No dehydrator necessary!!
The most important thing when making beef jerky is to trim off all the extra fat so that the jerky can stay out a t room temperature after baking. If there are little chunks of dried fat, it will turn rancid at room temperature.
Also, the cut of beef is important! The leaner the cut the less fat you’ll have to worry about trimming. If the butcher already sliced your beef thin, you’ll have less to cut. If you’re cutting a thick piece yourself you may want to consider flash freezing it so that its easy to slice into real thin strips.
In the pictures below, you’ll see a thin sliced top round. I had less slicing to do BUT more fat to trim.
Then you’ll want to marinade the beef overnight or for at least 4 hours. Marinate with whatever you’d like but I used 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Brazilian steakhouse seasoning, a few dashes of liquid smoke, and 2 tbsp liquid aminos.
Use a wire baking rack on top of a baking sheet. This allows the juices and marinade to drip down so that the beef can dry out properly.
Bake for 3-4 hours at 185 degrees.
When jerky is dry and cooled you can store it in a n airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks (unless it has fatty bits!) I highly recommend storing it in the refrigerator just to be on the safe side!
- Trim all exterior fat. If using a thick cut of meat, Flash freeze for about an hour so that its frozen on the outsides and easier to cut. If using thin sliced beef, slice into 1 inch strips.
- Marinade the beef in a ziplock bag overnight or for at least 4 hours. The longer the better!
- Heat oven to 180 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil and place baking rack on top. Spray the rack with cooking spray so that it doesn’t get stuck.
- Lay the strips of beef in a single layer across the baking rack
- Bake for 3-4 hours, or until it reaches your desire texture.
- When its dried to your liking, remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking racks and allow the grease to run off (if any)
- When its cooled, you can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks (unless it has fatty bits!) I highly recommend storing it in the refrigerator just to be on the safe side!
