Savory Beef Jerky

In my last post I mentioned how Jill and Cullyn have been on the road as of late, and that's when I mentioned how in those times it consisted of bread and jerky. Well I've never made beef jerky, and I really wanted to give it a shot. I was never much a fan of beef jerky until this year, and it was all because of some local homemade jerky I tried from the Fryeburg Fair with Ricky.

One thing I hate sometimes about recipes is that the majority of people that write about them have state of the art equipment to use - like dehydrators. Rejoice though! I used just my basic oven, and honestly these beef jerky strips came out so wonderfully.

Savory Beef Jerky

• Flank Steak (1 to 2 Pounds, the Leaner the Better)
• Worcestershire Sauce (1 Cup)
• Apple Cider Vinegar (1/2 Cup)
• Water (1/2 Cup - Add More if Needed)
• Garlic Salt (2 Tablespoons)
• Onion Powder (2 Teaspoons)
• Red Pepper Flakes (2 Teaspoons)
• Honey (2 Teaspoons)
• Salt (A Pinch)
• Pepper (A Pinch)

Instructions

• Place the Flank Steak in the freezer until it's easier to cut, but not frozen all the way through. Remove and slice with the grain around 1/8 inch thick. Place in a large ziplock bag and set aside.
• Mix together the remaining ingredients to make the Marinade. 

Marinade

• Carefully pour this Marinade into the large ziplock bag with the cut Flank Steak. Seal, bag again, seal, and shake generously. Marinate this for at least 12 hours in your fridge. 24 hours is preferable.
• Prior to cooking, remove the bottom rack from your oven, and line completely with tin foil. Place this in the middle of your oven. Trust me, you don't want to scrape dried and burnt marinade off your oven bottom…

Completely Lined in Tin Foil

• Take the top rack, and lay over your sink. (Trust me…)
• Preheat the oven to 150 - 170 Degrees Fahrenheit.
• Carefully lay your marinated Flank Steak cuts over the rack. If there are a few smaller pieces that won't fit on the rack you'll have to fix a small amount of tin foil in a corner to fit the 'reject' pieces on top of.

• Place the rack on to the top most level in the oven, and leave a can in the door to let air flow help dry out the Beef Flank.

Like So!

• Bake the Beef Flank for 3 hours, and then carefully rotate every piece. Bake for another 3 hours.
• Enjoy!

Savory Beef Jerky

These are a labor of love, but no bagged jerky beats this stuff right here. It has just the right amount of flavor, and the perfect texture to it. These will hold up in a nice airtight bag for around a week or so - but I guarantee they'll go quicker than that.

All I can say is this - being on the road back then with this beef jerky wouldn't have been that bad!

Let me know how you guys like it! I'll see ya'll back on Friday!