FLAVORFUL OVEN, SMOKER AND DEHYDRATOR DRYING
“Sure wish I’d had this for drying buffalo on the prairie.”
— Ancient plainsman
TASTY JERKY RECIPES FOR EVERYONE, PART 1
Spicy, mild, sweet, no sodium — choose your favorites, and take advantage of these easy-to-follow guidelines.
Making Your Own Jerky
One of the greatest things ab out making jerky is you can make it any way you like — any flavor or thickness, with any cut of meat.
Homemade jerky is fun and easy to make. It’s flavorful, easy to chew and a treat for everyone in the family. And it’s free of chemical preservatives (other than salt) when you make it yourself.
There’s a lot you can do with jerky made from the flavorful recipes here. And there’s much more to jerky than the traditional thin, rock-hard style. You can use it for:
• snacks
• trail food
• lunch-pail additions
• garnishes for salads
• cocktail party hors d’oeuvres
• emergency food
• flavoring for vegetable hot dishes
Much of that variety can be produced through various recipes and smoking methods, plus some experimentation to find your preferences. And you can produce more variety simply by making jerky in various thicknesses.
After much experimentation, most of it highly enjoyable and tasty, we’ve assembled several recipes, comments and tips for making great jerky. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Three Types of Jerky
Forever jerky is the traditional jerky — thin and hard, and lasts almost forever unless it’s eaten first, but flavorful and not so hard that it defies biting, chewing or tearing. Dried, it’s 1/8- to 3/4-inch thick, 3/4 to 1½ inches wide, and 4 to 8 inches long. Forever jerky is an excellent trail food, camp snack, canoe trip snack and between-meals snack at home. It’s great anywhere you want a light, quick, nonspoiling source of nutrition.
