The AGS counter top meat tumbler came in the other day, so I figured it's time to crank out a fresh batch of jerky. I'm going to finish these on the LEM 10 tray dehydrator instead of the WSM. This will be the 1st time I've used both the AGS and the LEM dehydrator for jerky.
Picked up just shy of 5 pounds of meat from the local grocery store. They had sliced "breakfast steak" which appeared to be just 1/4 to 3/8" thick slices of round and oddly enough it was less expensive than the whole round roast was per pound. They also had some 3/8" x 3/8" "stir fry" strips for the same price. Looked like a winner to me as the cut work was already done (I did slice the flat steaks in half to make manageable sizes though).
The recipe is one of Rick's (NEPAS) that seems to have been pretty popular. His recipe was for 5 pounds and since the AGS instructions said to not exceed 4 pounds of meat (I had a little over 4.5 pounds), I split the marinade in half for each batch in the AGS. This is the first time I've used this marinade and the only change I made was to add 1 TBL of Colgin liquid hickory smoke to each of the 1/2 marinade mixes since I'm finishing this in the dehydrator instead of over a smoker.
NEPAS Hillbilly Backwoods Jerky- 5 pounds of lean meat strips (or lean ground beef)*
- 2 TBL non-iodized salt
- 1 tsp cure #1 (pink salt)
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cayenne powder
- 1 tsp crushed black pepper
- 2 TBL onion powder
- 1 cup soy sauce (regular or low sodium)
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3 cups cold distilled water
- 2-3 TBL liquid smoke (optional if using dehydrator, omit if drying in smoker)
*Note - if using lean ground beef, reduce the water to 1 TBL and the soy and Worchestershire to 2 TBL each. If the meat mix feels really dry and tack, add 1 TBL more of water and remix (repeat as needed).
Mix all the above together and let marinade in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. Then smoke or dehydrate as normal.
Cast of characters
Sliced meat will be in the first batch to be marinaded. Mixed marinade is next to the meat.
All vacuumed down and set for a 30 minute spin in the AGS marinade mixer.
More to come as this progresses.....
