home made Jerky

Mix the following ingredients:
2/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup of Soy sauce[PARA]1 Teaspoon of black pepper

Optional: 1 Tablespoon of Liquid Smoke,
1 Teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder (not salt!).
You don't need to add the [PARA]Soy sauce if you don't want to
but you will need to add 1 Tab of salt if you don't use the soy.
You can flavor your meat with [PARA]any flavoring you like.

SPICY EDITION:
ADD -2 or 3 Teaspoons Tabasco sauce
and/or 1 or 2 Teaspoons crushed red pepper

ONE MORE OPTION: Use a meat smoker to dry jerky.
Mesquite works well with all red meats.
Don't fill the bowl with water as you normally would, you're drying the meat remember?
And forget the Liquid Smoke if you dry the meat this way,
otherwise you will have "smoked" the meat to death.

1) This amount of sauce is sufficient for three pounds of meat
or about 20 - 25 strips,
more than the average oven can handle which will dry to a whopping 20 ounces or so.

2) Now, glop it all together in a gallon-size zip-lock bag
and marinate overnight or 8 hrs in the refrigerator.
Next stretch meat out on paper towels to drain.

3) Cover racks with a couple of sheets of aluminum foil
and make sure of no wholes.
Place meat strips on aluminum foil about an inch apart.
Set oven at lowest temperature setting to dry meat.
Crack open the oven door to allow moisture to escape.

4) What will happen is that the moisture will come out of the meat
and the meat will be setting in meat juices.
Leave the meat setting in the juices until the meat juices has absorbed back into the meat.

5) When the meat is very dark and very dry on top
flip the meat over so the other side can dry.
Don't turn over until the juices have completely absorbed back in the meat
and the foil is dry under the meat.
Smaller pieces will be dry in about 6-8 hours on each side
- larger pieces may take 8-10 on each side.
Drying times vary due to oven differences and meat size
and how much meat is dried at the same time.
The more meat the longer drying time
because of the more meat juices (the amount of meat juices to dry back into the meat).
When the jerky is done it should crack when bent.
You can't dry it too much.
After the meat is done take out of oven lay on paper towels,
let cool and pat excess fat off.
Do not put in plastic bags until cooled.
You also can dry the strips in large baking pans one on each rack of the oven.
Most people dry meat on racks with holes
and let the juices run down on aluminum
on the next rack below where the meat doesn't dry in its own juices,
which takes a lot less time.
But I don't do this because you loose a lot of your flavor of the meat.
It takes longer to make jerky my way but it tastes a lot better
and you don't have to rely on the seasoning as much
because you have more of your meat juices and flavor absorbed back in your meat.

Important! - Beef jerky or turkey must be dried
at a temperature of 145 degrees F
for a minimum of one hour to eliminate bacteria concerns.
Dry in a conventional oven for the first 8-10 hours
at 140-160 degrees F then lower temperature to 130 degrees F until dry.
The lowest temp.
I have on my oven says warm the next lowest says 200 degrees.
So I leave it on 200 degrees for one hour then turn the temp down to warm.
Or you can use a thermometer and do as the instructions say above.
You don't need to make this difficult.
I usually start the drying at night when I go to bed
and when I get up in the morning flip the meat over to dry on the other side.
Don't forget to crack open the oven door to allow moisture to escape.

Worcestershire sauce has 1gm of carb to 1 teas.
Premium Tamari Soy Sauce has 1gm of carb to 1 tab it is also wheat free.
Most other soy sauces (La Choy) have the same.
There are less carbs in Soy Sauces than Worcestershire sauce.

If you don't want to use both Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce because of the carbs.
You can buy Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Seasoning
(The "Original Zesty Taste In A Shake")
it is a small 25 oz bottle in a powder form.
It has no carbs.
This is a recipe for the dried Worcestershire Seasoning and Soy Sauce.
You don't have to add the Soy Sauce if you don't want to.
But you will need to add 1-2 Tab salt or salt as you want if you don't use the Soy.
The Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Seasoning is a lot spicier than plain Worcestershire sauce
that is why I don't have ground pepper in this recipe,
so after you mix this mixture up you do need to taste.
You can always add more Worcestershire Seasoning.

1 1/2 C. Warm Water to dissolve the seasoning
2 1/2 Tab Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Seasoning
3 Tab Vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 teas. Equal or sugar substitute depending how sweet you want
1/2 C. Soy Sauce
Mix the warm water Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Seasoning, Vinegar, and Equal.

Mix well until good and dissolved (you might need to let this sit for about 30 minutes
to dissolve or use hotter water and let cool before putting on meat) enough to taste.
Some of these seasonings never dissolve completely.
After you have the Worcestershire to your liking add your Soy Sauce
and do what the recipe above says from here.
directions by:
Sherrie Mavris