Anybody make their own jerky?

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earlnabby
earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
edited January 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I love jerky and am looking for high protein snacks. The problem I have with it is the sodium. Does anyone make their own? How do you season it, and can you do that with very little salt? Recipes or links to "how-to" instructions are welcome. (Especially welcome are ways to make it without a food dehydrator)

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  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    edited January 2015
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    What a great idea! I love jerky too but am rarely buying it now that I realize how much sodium is affecting my weight loss. Years ago when my husband took a deer every season, I made lots of venison jerky in the oven. I set the oven on the lowest possible temp and propped the door open. Can't remember the details but it definitely worked and I'm sure there are many recipes out there for oven-dried jerky.

    But, the real reason I'm posting in this thread is to give you a recipe I found a couple months ago for home made soy sauce. I confess I've not yet made this but my gut says it would work to marinate meat for jerky. I've not found sodium free beef bouillon in my grocery store so far -- the tag is on the shelf but there are never any jars of it!

    So, here is the "soy sauce" recipe, which I think should work as an overnight marinade:

    2 T Sodium Free Beef Bouillon
    2 t Red Wine Vinegar
    1 t Molasses
    1/8 t Ground Ginger
    dash Black Pepper
    dash Garlic Powder
    3/4 c Water

    ETA: this salt-free jerky will need to be refrigerated of course!
  • Lynn_babcock
    Lynn_babcock Posts: 220 Member
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    I marinate in Worcestershire sauce overnight with just a few drop of liquid smoke, some salt and a lot of pepper. I don't like anything sweet in my jerky, but I like it difficult to chew. So then I pull it out piece by piece and put it in my dehydrator and shake a little more pepper on it and let it cook/dry until it's dry (but not too dry). It's easy and I can make jerky the way I like it.

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