Easy Beef Jerky

Now I am no beef jerky makin' expert, I just want to throw that out there right away. My family loves my beef jerky but they may be slightly biased. Everyone who has tried my jerky over the years I have made it (like the girls at girls camp who ate it all in like 2 hrs!), like it too, so I guess it's pretty decent.

I keep it simple..real simple.
I did not put all of this stuff into one batch of jerky but these are some of the variations I used for the 10 lbs of jerky I am currently in the process of making for my boys to take to Boy Scout Camp.

My base for jerky is always some type of soy sauce. Salt is important when making jerky because salt helps in the drying process. I use a marinade vs. a dry rub so the soy sauce works for the salt factor. I also always use liquid smoke, garlic powder and onion powder. Those are what I always use for my base. I do not measure...I guesstimate. It all depends on how much meat you are marinating.

I use enough soy sauce to get a good covering of the meat. And I sprinkle about a 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp of the powders and probably about a tablespoon of the liquid smoke.

The meat I use is the beef for bulgogi that can be bought at the commissary. You can use any lean, thinly sliced meat, flank steaks work well. I cut my meat into strips before marinating. Typically they say you should trim any fat off your meat because leaving fat on can cause your jerky to spoil quickly. We never have jerky in our house long enough to spoil so I don't bother with that step.
This is my awesome marinating bowl that I've had for years that helps with the marinating. Once all the ingredients are mixed together I let it marinate at least overnight. I have let it marinate for 4 hours and it was still quite tasty.

I have an awesome food dehydrator that gets my jerky done in about 4 hours. You can use your oven though. If using your oven, cook at a low temperature (175-225 max) for 4 or so hours. Watch your jerky though, there is such a thing as jerky that is too dry.

Here is a picture of original and spicy jerky.

Okay, so here is my so-called recipe for those who like it all together.

Easy Beef Jerky
1-2 lbs of lean, thin sliced meat (make sure you trim fat if you are going to store for extended period of time)
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup Soy Sauce (depends on how much meat, 1/4 cup works for 1-2 lbs)
1 tsp - garlic powder
1 tsp - onion powder
1 Tbsp - liquid smoke (can be found in hot sauce, steak sauce section of store)

Mix together and add meat, marinate overnight.
Dehydrate in your food dehydrator following manufacturer instructions or in oven at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours.

Variations: Different flavors soy sauce, adding red chili pepper flakes, tabasco sauce, ect.