"How to make beef jerky..

[Guest]

..without a smokehouse, the Indian method must be used. The meat strips should be dried in the sun about four (4) feet above a slow fire. Non resinous hardwoods should be used for the fire, and the flames kept very low. The smoke from the fire is to keep away birds and flies, NOT used for drying the meat! Use a low fire, with little flame or heat. Green hardwood works fine, but resinous softwoods such as Douglas fir will impart a bad taste to the jerky. Fruit woods (except wild cherry) impart a nice, mild taste to the jerky.

The drying rack can be made from forked sticks pounded into the ground, and the cross sticks that hold the meat made from thin, green wood such as willow or vine maple. A sharpened end on the cross stick should be pushed through one end of the meat strips, which will allow them to hang down. Allow at least an inch of separation between meat strips. The cross sticks may be carried indoors if rain threatens, and at night to protect from dew. Do not dry in the sun before 9:00 in the morning, or after 6:00 at night to avoid getting dew on the meat. Just the dew from a single morning may saturate the meat sufficiently to require an additional day of drying time!"

Any good ideas for how to flavor the jerky? I need to get some mesquite wood..

[Guest]

I'd like to present the award for most random flippin' posts ever by a single human being to you, sir. :) My dad used to deer hunt. He's use some kind of rub on the jerky too...made it damn hot...but it was so good. Worth crying for.

[Guest]

I think I have a man-crush on you... Try to pepper the meat to with crushed pepper corn. Should give it a little kick

[Guest]

Yum!

What cuts of meat do you use? And how do you keep the wind from blowing the smoke away from the meat?

[Guest]

1 1/2 to 2 pounds flank steak
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

or

2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Options:
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2-3 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
2-3 teaspoons crushed red peppers
2-3 teaspoons sesame seeds

marinate over night and dry!

[Guest]

Prod, those recipes sound good, I wonder though how much longer it'd take to dehydrate them if I added liquids though.. Peppercorn sounds good.. actually I think i have a recipe with that.

:) You think you could get your hands on that recipe Smirks?

Flank steak I think would be to tough for some, so one could sub in a prime rib if they want it a little more tender. You could actually dig a 1 foot to 2 foot deep pit and start the fire in there , that way the smoke only goes up, and only has 2 feet to travel above gorund.