Recipe:Beef Jerky
Simplified Beef Jerky
Recipe by Ben Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0
These are estimated amounts for all ingredients, an even simpler version can be found below. I found that exact measurements are not important.
200 gram beef meat (preferably lean brisket)
150 ml soy sauce
50 ml worcestershire sauce
1 tea spoon honey
1 tea spoon paprika powder
1 tea spoon ground pepper
1 tea spoon garlic powder
Great if available: 50 ml of liquid smoke
Cut the meat into thin strips. The thinner the strips are, the better they dry. 1mm thick strips would be great, in practice they end up thicker. Put the meat into a container, combine it well with all ingredients an let the mixture rest over night in a cool place (fridge works fine, freezer is too cold). After letting the meat marinate, put it into a dehydrator and dry it out.
Next: experiment with the spices. If you don't like it sweet, reduce the honey. If you want more garlic, use more. If you want it more spicy, add chilly flakes.
Here is an even more simplified version, in case you don't want to measure at all.
Completely simplified version (without measuring):
Cut the meat into thin strips. The thinner the strips are, the better they dry. Go as thin as you can, a bread slicer can help. The strips need not be seethrough, that might be too thin. Put the meat into a marinating container. The top layer of meat should be only part of the meat. The bigger the surface, the stronger the taste of the spices will be and the more soy sauce you will need. I like to put the meat into a freezer/zip lock bag for marinating. This makes the top layer smaller, though. Cover the meat lightly with the powdered/ground spices. Each layer of spice should cover the top layer of meat (and what spice came before it). Don't make it thick layers of spices, just lightly cover the meat. If you still see meat (/other spices) shining through, that is fine. Cover the top layer with honey. Be careful, honey has a tendency to only move in big gulps. Fill the container with soy sauce such that all meat is submerged. Add other liquid ingredients (worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke...) to taste. Mix everything in the container thoroughly. Place the mixture in a cool place and let it rest over night. After letting the meat marinate, put it into a dehydrator and dry it out.