Quick and Easy Jerky

Image Gallery Slicing the meat uniformly is important — if the strips are not all about the same thickness, figuring how long to dry them because a guessing game rather than a calculated effort

As a youngster, I developed an affinity for homemade jerky. My dad and I enjoyed the hours we spent tending jerky as it slowly dried over a smoky fire. I often ate it as a snack (and sometimes as a trail lunch) and always found it delicious.

While my dad's jerky was always tender and tasty, I just can't find the time necessary to make it the old-fashioned way. Fortunately, I've discovered an unusually fast and easy way to prepare jerky.

Late one afternoon during a search-and-rescue-team training session, another team member handed me a slice of jerky to sample. He said he had made it entirely in his own kitchen; he had even dried it in his oven! It was as good as any I had ever eaten and much better than what's sold in grocery stores. My friend shared his simple technique with me, and now I use it frequently. Jerky made this way never lasts long around my house.

Jerky is made best with a lean variety of meat. A few of the possibilities include turkey, beef, buffalo, elk, and venison. The one principle that remains constant regardless of the meat you use is: The better the cut of meat, the more tender the resulting jerky. Round steak, flank steak, sirloin tip, and rump roast are also good choices.

Cold meat slices easier and thinner than warm meat. Therefore, before actually beginning to prepare meat for drying, cover it completely with plastic wrap and place it in a freezer. Leave it there until the texture of the meat begins to stiffen.

After removing from the freezer, lay the meat on a cutting board. Cut out bone, tendons, and any thick connecting tissue. Then, using a very sharp knife, trim off the fat. This is the most important step in the preparation of jerky. Fat spoils quickly, causing unappetizing flavors to develop during the drying and storage process. Trimming the fat off wild game will also tone down strong flavors associated with it.

Slice the remaining lean meat into thin strips, approximately 1/4" thick. If the meat strips are not all about the same thickness, determining the drying time becomes haphazard at best.

Mix the vinegar, water, salt, and pepper together in a glass or stainless-steel pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and add the meat slices. (Since meat from wild animals sometimes contains dangerous organisms, boiling supplies a necessary safeguard. The brine solution also helps to remove any remaining wild taste.) When the color of the meat changes to gray-brown and the texture takes on a somewhat rubbery appearance — usually in about five minutes — pour off the boiling water.