I am a sucker for jerky. It used to be that I was the only one who understood the allure of jerky but evidently that’s changed. I’m seeing so much love for jerky lately that it just warms my heart.
Jerky is the perfect food, in my book. It’s portable, it’s shelf stable, it’s loaded full of protein. Awesome for after a work out.
See? Perfect food.
I actually had it for breakfast this morning. Don’t judge.. you just jealous.
I usually get an eye round roast when I see it on sale and clean it up myself with my knife.
Big eye round roast
My idea of perfect jerky is toothsome.. meaning, I have to really rip into it and CHEW. So for that I cut long strips with the grain of the meat.
Long skinny meat strips about 1/4 inch thick
I usually brine my jerky meat in a apple jalapeno mixture, but this time I wanted to try something a bit sweeter.
Lloyd has the best honey.. hands down
So I chopped up some fresh garlic and ginger and poached it in some honey and water until it was soft.
And then I added these:
I’m such a whore for Penzeys
Then I pureed the crap out of it with my boat motor
Finished Marinade
And let that cool.. then I smooshed it all over the meat.
Smoosh
Popped that into the fridge overnight and in the morning, I spread it out over my dehydrator trays and let it run at 160 degrees for about 9 hours
You want some? Lemme give you the recipe:
- 4-5 pounds of lean beef, cut into strips
- ½ cup of honey
- 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup canning or Kosher salt
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- Put the honey, garlic and ginger is a small sauce pot and heat until just boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer.
- Add salt and water to the pot, stirring to dissolve the salt.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the ginger and garlic are soft.
- Add the cardamom and cloves and immediately remove from heat. Stir
- Puree with immersion blender, regular blender or food processor.
- Allow marinade to cool.
- Add the marinade to the meat and smoosh it with your hands to get every piece covered.
- Put the meat mixture in a plastic bag and allow to marinate over night.
- Put the strips of meat on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 160 degrees until dry but still bendy. About 8-9 hours.
