Was in Publix Friday night and they had nice looking 'Eye of Round' on sale. Whenever I see a roast like that I instantly think of one of about three things. It's either going to be steaks, sliced BBQ beef, or jerky. Well, I haven't done jerky in quite some time, so jerky it is.
Notice that the weight is 2.74 lbs. Won't be anywhere close to that when I get finished! First order of business is to get every bit of that fat off. Fat is what will make jerky go bad really fast with no preservatives and I don't use preservatives. So the fat has to go.
Next is to slice it up into about 1 inch 'steaks'. In fact, when I buy an Eye of Round for steaks, this is exactly the process I follow. I would place the slices into individual FoodSaver bags and they will last for months (theoretically, as they get eaten long before that). Far cheaper doing it this way than buying individual steaks.
At this point they go into the freezer to get firm, not completely frozen. They slice up easier and better if they are cold stiff.
While I'm waiting for them to firm up, I'll go ahead and mix up the marinade. Little of this and a little of that. Soy sauce is the big ingredient here because of the acid and the salt. Everything else is for the flavoring. I got turned on to the Emeril's seasoning by my good friend Tim and he is absolutely right.
Now that the steaks are firmed up, we can go ahead and slice. I like to lay the steak flat so that the 'grain' of the finished product runs across the slab. Running it lengthwise makes it very difficult to tear off and chew. Running it into the meat makes for really tiny 'bits' and gives the meat a mealy kind of texture.
Dig the slicer right out of the '60's. Yep, it's a real 'Oster' slicer. I believe it belonged to Mel's grandmother. Believe it or not, this slicer does a really good job! Can't rush it, but it does turn out first rate slices. And yes, I do wear gloves when handling meat. I've been doing competition where they are required for so long now that touching meat with bare hands is really weird to me.
All sliced up, into the marinade, cover, and into the fridge to soak overnight. I prefer a minimum of at least 12 hours, 18 to 24 is even better.
Unbelievably early the next morning, it goes into the cooker. Gotta start early as it takes ALL day to get it dehydrated. Remember, we're not really cooking it. I don't want the temperature inside the cooker to get above about 135-140. Any higher and it will cook the meat and I don't want to do that. I want LOTS and LOTS of warm air to dry out the meat, not cook it.
Ok, some of you observant types might notice that I didn't use the smokehouse for this batch, and you would be correct. I didn't. Three reasons. First, I'm still seasoning the smokehouse. I still smells like raw wood inside, not smoke. Second, I don't have any sort of temperature control on the smokehouse yet. I'll have it installed in the next week or two. Third, this is a very, very small batch of jerky and I have't used the WSM in quite a while.
I didn't get a picture of it, but I've found that 4 or 5 charcoal briquettes in the bottom of the cooker with the fan turned almost all the way up fits the bill just nicely. Just have to remember to check on the fire every 20-30 minutes ALL day long. With all that air and so little charcoal, the briquettes don't last long at all.
Here's the finished product after about 12 hours of dehydrating. It's a whole bunch smaller than when it started. Yes, I filched a couple of pieces. Quality control, Right?!
Remember that 2.74 lbs of meat? Well, it sho don't weigh that much now! Not even a pound. Almost a 70% weight loss! Mighty expensive water! Ever wonder why beef jerky costs so much in the store? Now you know!
It went from $5/lb meat to about $14/lb jerky.
This was a very small batch. In fact, it was the smallest batch I've ever done. Of course about halfway through the drying phase I remembered that I have about 2 pounds of venison in the freezer that I've been meaning to jerky. Rats. I guess I'll have to do another batch in a couple of weeks. Wonder if Publix has that sale still going?
Stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment