Homemade jerky has been something I’d wanted to make for a very long time…. I think for some reason I wanted to hold back until I had got a dehydrator, but felt it wasn’t right to insist on having one of them to make homemade jerky…. So. In this video my Daughter Chloe and I work to show you how to make jerky using steak but also beef mince too and compare them together. You don’t have to use a jerky gun either, but I have to be honest, it was a lot of fun! So here’s how we made each one, we absolutely loved them, feel free to mix up all the herbs and spices.
For the beef mince jerky it is super simple. Just add all the ingredients into a big mixing bowl and mix well to combine all the herbs and spices until they are nice and consistently moved around the meat. Feel free to add more of your favourite spices as you go.
Now add the mix into a jerky gun or if you want you can roll it out thin between two sheets of baking paper and cut into strips. Whatever method you do, slice into even sizes and place onto a baking tray lined with a baking mat / silpat or baking paper. Cover in clingfilm and keep in the fridge to firm up, proceed to the next stage an hour later, but best left overnight.
For the steak keep it in the freezer for a few hours, then bash it thin to make slicing easier later. Bash it between two pieces of baking parchment with a rolling pin. Slice against the grain into thin strips if you can about ¼ inch thick. See the video for specifics on this.
For the steak marinade (we went for a wet version very similar to the dry above) add all the ingredients except the steak to a big bowl, whisk together well. Add the steak to a ziplock bag and add in the marinade, mix it well and leave in the fridge overnight.
Once ready either use your dehydrator at60c or equivalent or get the oven ready and pre-heat to 60c. For the oven sit a wire baking rack onto a foil lined baking tray, this helps the heat circulate under the jerky whilst baking and lets any drips onto the foil below. If using the wet steak drain off the marinade fully, rest it on kitchen towel to dry, but do this several times so it’s nice and dry…. then place on the wire racks / dehydrator. For the beef mince version you can sit it on the rack / dehydrator shelves instantly.
Bake / dehydrate for roughly 3 hours, but push it further if you want. It’s a bit more tender from 2 hours in, so play around with this.