OVEN BEEF JERKY

Ingredients:

1          Morris Grass Fed Beef London Broil (or similar lean cut) About 3 pounds.

1 cup   Hearty Red Wine (table wine or a bottle that has oxidized is fine as long as it hasn’t turned to vinegar)

5 Tbs.  Fish Sauce (readily found in Asian food section of supermarkets in town) 

Trim all fat and connective tissue from meat.  Slice about ¼ inch thick (it doesn’t have to be perfect) and place in a one-gallon zip-lock plastic food bag.

Add the fish sauce and stir the meat in the bag with your fingers, spreading the pieces and ensuring the marinade coats all surfaces of the meat pieces.  Add the red wine and again stir with your fingers.  Close the bag and gently shake to further mix ingredients.  Seal bag with little or no air inside, place on it’s side on a plate or small oven pan so that the marinade is covering the meat.  Place in the refrigerator overnight, or at least four hours. Stir when you get a chance to make sure all meat gets covered.

Oven Drying

Place a layer of aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven to catch drips.  Put an oven rack in the middle and set oven temperature at 200 degrees.

Place a colander in the sink and drain the meat.  Lay a double thickness of paper towels on a cutting board and place one layer of meat on the towels.  Cover with another paper towel and pat it so that any surface moisture is removed.  Repeat until the rest of the meat is patted dry, using fresh paper towels each time.

Place the meat across the grates on the oven rack.  This recipe will probably cover one rack.  If some pieces are too small for the grate, place a smaller baking cooling rack on top of the rack.

The oven door must be held open about ¼ inch to let moisture out of the oven.  I use a small aluminum measuring cup that props the door open.  (Just nothing flammable or breakable)  Let dry for about 11/2 hours and open oven and turn meat over.  You’ll notice a big difference already in the reduction of meat surface area.  Continue drying with door propped open for another hour and a half and check again.  The thinner pieces will dry earlier and can be removed and cooled.  The thicker pieces will take a little longer.  My batches are usually done in 31/2 to 4 fours max.  Yours will vary according to oven, amount of door opening and/or meat thickness. 

Place dried meat on a cooling rack and let cool down.  I put it in a zip lock plastic bag and keep in the fridge.  It’ll do fine out of the fridge, but it actually will dry a little more in the fridge.  Eat, share and enjoy.