Beef Jerky

I saw this episode of Good Eats (I love Alton Brown!!!) on the Food Network a long time ago and have wanted to try making jerky ever since. I finally procured the basic equipment (box fan, furnace filters, bungee cords) and gave it a try. I found the recipe on the Food Network's website and went to work. It was actually really easy.

I used 1.8 lbs of flank steak, slightly frozen to make it easier to slice. I marinated the meat for about 4 1/2 hours (used less red pepper in the marinade) and then put it in the filters. Strapped the filters to the fan and let it blow. I let the meat dry for about 4 hours then turned the filters over. Then I let it go overnight, so it dried for a total of about 18-20 hours (I wanted to make sure it was really dry since we were dealing with raw meat). Here is a photo of the finished jerky in one of the filters:

It turned out AMAZING! Nate even thinks I should start making it to sell. You never know I suppose. Next time I'm going to replace the soy sauce with teriyaki and up the honey to make it sweeter. My yield was about 12 oz, which was about 36 pieces. Not too shabby.