The other day at the studio my studio-mate offered me some beef jerky. It was quite good, and not tough at all, like some jerky can be. It seemed to be actually made from ground beef, and a quick check of the wrapper confirmed that’s exactly what it was.
Of course, I immediately looked online for the best process for making it, and after a couple of trial batches, came up with this recipe.
It turned out great. It’s easy to make, and it’s quite flavorful. Is ground beef jerky better than traditional beef jerky? I don’t think that’s necessarily the case, though it does have a more forgiving texture.
Please note: this recipe requires a food dehydrator and an oven.
What you’ll need
- 1 lb. lean ground beef (4% or less fat)
- 1T smoked paprika
- 1T garlic powder
- 1T ramen salt (or kosher salt)
- 1t ground black pepper
- 2T Korean BBQ sauce
- 1t liquid smoke
What to do
Fully combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Allow the flavors to meld by covering the bowl and refrigerating the mixture for 3 hours.
When you’re ready to start the dehydration process, lay a large sheet (18” long) of wax paper on the counter and put the ground beef on top of it. Lay an equal-size piece of wax paper over the ground beef and gently flatten it out, spreading the meat to the edges of the wax paper in an even layer. You’ll want a layer about 0.33” thick.
Depending on the size of your dehydrator, you’ll have to cut the wax paper/meat sheet to fit the dehydrator trays. Next, prep your trays by spraying some cooking spray on them. For each meat sheet, remove the top sheet of wax paper, then invert a dehydrator tray over the meat. Securing the edges of the wax paper on opposite sides, flip the tray over and remove the remaining sheet of wax paper. Repeat for each meat sheet.
Dehydrate the sheets for 4.5 hours at 155 degrees. The jerky is done when it’s dry to the touch and you can bend it in half without it breaking. Dehydrating the meat at that temperature for that amount of time should kill all bacteria (165 degrees is the generally accepted temp for instantly killing bacteria, but lower temps for longer times do just as well), but just to be safe, heat your oven to 225 degrees F and move the jerky sheets to a large sheet pan. Heat the jerky in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes, then remove and let the jerky sheets cool on a rack.
Using a large chef’s knife or pizza cutter, cut the jerky sheets into strips before storing in the refrigerator.
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