Drying your own jerky is really not very difficult and is certainly a cost saving over buying the commercial product.
- Be sure to select cuts of meat which are lean and free of gristle. Round or sirloin roasts work well. Boneless chicken breasts are another alternative.
- A poor cut of meat will make for some very unsavoury jerky. Fat content will tend to go rancid over time, and gristle will make the end product almost inedible.
- Trim any fat or gristle from the meat before drying.
- Slice the jerky as consistently as posslbe so that it is able to dry consistently.
We provide a couple variations here to satisfy different tastes. A quick search on the Internet will provide hundreds more.
| Marinade Variation #1 |
| Ingredients | Metric | Imperial |
| Soy Sauce | 125 ml | ½ cup |
| Sesame Oil | 65 ml | ¼ cup |
| Rice Vinegar | 65 ml | ¼ cup |
| Honey | 65 ml | ¼ cup |
| Red Wine | 65 ml | ¼ cup |
| Fresh Ground Pepper | to taste | |
| Fresh Grated Ginger | 5 ml | 1 tsp |
| Dry Mustard | 5 ml | 1 tsp |
| Marinade Variation #2 |
| Ingredients | Metric | Imperial |
| Your favourite BBQ Sauce | 375 ml | 1½ cups |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Pepper | to taste | |
