Jerky Marinade Recipe

[benos]

Any favorite marinade jerky recipes out there?

Made a batch the old school way - just salt and pepper on thinly sliced London Broil in the gas oven - last night - tasty stuff. But every time I've said the word jerky to someone lately, they say "the marinade's the way to go, right"?

Found one highly rated recipe on allrecipes.com, but the main flavor/marinade ingredients are Worchester and Soy sauce. Neither of which I really like.

I'm thinking some sort of spicy, slightly teriakish flavor would be good. Ohhh, maybe some green chili action instead of teriaki...

be

[Mark K]

I have used several different Teriyaki marinades for Jerky. I found that most leave a much milder flavor in the end than the commercially available Jerkys. For a stronger flavor, I have painted the meat with the marinade about 1/2 way through the drying process. It can leave the jerky sticky, but I don't mind that.

Mark K.

[JACKAL]

I start with 1/4" sliced London Broil or Elk about 5#'s. I then put it in 2 cups Soy Sauce, 2Tbs liquid smoke, as much as you want louisiana hot sauce, and 1/4 cup ground pepper. Mix and leave overnight in fridge. Then onto the electric dehydrator. I can't keep my kids out of it.

[JimmyZip]

Brian,

Most of the smoking recipes will work too. I use 75% brown sugar to 25% kosher salt, run this through a blender to pulverize the salt, and then marinade the meat/fish in it overnight.(In a Ziploc that I have taken all the excess air out of to ensure good contact without the need to turn) Rinse the next day, and then smoke or dry as you normally would. You can add red pepper or whatever, but I don't anymore. When you rinse, dont wash, just a cursory rinse. This is really good when smoking or drying tuna too, but will work well with salmon, beef, or shark.

Soy products are used because they have naturally occurring MSG. They give you more bang for your buck so to speak, but I prefer to stay with the salt/sugar because it just sells the meat better. I have actuallly had elk done this way and I liked the way you could tell it was elk without that being a bad thing.

JZ

[Graham Smith]

I've tried a couple different things in the smoker a few years back and I don't like the soy sauce much either. For an interesting twist, try a mix of low sodium Tamari sauce and rice wine vinegar with just a little sugar and some chopped scallions. For a whole bunch of ideas, have a look here.

Edit: Almost for got the cracked pepper.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Graham Smith

[dajarrel]

Graham,

Thanks for the link. Lots of good info there.

dj

[benos]

Thanks for the feedback.

I've got a crazy marinade going in the fridge right now. Put a whole bunch of "liquids" an spices on the counter and just started blending stuff. If it turns out any good I'll post it.

be

[zorba]

Brian the way we used to do it in Zimbabwe and Southafrica even in summer .

Always use vinegar (white) This preserves the meat and stops the flies , after the meat has dried out there will be no vinegar after taste.

Salt for preserving too.

These two ingredients are a must and form the bace of all preparations.

There after its your choice , mostly i use cumin origanum black pepper brown sugar or sweet chilli sauce.

The mixture should be constructed in layers and mixed up at the end leave for 5 hours then mix again , no more than 10 hours in total in the mixture then hang.

Important do not allow the pieses of meat to touch one another whilst drying.

Cheers.

[LadyinBlue]

I just got this wild picture in my mind of Benos dressed up as Julia Childs in the kitchen...with her accent..."yeeees"

"the answer to long life is red meat and gin"

[benos]

I just got this wild picture in my mind of Benos dressed up as Julia Childs in the kitchen...with her accent..."yeeees"

"the answer to long life is red meat and gin"

Red meat and whisky!

be

[benos]

1.5 lbs London Broil

Marinade:

Hatch (brand) Green Chili Enchilada Sauce, 1 can

veri veri (brand) Teriyaki Sauce, 1/2 cup

Soy Sauce, 1/4 cup

Mexican Chili Powder, 1 1/2 tsp

Crushed Red Peppers, 1 1/2 tbs

Pablano Red Chili Jalapeno Sauce, 5 "shakes"

Onion Powder, 2 tbs

Black Pepper (some)

Garlic Powder, 1 tsp

Salt, 1 tsp

Spices to tend to clump, so mix up the marinade with a whip.

Put the meat in the freezer for 30 minutes, then thinly slice.

Marinade for 24 hours.

Lay meat on oven rack. (Others suggested hanging meat from rack with toothpicks.)

Oven at 150 degrees. Be sure to line bottom of oven with foil!

Should be done around 4 - 5 hours. You want the meat to bend without breaking.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Next time I'll try Worchester Sauce instead of Soy, or maybe in addition to.

It was killer. New flavor explosions with every bite.

[Graham Smith]

Red meat and whisky!

Hhhmmm... I wonder if you could use whiskey in the marinade.

Rye whiskey and black powder marinade: Use the gunpowder to tenderize the meat (ala Mythbusters), throw out the ruined meat, and drink the whiskey.

[Bryan 45]

The last jerky I made I used Worchester and Teriyaki with a healthy couple spoonfuls of Larue's Dillo Dust. Add a little garlic powder, Chili powder, black pepper- about 8 hours in the dehydrator and yummy. I used round steak of venision from a nice young buck I got back in November.

[benos]

I saw round steak (beef) mentioned in several jerky recipes, I may try it next instead of london broil.

be

[XRe]

So, is the dehydrator a better plan than the oven? I've been wanting to try my hand at jerky for a little while, now, so this thread is super timely for me...

[benos]

So, is the dehydrator a better plan than the oven? I've been wanting to try my hand at jerky for a little while, now, so this thread is super timely for me...

I was wondering that too. Only ever used a gas oven.

be

[Bryan 45]

I've never used an oven, so I can't help! The only problem w/ the dehydrator is you have to make sure you don't forget about it. I made some jerky one time that was harder than a leather shoe sole.

[marmax]

I like to use a dehydrator. I use venison but use what you have. The instructions say to never use any alcohol but whiskey works fine in small amounts. I use most of the same ingrediants as Brian has listed but I also use pineapple juice for the bromelain and papain. They are protein digestive enzymes that help to tenderize the meat naturally. Make lots and enjoy.

[JimmyZip]

Doing the jerky right now. Gonna try the oven.

Should be good.

[Graham Smith]

I'm tempted to try the method devised by Alton Brown. He used a box fan and some paper air conditioner filters as a dehydrator - very ingenious.

[rrflyer]

I know it's cheating but cabelas has some reallly good premade spice kits for jerky. There terriaky pepper was really good. Nice hot kick and that terriaky twang.

I usually use whatever lean meat is the cheapest and vlcut into .25 inch thick strips or a little thicker. Marinate for 24 hours and dry for the same.

[JimmyZip]

Was feeling a little ill, and got sick last night, unable to try the jerky. My middle daughter just tried it. Needless to say, I think I will be hiding the jerky so that there is some left when my stomach gets better Sunday.

Darn kids. You find something good to make to eat, they will eat it all.

JZ

[benos]

I'm tempted to try the method devised by Alton Brown. He used a box fan and some paper air conditioner filters as a dehydrator - very ingenious.

That was ingenious. Makin' want to make some more jerky!

be

[XRe]

Rhonda had some "Brian's Recipe" jerky with her this weekend at the Double Tap. Righteous stuff!!!

[smokshwn]

So, is the dehydrator a better plan than the oven? I've been wanting to try my hand at jerky for a little while, now, so this thread is super timely for me...

I was wondering that too. Only ever used a gas oven.

be

Use something to prop the oven door open 1-2" and then just use a small fan with a clip on the oven handle. Viola' dehydrator.