October 10, 2012
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Jerky
At the bottom of my email inbox—a dark and very deep well—I have two requests for jerky (or biltong, the South African version) recipes, in response to the September 2011 post, I’m Converting. I’ve delayed because no two batches of jerky are ever the same. My son, Carson, made a large bunch of jerky a decade ago that still evokes fond sighs. If only we had written down those proportions!
We make jerky from hamburger, using a jerky gun
and a food dehydrator. It is easy to mix and easy to chew. You can make it in the oven, in a smoker, even in the sun if you live in a very hot climate. It sounds obscene to say, but we make jerky to use up leftover burger in our freezer. You know, that hunting thing.
Substitutions are allowed. I would never use plain salt in a jerky recipe. My cupboards are brimming with smoked salt and various seasoned salts. The heat in the jerky can come from cayenne, red pepper flakes, hot sauce. Two years ago I had a banner crop of jalapenos, which I dried and ground into red pepper flakes, which I am still using.
You need a LARGE bowl for mixing the ingredients. Wash your hands and plunge them into the meat and spices. Squeeze, twist, turn, squeeze, until it is thoroughly mixed. This would be a “critical” step.
I grew up eating raw hamburger, only one of the bizarre items in my catalog of eccentricities. Hence, I have no problem taking a bite and adjusting the seasonings. If you are normal, you don’t want to do this. Plop a tablespoon in a fry pan and cook it; then you can taste the flavor and correct, if needed.
Recipe A – Hamburger Jerky
4 lbs. hamburger
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 T salt
1 t garlic powder
2 T black pepper
1/2 – 2 t cayenne
1 T onion powderMix and refrigerate for 24 hours.
If you don’t have a jerky gun, roll 3/16″ thick, place on racks. Smoke approximately 10 hours. Cut into strips. Store in refrigerator.
Recipe B – Hamburger Jerky
11 1/2 lbs. hamburger
2 T – 3 T liquid smoke
1 T meat tenderizer
3 T onion powder
2 T lemon pepper
2 T seasoned salt
2 T garlic powder
4 1/2 T red pepper flakes
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Yoshida’s sauce
1 T hot sauceIf you have questions, please ask. I might answer by Christmas 2013.
Comments (3)
Good things come to those who wait! And, that your recipes are for ground meat is even better! (I’d never heard of a jerky gun.) Thank you!
Two for one! I have a huge bowl of jalapenos in the fridge, waiting….Thank you for the drying/flakes idea!
@Jbbs_Musings - Yay! I’m glad you can use the ideas.
I have a closet with our water heater in it. It is warm and dry. I sewed the jalapenos onto a string of heavy duty thread (going through the very top of each pepper, not lengthwise) and hung the string in the closet for a month. The green peppers turned red and shrived up.
I would recommend wearing some sort of mask when you grind the dried jalapenos. I put them in the food processor, which provoked exuberant sneezes. Moving the processor outside in open air helped, but this stuff is heavy duty. Wow, it’s good in cooking, though.
I hope that helps!