehydrator-created jerky, can be hot, no carbs. Details below the cut.

I just got a Nesco food dehydrator for the express purpose of making my own jerky; I'm starting Whole30 and in general have thought about doing my own jerky for quite some time--I like it quite a lot but the price for pre-prepared always drives me a little nuts. Restrictions: just about any kind of meat (as long as it's not sugar-cured, like almost all bacon is) is OK; no sugar or carbs (I'm also trying to stay in ketosis); no soy (although coconut aminos are OK as a substitute). Spicy is great (I mention this because of this previous AskMe), but not necessary.

posted by Halloween Jack to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Best answer: I have made Alton Brown's jerky plenty of times and have always gotten compliments. I'm pretty sure I've left out the honey to no ill effect. If you are trying to stay in ketosis a fattier cut of meat may be more to your liking, though it will contribute to fast spoilage (not that I've ever had jerky stick around long enough to spoil).
posted by DJWeezy at 1:39 PM on March 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I usually make some variation of this recipe. Usually I double the red and black peppers. It's delicious.

For safety, the important things are the ratios of liquid to salt to the weight of the meat. After that, you can add whatever seasonings you please. I rarely make this the same way twice, but it's always yummy.
posted by OrangeDisk at 2:05 PM on March 18, 2015 [4 favorites]

Best answer: I buy the leanest grass fed meat (eye round roast, london broil work well) and have the butcher slice it "for beef jerky." I have found that some get the concept of "slice it for jerky" better than others. About 1/16" works best. Have them show you a slice before they cut the whole thing because it's really disappointing to get it home and find out the slices are too thick. Or you can partially freeze it and slice it yourself. Cut off any visible fat - fat will make it go bad faster. Get your fat elsewhere :)

I make a marinade of approx. 1 cup apple juice or pineapple juice, 1/4 cup coconut aminos, 1 T garlic powder, 1 T chile powder, 1 t. salt, 1 t. black pepper. I don't really measure any of this - I just put a bunch of stuff in a small pan. Sometimes I'll add a splash of balsamic vinegar, some dry mustard, ginger, paprika, red pepper flakes. It's pretty forgiving, you can get creative. I really never do it the same way twice but it's always good. I boil it down a bit to concentrate the flavors. After it's cool, pour it over the sliced meat and marinade for a full 24 hours. Not sure about the carbs but this is definitely Whole 30 compliant. Since you're pouring the marinade out before dehydrating, the amount of carbs that stay are negligible. Good luck with your Whole30. Embrace the adventure.
posted by ms_rasclark at 3:59 PM on March 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: ms_rasclark, I think that you're right about Whole30 being OK with using fruit juice, although they generally prefer people to use the whole fruit. (Also to not use premade fruit juice, I think, as much of it isn't 100% real juice.) I think I'll try something like that. Got my eye round roast and I just need to pick up a few things and will start marinating tonight.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:24 AM on March 20, 2015

Response by poster: And the result: not bad, but I would like something spicier--I think I may try adding spice to the meat after taking it out of the marinade but before drying. (I doubled ms_rasclark's recipe for about 6 pounds of eye round roast.) I also didn't slice it as thin--I got the meat from Costo, and there's no way I could get 1/16" slices using a blade by hand--which didn't seem to affect the drying process too much (I think it was in the dehydrator for about 5 1/2 hours), but may have not helped the marinade penetrate as much (I also didn't let it sit for 24 hours; maybe I'll plan in more time next time).

It's still pretty good, and an unexpected bonus: the dehydration gave my kitchen and much of the apartment a very attractive spicy-meat scent. The Nesco worked very well and as a bonus they threw in some jerky spice that I may try next time; I also have some Jamaican jerk seasoning coming in the mail that I want to give a whirl. Thanks, everyone!
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:09 PM on March 22, 2015

Thanks for the update. Definitely the longer marinating time helps. I have found that I need to add more spice than I think to get that bite. You're right about the fruit juice... if you were just going to drink it, you'd be better off eating the whole piece of fruit. It's no problem for a marinade. I hope your Whole30 is going well.
posted by ms_rasclark at 10:19 AM on March 24, 2015