To prepare good beef jerky, choose very lean beef.
Fat should be removed as much as possible because, unlike lean meat, it does not dry properly and can affect the quality and preservation of the final product.
If you leave it in the freezer for a while, the meat can become more compact and, therefore, it will be easier to cut into thin, uniform slices.
Ingredients
- 800g of very lean beef
- 65 ml of Worcestershire sauce
- 65 ml of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of tomato juice
- 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon of onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Procedure
Remove all visible fat from the meat.
If necessary, let it cool in the freezer until it is firm enough to cut precisely.
Next, cut thin strips about 3 mm wide, making sure the thickness is as uniform as possible. It’s important that the cut is uniform so that the different strips dry at the same rate.
Prepare the marinade by mixing Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, tomato juice, vinegar, sugar, garlic, onion, and salt.
Place the meat in a container, spread the marinade evenly, and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.
Once marinating is complete, drain the strips and place them on the drying trays without overlapping, allowing air to circulate freely. In our Biosec home dryers, the horizontal airflow passes evenly through the baskets during drying.
An important note about safety
When preparing dried meat at home, the air temperature of the dryer does not necessarily match the temperature reached inside the meat.
Therefore, to make beef jerky, it is important to follow a proper procedure from a hygienic and sanitary point of view and check with a food thermometer that the meat has reached the expected internal temperature before drying.
Drying program and time
With Biosec, use P4 SuperHot, the program designed for recipes that require higher temperatures.
You can learn more about its operation and features in the guide on Biosec Drying Programs.
Place the strips in the trays and begin the drying process.
As a guideline, allow about 4 hours initially, then turn them over and continue cooking, checking them occasionally. Depending on the thickness of the meat and the quantity you’ve used, it may take another 6-8 hours.
The times should be considered indicative: the thickness of the slices, the amount of water retained after marinating, and the load of the dryer can considerably modify the duration.
How to tell when beef jerky is ready?
The prepared beef jerky should look like this:
- dry on the surface;
- of a darker color than the original meat;
- compact and fibrous;
- still slightly flexible.
Try bending a strip after letting it cool: it should bend and show small cracks without breaking completely.
If there are still visibly damp areas inside, continue drying.
How to preserve beef jerky?
Let the jerky cool completely before packaging it.
For home preparation, it’s recommended to keep it in the refrigerator, in a tightly sealed container or vacuum-packed. For longer periods, freezing is preferable.
The actual shelf life depends on the amount of residual moisture, fat content, preparation, and packaging system; therefore, I would avoid assuming that homemade jerky is equivalent to a long-lasting industrial product.