Beef jerky: creepy meat or tasty treat?

Being the daughter of a chip company executive, you can bet that I've eaten my share of beef jerky.  Thanks to the lengthy ingredient list and maybe the wrestlers peddling Slim Jim, I had come to think of beef jerky as something unhealthy and gross.   A few years ago I finally tried some beef jerky made by a coworker - I could not get enough!  I vowed to make sure my next oven could dehydrate foods.  It was still a few more years until I finally tried his recipe, but it delicious! 

Although it tasted really good, I was never quite happy with the recipe ingredients.  Over the past year we’ve come to learn Lukas is allergic to not only 5 of the top 8 allergens, but also sesame, food additives and preservatives.  My coworkers’ recipe along with all the recipes I’ve found online use bottled teriyaki or sauces, which of course contain creepy additives.  There’s only one brand of jerky that meets all of these restrictions but it’s rather expensive.  It’s good, but sometimes I want a different style and taste. 

I decided to take my coworkers’ recipe and break it down to the basic pure ingredients and adjust it to our tastes.

First, bring the marinade to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Marinate: To keep the process as simple as possible, I purchase beef that is already thinly sliced.  Otherwise you have to partially freeze the meat to get it sliced thinly.  After cutting the meat into strips (or whatever you prefer), I separate each piece as I place it in the bag so that the marinade will be able to soak into each piece.  Pour in the cooled marinade, lay the bag flat, and mix the marinade throughout the meat.  Refrigerate overnight.

Prep the oven: I hate to waste a huge sheet of foil, so I place a few paaper towels across the oven and oven door to catch drips when I'm placing the racks in.

 Laying out the meat: I get my cooling racks handy and place the first rack on top of a cookie sheet to catch drips.  Once the first rack is full, I stack the next rack on top of the first and repeat.  

Spicing the meat: Next, I lightly season with cracked white pepper and garlic powder.  Make sure you hold the spice HIGH above the racks to ensure that you don’t douse the jerky!  Once the top rack has been spiced, I transfer it to the oven and begin spicing the next rack.  Repeat until all racks are spiced and placed on the oven racks above each other.   

Clean off any excess marinade off the cookie sheet (so that it won’t smoke) and place it in the bottom of the oven below the racks to catch the drips.

Food safety: At first I had some concerns about the food safety of beef jerky, but raising the temperature of the meat to 160 degrees kills all the pathogens.  Weave a meat thermometer through a thicker piece of meat.  Set the oven to 180 degrees until the thermometer temperature reads 160.  Then set the oven to dehydrate (or convection bake at 140, or transfer to dehydrator).  The jerky is done when it’s dry enough that you can rip off a piece easily, but before it snaps when you bend it.  Cool it and store it in sealed Ziploc bags.

Additive Free Beef Jerky Recipe

 

Marinade

3/8 cup organic soy sauce (contains no preservatives!)

3/8 cup organic vegan Worcestershire (I used Annie's from 14 Carrot)

¾ cup brown sugar

1/8 cup (2 TBL) honey

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 to 1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

Spice

White Pepper

Garlic Powder