Nothing beats homemade beef jerky. I have made this recipe a couple of times, each time gets better and better.  It may take a couple times to get the beef jerky just right since you will need to experiment with thickness, marinade time, and amount of marinade you use.  With the perfect combination you will have the best beef jerky ever!  This also makes an awesome gift.

Selecting your cut of meat may be hard. You can either buy a sirloin tip oven roast and slice it or you can buy top sirloin steaks.  Find pieces with the least amount of fat or pick ones that a evenly marbled.  I found that steaks were a lot easier to work with since it was easier to cut after you freeze the meat.  When I first started making beef jerky I sliced the meat super thin so that I can dehydrate it quicker. I realized that it resulted in dry chewy, harder strips of jerky.  If you like softer chewier pieces cut the meat about 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick.  Or continue to watch the meat until it is to the texture you like.

Freeze your meat for a couple hours until it is mostly frozen. This helps you slice it into nice even slices.  If you can, ask your butcher to slice the meat for you.  When you are slicing, you can slice along the grain or against the grain.  If you slice along the grain, you will get chewier jerky.  I prefer to cut against the grain because it is easier to eat.  Remember to trim all the fat as this part will get rancid.

Place the marinade into a plastic bag or bowl.  A bag works really well because you can squeeze all the air out and really saturate the meat with the marinade. Make sure you make plenty of marinade. The more the better and more flavorful the jerky.  I try to make sure eat piece of meat is covered in enough marinade.  Once or twice a day I mix the meat to make sure each piece gets lots of contact with the marinade.

Marinade the meat for 3-7 days.  Most recipes say overnight but I find that it tastes much better if you marinade for a couple of days.  You can taste the meat by cooking a piece in the microwave.  If it is tasty enough then it is ready to dehydrate.  If not then marinade it a little longer.  When you are ready, dry each piece of beef with paper towels.  You want to remove most of the marinade because this will help the meat dry faster.  Dehydrate for about 6-8 hours depending on how dry you like your beef jerky. I usually leave mine for about 6 hours (I like softer jerky).  Enjoy while it lasts.  Stash some away for yourself because it will go fast.

http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-beef-jerky-42272

• 4 lbs of sirloin tip or top sirloin
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup Frank’s red hot sauce

Freeze the meat for a couple of hours.  Slice in 1/8 – 1/4 inch this pieces. Remove all fat as this will get rancid.  Add all the ingredients in a ziploc bag.  Mix the meat in the marinade well.  Make sure you have lots of marinade.  The more the better.  Marinade in the fridge for 3-7 days.  Once or twice a day, mix the marinade and meat to insure that all pieces of meat gets in contact with the marinade.  You can test the flavor by cooking a piece of meat in the microwave.  When the meat is tasty enough, it is ready for the next step.  Dry each piece of meat with a paper towel.  Try to remove most of the marinade as this will help the meat dry out faster.  Dehydrate in the jerky setting (155 degrees F) for about 6-8 hours.  Try pieces to make sure they are the texture you like.  Store the meat in an air tight container at room temperature or in the fridge.  Make sure you save some for yourself as this will go fast.

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