Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 409 kcal | 116 kcal |
| Protein | 61.7 g | 17.5 g |
| Fat | 15.4 g | 4.4 g |
| saturated | 5.6 g | 1.6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 2.1 g | 0.6 g |
| sugars | 2.1 g | 0.6 g |
| Fibre | 0.1 g | 0 g |
| Sodium | 951 mg | 270 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 2.6 kg sliced lean meat
- 5.7 litres water
- 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/8 cup liquid smoke
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Instructions
- Pick a genuinely lean cut and trim whatever fat is left back to the muscle. Fat cannot be dried out of meat, and it is what decides whether a batch keeps for weeks or turns within days.
- Part-freeze the meat until it is firm to a fingertip before slicing. A wobbling piece of beef cannot be cut to an even thickness by hand, and uneven strips finish at different moments.
- Cut strips 6 mm thick. Across the grain gives a jerky that breaks apart in the mouth and along it gives one you have to work at — pick one and treat the whole batch the same way.
- Stir the brine until both the salt and the sugar have gone into solution, then taste it. If you cannot taste the salt strongly, the meat will not cure properly.
- Submerge the strips fully, weigh them down with a plate if they float, and leave them in the fridge overnight. A strip riding above the brine is uncured meat going into a warm machine.
- Tip the brine away, rinse the strips under cold water and blot them. Skip the rinse and a salt crust forms on the surface that makes the finished jerky almost impossible to eat.
- Lay the strips so air reaches both faces and dehydrate at 65 °C for 8 hours. This setting is driven by food safety on raw beef rather than by texture.
- Bend a cooled strip to a right angle. A finished one cracks at the fold and stays in one piece; one that folds softly wants longer, and one that parts completely went too far.
- Blot the cooled batch once more before it is put away. A fortnight in a jar at room temperature, two months vacuum-sealed, a year frozen — and any strip showing fuzz or smelling sour takes the rest with it.
