we're having a jerky cook off in my natural resources management class (thanks to an awesome teacher and excellent persuasion skills of myself and my friend) next friday (before christmas break). my teacher is supplying the meat and we need to come in with recipes and ingredients.

so what are some good jerky recipes? i'm not sure if he's bringing beef or venison.

A jerk-off huh? Sounds fun. ;D

lol yeah my teacher made some jokes about that  ;D

not gonna touch the comments on this.but.....

I always start with the base of

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup worcestershire sauce

2 tsp liquid smoke

4 pinches Kosher salt

Then i'll add crushed red pepper,onion powder and garlic powder to taste.If you like teriyaki use 2/3 cup of that in place of 2/3 of the soy and 1/4 cup pineapple juice.For beef i only marinate for 1 hour for venison overnight because the salts seem to kill the gaminess.

However, the other day my bro killed a deer

I had a bottle of Allegro tm hot and spicy marinade

(I did not have any soy sauce or liquid smoke at home)The Allegro tm was delicious Everyone liked it.

I have a recipe for mustard biscuits too mmmmmhmmmm.

A jerk-off huh? Sounds fun. ;D

lol yeah my teacher made some jokes about that ;D

LOL Make sure he was joking........he is supplying the meat.... ;D ;D ;D

b

WOOOOOW YOU TOOK IT TOO FAR BRENT! ;D ;D ;D

What cut of beef do you buy?  I tried making some once, but it got really hard and dry.  I don't have a smoker or a drier, just used the oven.  What do you guys use?

I use a dehydrator.Butb I saw on "GOOD EATS"

Alton Brown used a 20"window fan he layed it on a table with the side that blows out up.He placed a home furnace filter (not fiberglass)20"x20"on top.He layed his marinated strips of beef in the grooves after paper towel drying them.He put 3 or 4 filters with meat on them layered on the fan.Then he bungeed them to the fan and stuck them in an open window blowing outside(so as not to fill the house with dried meat smell)for 8-12 hours.He said a regular dehydrator cooks the meat and that his way made better jerky because he truly dries it out.Here is the link to the recipe and instructions*note*I have never tried this.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/beef-jerky-recipe/index.html

That's an interesting idea.  Makes sense, just drying it like that.  I think that was the problem with my jerky before, the oven actually cooked it.

I do venison on my smoker using ground meat and flatten it into patties and sprinkle some kosher salt.  I smoke it until its almost dry, maybe 4 hours.  Then dehyrate it until crispy.  Its sooo tender and more flavorful than any marinades I made.  I'm hungry now!!

That's an interesting idea. Makes sense, just drying it like that. I think that was the problem with my jerky before, the oven actually cooked it.

I hate this store-bought crap that is overly moist and soft. (if i wanted that, i'd eat a cookie)

We just made some venison jerky the other day.  My wife sliced up the roasts about 1/4" thick.  She used worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, onion and garlic salt, brown sugar, and some sort of spicy apple marinade.  Set the oven to 200 degress and left the door cracked.  It took about 3 1/2 hours.  I turned the strips over about every 30-45 minutes.  Turned out really good.  Now I'm waiting for my summer sausage and pepperoni sticks to be ready from the processor.