I went to the store recently to buy some beef jerky as a snack. When I started looking at the labels, I found very quickly that they all had at least 3 carbs per one-ounce serving, some as much as 5. While this isn't much, I still don't like it. It's the sugar. They all had sugar.

So I decided to make my own and here's the recipe I came up with after searching the Web for ideas. The cumin in the marinade gives it a wonderful rich flavor that smells as good as it tastes. And you don't even need a dehydrator to make it.

The Worcestershire has a little bit of carbs in it, but I wound up discarding more than half of the marinade, so I would say that this recipe has considerably less than 1 gram of carbohydrate per serving.

Here's my recipe:

Marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire
1 cup water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp granulated onions

Meat:
5 to 6 pounds lean beef
I used London broil. It was cheap ($2.66/lb at pay&save) and easy to cut all the fat off of.

Prepare the marinade so the onion and garlic have time to disolve.

To prepare the meat, trim all visible fat and cut the meat into 1/8 to 1/4 inch strips. It is important to get as much fat off as possible because that is the part that can go rancid on jerky. Also, it can help if you partially freeze the meat before cutting. I didn't freeze it and the meat was a little hard to handle so I had ends that I couldn't cut to the end of. So I cut them into stew meat. I wound up with about 5 pounds of strips.

The next step is optional, but I thought it was kind of cool. Take each strip and pound it with the nubby side of a meat mallet on both sides.

With a large resealable plastic bag handy, dip each strip in the marinade and put them in the bag. After you have dipped all the strips, pour the remaining marinade in the bag, seal and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 days. It just depends on when you are ready to do the drying.

To dry the jerky: Preheat the oven to warm. If you have an oven thermometer, check to make sure that the temperature is at least 160 but preferrably not over 200. You may want to line the bottom of the oven to catch the dripping (I have a self-cleaning oven, so I didn't worry about it). Also, as you put in the strips, they will drip on the door so you might want to put down some paper towels to catch that also.

Basically, you have to lay out the strips in your oven. This can be done in a number of ways. I put mine on cake racks that I then layed in the oven. It has been suggested that you can just lay them out on the oven racks. One thing I did as I put them on the racks was to "squeegee" them with my fingers first. This reduced the amount of drippage.

Close the oven door with a fork in the jam to keep it just barely open. This will allow for some airflow to take out the moisture. Leave them in the oven for 4 to 6 hours. Check them periodically to see how they are doing, removing the done ones as you go. If you dry them in the evening, you can heat them for 4 hours, then turn off the heat and leave them over night. In the morning, they will be fully dry and ready to store and eat.

The jerky will dry at different rates based on thickness and location in the oven. When they are ready they should feel totally dry and slightly pliable like very stiff leather. Try not to let them get to the brittle stage, but if you do, they'll still be good to eat.

I like to cut slightly thicker slices because I like my jerky a little bit chewy. Just make sure they are completely done.

Well that's it. You can, of course, make a smaller batch. But this makes about 1 1/4 pounds (20 servings). You can figure on 4 ounces per pound of meat. This is going to be great when I start hiking. Soon... soon.

;-Deb

Thanks for your recipe.... I have an old favourite, but your's looks great....and I plan to try it later this week.

I try and pick and time when it's not too busy and when I buy my meat, the butcher slices it up for me. Sure saves time.

Do you ever add a little "hot sauce" to your jerky??

Hi,
We throw in about 1/4-1/2 a tsp of cayenne pepper. We like it with a little zing Dh just made another batch lastnight. Meat is getting so expensive lately we've been waiting for sales. I wonder if our butcher would do the slicing of us? Hmmmm, never even thought of asking him, until now
Alli

My mom used to make jerky all the time after she got her dehydrater. Yes, the butcher will slice it thin for you if you ask...of course, depending on your butcher. Definitely saves some time!

Thanks for the jerky recipe though....it looks amazing, and I really like the idea of the cayenne! --then again, I'll add cayenne to just about anything!

ok.. I made this the first time a couple nights ago and it was fantastic. very very tastey, however I have a couple questions.

I never made jerky before so some of this seems odd.

Is the dried finished jerky supposed to turn black? Mine turned black, like the same color regular leftover meat would turn if you forgot to throw it out and left it on the counter over night.

Does the base have to be something salty like Soy sauce? I'm guessing it must have salt to keet the germs at bay, but mine came out a bit satly for my taste. If I make it with a low carb bbq suace, would that be good enough, or should I use/add salt?

thanks!

We're making this again .

Alli

How long can this keep for when cooked?

I don't know, I eat it within a few days it's so addicting. Dh just took two London Broils out for us to make it again tomorrow.

Alli