Hard curing of meats used to be a necessity before refrigeration, but this is no longer a necessity. Meats were salted and dried so much so, that to before anyone could eat it it had to be boiled for a period of time to soften it up. Fortunately, we no longer need to boil our hard cured meats, now we enjoy hard cured meats for their flavor, as a snack, and to reminisce about older western times, or on sailing ships. In fact, we don't call it hard cured meat, we call it JERKY.
As is with smoking fish we will use a brine to cure the meat before smoking. However, rather than call it a brine, we'll call it a marinade. I have tried 100's of different ingredients, from various pepper sauces, soy sauce, to wines in my marinades and unlike fish, found that flavors are much more imparted to meat than fish. So when making jerky I don't use a basic no-nonsense brine/marinade, rather I use a more complex marinade. I enjoy the flavors of red wine, bourbon, garlic, soy sauce, peppers in my marinades. Flavors I'm sure that early sailors or pioneers never enjoyed. Again, you be the judge in perfecting your jerky marinade. Enjoy!
What meat do I use for making beef jerky? Try chuck, or shoulder roast, or my favorite - flank steak. I don't always recommend making anything other than beef jerky, since pork and poultry require higher heat and longer heating times for health reasons. And, remember although we will use a marinade or brine, then apply smoke and heat when curing our foods, it is still best to refrigerate our food when brining and after we're finished. We have refrigerators, let's use them and only reminisce about when they weren't available. Getting sick is no fun.
My secrets to always getting compliments on beef jerky are by the following tips:
- Make sure your meat is neatly trimmed removing all fat and gristle. Cut it into the chunks before marinating. Slice the meat with the grain. Many times I slightly freeze the meat, it makes it easier to cut and/or slice.
- Stir or rotate your meat when in the marinade. Keep your meat and marinade in the refrigerator. Never use metal containers, always use glass or plastic.
- Don't under marinate your meat, I always marinate it for at least 8 hours. After marinating it, I don't always rinse my meat like I do fish. This keeps the flavors stronger.
- Allow your marinated meat air dry on paper towels for about 1 hour.
- For something extra, try lightly sprinkling your meat after marinating and before smoking with pepper, garlic, cajun seasoning, a 50/50 mix of honey and mustard, or whatever you want to experiment with.
- For smokers, and barbeque grills, add plenty of wood for smoking early in the drying process, using only heat later. Know your woods, fruit woods (plum, apple, etc.) leave a slightly sweet smoke taste, alder a mild smoky taste, hickory and mesquite leave a sharp smoky taste. (If you can't find alder wood chips, email Starfish Consulting and we can sell you some.) Never use green woods, they leave a bitter taste. In barbeque grills it is probably best to soak your wood in water for an hour before using - keeps the heat down. For the oven, rub your meat lightly with liquid smoke (a little goes a long way) initially, and maybe once more if you like a heavy smoke taste. The trick here is to use less at first, so you can re-apply.
- Keep your smoker, or grill out of the wind and rain.
- Monitor the temperature of your smoker, grill, or oven. Don't let it get too hot. Smoking temperatures should be between 145-165F. A problem with barbeque grills is that they get too hot and you end up barbecuing or grilling your meat. The solution is to close down the vents, and don't use too much charcoal.
- I like a good smoke for my jerky, so I try and smoke it longer, 8 - 10 hours or even longer if you like it drier and chewier.
- Finally, I always cut my jerky into bite sized chunks, even if it is in strips to make eating it easier. My jerky during preparation was cut with the grain, now I cut it across the grain.
