absolute crumb.

lawkeeee asked: Hi Rob, long time follower (tinymachines, lochdawg, 36chamberz and other shitty tumblr names) and first time asker. What cuts of meat do you use when you make your jerky and do you use an oven or dehydrate them using the fan/box technique?

Lochy,

When I first started making jerky I used a lot of Blade and Round which worked great. Although lately, on the recommendation of my butcher, I’ve been using un-corned silverside cut across the grain which I’ll probably stick with. With jerky you can pretty much get away with any cut as long as it’s not to sinewy (it’ll get caught in your teeth) or fatty (the fat will go rancid).

As for the dehydrating, I use an Ezidri Snackmaker (a pretty standard dehydrator) which is perfect for Australian style jerky. A couple of the boys at work use biltong boxes which are pretty much a wooden box covered in fly screen with a fan and that works really well if you like your jerky on the moist side. I’ve also got a mate who uses a portable clothes line in a room with the fan on which works ok - although it makes his house smell pretty heinous. If you’re chasing a recommendation, most people that I know who make jerky use electric dehydrators with a lot of success and it’s what I recommend.

If you’re thinking about getting into making jerky you should totally give it a go! Also, if I can offer you some tips:
- It’ll be a lot easier to cut if you stick the meat in the freezer for 30mins/1hr and use a sharp knife.
- Blenders/Immersion blenders are awesome for making your marinades if you’re using garlic/chili/other solid ingredients.
- If you use soy sauce in your marinade, don’t use citrus as it seems to make everything overly salty.
- Soy sauce
- The things I’ve found that are awesome in marinades are: tamarind puree, garlic, ginger, chilli, pepper, szechuan pepper and kecup manis (seriously good)

Good luck!

January 24, 2012, 8:40pm Comments

absolute crumb.

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