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BEEF JERKY FROM YOUR OWN KITCHEN

BEEF JERKY holds a very special place in my list of comestibles. Partly because it just tastes SO GOOD, and also because of the associations with my youth. I don’t recall it EVER appearing at our home….but I had a paper route (delivering the SANTA ROSA PRESS DEMOCRAT around UKIAH, CALIFORNIA from a couple of months before I turned 12 until five or six months after my 13th birthday, when I broke my arm climbing around on the rocks of Indian Caves (apparently not called that anymore, as I can find no reference to it on the Web) in YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.
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Don’t panic…I really am going to get around to the Beef Jerky….just stick with me.

Anyhow, I used to stop at Joe’s Park ‘n’ Take It (yes, it was a liquor store – the storefront is still there near the entrance to the old trailer park on the west side of South State Street, just north of where Schuler’s Surplus used to be, but it no longer sells liquor) for snacks, where I bought my Pizza Puffs (alas, no longer made, and now nearly forgotten, if the results of my Web search are any indication) and PEPPERONCINI. At the end of my route was Foothill Market, and it was THERE that I used to buy little glassine envelopes filled with (a small amount of) beef jerky - I think I paid a quarter apiece for these. I stashed the jerky in my newspaper bags (in case Mom might disapprove), and would chew on it as I bicycled around town (from the PALACE HOTEL on the north, to Johnny’s Market on the south – and this was when Highway 101 ran through the middle of town on State Street, which 12-year old Earl crossed and re-crossed on his bicycle, delivering papers…).

As an adult, I started buying a bit of beef jerky to help keep me awake on the drive to THE CITY and back when Thor and I would go down for the CAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES members’ meeting, but it was hard to find anything similar to what I remembered from the ‘50s….almost everything I tried had the flavor of something else in it…even the “original” kinds, or the “old-fashioned” kinds, etc. That was until I discovered OBERTO THIN STYLE JERKY. It was a dead ringer for what I used to get….the only downside was the price….note that Amazon sells it for $1.79/ounce, and I assure you that in brick-and-mortar stores, it’s a lot more.

Interestingly, about that time, one of Thor’s buddies started making his own jerky – was it Matt? But, his recipe called for marinating the meat in some kind of sauce, and the product was similar to what I could buy. It wasn’t BAD, and it did help me stay awake on the drive, but it just wasn’t as good as my memories…so I went out on the Web looking for Beef Jerky recipes…..and came up with THREE BELLS!

Imagine my surprise to find out that it was MARTHA STEWART who provided the quintessential BEEF JERKY RECIPE.
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First, you buy your meat – get LONDON BROIL because it’s lean (you do NOT want a fatty cut). I got RANCHER’S RESERVE BEEF at Safeway, and my guess is that it’s no better than USDA SELECT, but that’s great, because you’re saving money and a “well-marbled” piece of meat is not what you want for jerky, anyhow. This cost $4.49/pound regularly, and I bought it on sale for $1.99/pound. The photo above is the meat after I got done trimming off as much excess fat as I could. Next step is to slice it (WITH the grain) into slices about ¼ inch thick….I use a folding electric slicer I bought on sale at Wal Mart for $15.00.
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Once all the meat is cut, the slices are spread out (I put them on wax paper sheets) and sprinkled with a mixture of salt (use canning salt, as it has no additives), BLACK PEPPER (it’s worth paying a bit extra for good pepper – I got mine at WHOLE FOODS, or you can buy online from PENZEY’S which is wonderful, and cheaper…but you have to pay the shipping) and garlic – I use GRANULATED GARLIC rather than powder, and mine is McCormick’s, in a big container from Costco. Be sure all of this will fit through the openings on the shaker you use – my shaker is dedicated just to jerky, and fairly large (plastic, unfortunately…but it works really well).
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Once you’ve sprinkled one side of the strips and rubbed it in; then turned the meat over, sprinkled and rubbed in again; the meat is layered into (glass is best) containers, covered, and refrigerated for 48 hours.
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The next step is to spread the marinated slices out onto the trays or racks you’ll use for drying the meat
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The drying can be done in the oven or a food dryer – if in the oven, be sure to put it on racks that exposes both top and bottom to the hot air. Mine is placed in the food dryer we’ve had since the 1970s (Remember the ‘70s? Heh.).....
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...and run on high for four hours, then left overnight on a lower temperature until it’s ready
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The jerky is then taken off the trays
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And weighed –
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I ended up with 3 pounds 13 ounces at a cost of just about $.50/ounce….less than a third of the cost of Oberto from Amazon!!
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I cut the jerky to a convenient size, although this is not a necessary step. Incidentally, I much prefer to get my beef as a chunky roast, rather than the thinner “steak-like” pieces I used this time. It means more cutting of the jerky after it’s dry, but the earlier steps are all a lot easier with fewer (and larger) pieces.
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Storage is done in doubled-up corn-chip bags (one inside another), with the tops folded over three times and held closed with a strong clip. I keep all my jerky in the garage freezer, taking out only what I need for the six-hour trip to Chico, or whatever other journey we’re about to embark on.

When I was a kid, running my paper route every day (I was paid $.40 per customer per month, and I had 60 customers most of the time), I subscribed to BOY’S LIFE MAGAZINE, and I remember they ran a recipe for PEMMICAN, and I was fascinated….I wanted to make it in the worst way. I’m not entirely sure why, at this point, but I had some kind of feeling of getting in touch with the VOYAGEURS of the late 17th and early 18th century, as well as with other explorers and adventurers who made and ate pemmican. However, the recipe included, besides chipped beef and currants, about a quart of melted tallow, and the thought of eating that kept me from ever making a batch. I suspect that my attraction to the jerky is partly the same sort of atavistic desire to identify with the primitive/pioneering types who did it in the past….besides, it really does taste GOOD!

If you have simple tastes, and are a bit of a traditionalist, this is the best jerky you’ll ever eat….and there is NOTHING in it that your grandmother wouldn’t recognize, or that your kids can’t pronounce….plus, of course, it’s far better and a LOT cheaper than anything commercially available.

What’s not to like?

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/09 at 08:46 PM

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