Well, the 10 pound batch of jerky sticks I made a while back is finally gone. Time to mix up another batch. Figured I would go back to the "jerky rounds" method as a lot of people said they preferred that format better (sticks and round were the same recipe so it had a lot to do with the shape and bite feel).
Seems like lately this is my preferred method and recipe for jerky, regardless of the shape. This is an easy method and does not require casings. Also fewer steps in the process. If you have not tried this method, it's worth considering.
So, I picked up 10 pounds of 90% ground beef from Sam's Club in the large 10 pound tube package. It's cheaper per pound in the 10 pound tube than in the flats. The meat department manager told me they cut open tubes to divide them into flats so it's the exact same product. So if you buy their 90% or 80% ground beef in the 4 to 5 pound flats, save money on the 10 pound tube.
Yes, you read that right. I said GROUND BEEF and no casings, not sirloin or round or traditional snack sticks from ground meat. Like I said, I'm really starting to like this method as it is quicker and easier than traditional cut jerky or stuffed snack sticks. This method also uses Cure #1. Also instead of using a smoker, I'm using a dehydrator to finish the meat. This method should work with pretty much any stick or jerky recipe, but this is the version I've narrowed it down to a variations of Ragweed's original version (both his method and recipe).
For a 5 pound batch:
- 5 pounds of 90% lean ground beef (you can use leaner or venison if you have it)
- 12 liquid ounces of Smoking Gun Jerky Marinade (a pre-mixed commercial product - see below)
- 2 tsp crushed black pepper
- 2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp liquid hickory smoke
- 1 tsp of Cure #1 (pink salt)
Mix cure with 1/4 cup of hot water to dissolve the cure. I then mix the cure with the liquid marinade. Pour the dry ingredients over the meat and then pour over the cure/marinade mix. Mix thoroughly by hand until all the meat is the same dark color. Cover and let rest in the refrigerator overnight so the cure can work and the flavors combine and mellow.
This is the marinade mix I'm using as a base. If you are close to one of their distributors, you are lucky. I'm not and had to pay dang near as much to ship it as it cost to buy it, but it's worth it. I will be buying more even with the shipping premium. This stuff is also very good in burgers at a lower mix ratio (they have several recipes to doctor the base mix up posted on their website).
http://www.smokinggunjerky.com/categories/Marinade/Ok, that's all for today. I will post more on the method for making rounds and the dehydration tomorrow. The meat is doing it's thing in the fridge for now......