Beef Jerky and A Goal Completed!

Beef Jerky. It's like the ideal snack. It's protein. It's portable. It's stable. And, of course, it's tasty!

As you can imagine, we go through quite a bit of jerky in this house. The girls pack it for lunches some days and then the rest of the time it's one of our go-to snacks. The thing with jerky is that you have to be careful about what type you purchase. Most of the store bought stuff has soy (ew) or sugar (blah) or other additives in it. I had found an organic brand at Rosauers that was passable, and an even better one online from Steve's Original. Unfortunately, we eat enough jerky that cost was becoming a factor. I knew there were homemade recipes out there, but I don't have a dehydrator and I tried one with not much success, so I was not very optimistic about making my own jerky. 

Then, one day on the EPLifeFit forum, there was talk of homemade beef jerky and a couple  recipes were shared that used the lowest oven temp of 170 instead of a dehydrator and so I decided to try again.

First, I decided to re-try the recipe I tried at first. It's from the Food Lover's Primal Palate. Back when I tried it at first, I didn't have coconut aminos or tamari, so I tried it with the dried herbs/seasoning. I also didn't cut the meat thin enough and so what I ended up with no one in the house would eat but me. This time I had both coconut aminos and tamari on hand, which I ended up using 1/2 cup of both because that's all I had left of each! Then, I wisely got out our electric knife that is usually used on the turkey and sliced the roast way thinner than last time. 

The result was perfect! I had a few slices that were a bit thick, but the rest are super tasty and the perfect size. The whole family eats them gladly. :) Success! I was stoked.

But I wasn't done yet! I decided I'd try another recipe that had been posted using ground beef instead of steak. It's suppose to be easier for kiddos to eat and I thought it might be easier and/or cheaper to use the ground beef.

It was indeed pretty easy to make, and the result pretty tasty. I think it's my favorite of the two, but the rest of the family likes the flavor of the steak jerky better. Either way, I think I have two keeper recipe for homemade beef jerky! Yay! My pocketbook will be happy.

Oh yeah, and guess what? It's one of my 101 Goals! Yippee!

#62 - Perfect my homemade jerky -- COMPLETE

How about you? Do you like jerky? Have you ever made it yourself?