Cured meat is not just an appetizer, but a real gourmet delicacy. Absolutely any raw material is suitable for drying, but beef jerky is the most popular meat dish in many countries of the world. Beef can be marinated in a wide variety of spices, there are dozens of options, but for such a dish it is worth choosing beef tenderloin, since even after drying such meat remains soft.

The nuances of cooking jerky

Felted beef at home is not only an exquisite delicacy, but also a quality product, since in the cooking process we do not use preservatives, but only spices and herbs. Home-made jerky is also good because it can be stored for a long time and deliciously feed unexpected guests. To cook such a delicacy is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance, the main thing is to know some of the subtleties of cold drying beef.


 

Freshly chilled meat is suitable for drying, it is better if it is a tenderloin or a neck. When you do use a frozen product, you need to defrost it only naturally, no hot water or a microwave.
Ginger can be added to the overall blend of spices, which will improve the taste of the final product.

Meat should be dried in a well-ventilated area at room temperature. In summer, it can be hung on the balcony, only on the sunny side, and in winter - near the gas stove or above the battery.

Beef jerky - a classic recipe

Cured meat is adored by almost everyone for its unique taste and spicy aroma. Such a product in each country has its own name - jamon, basturma, speck, prosciutto. Using the dry method of drying, you can make beef jerky at home.


 
Ingredients:

  • 1 kg of beef tenderloin;
  • 2 tablespoons ground black pepper;
  • 700 g of sea salt;
  • 1 tsp red pepper;
  • 1 tsp dried garlic;
  • 3 tsp Paprika
  • 1 spoon of provencal herbs;
  • 2 tablespoons of brandy.

Cooking method:

  1. We clean the meat, wash it, and if you got a large piece, then cut it into several parts.
  2. Preparing a mixture for dry salting. To do this, mix the salt with black pepper and cognac.
  3. At the bottom of a wide container we lay out part of the prepared composition, put pieces of meat on top and fill them with the remaining salting. Wrap the container tightly and put in the refrigerator for a day, do not forget to drain the liquid.
  4. We take out the meat, dry it and coat it with a mixture of the seasonings remaining in the bowl.
  5. Wrap the billet with several layers of gauze, tie it with a thread and hang it on the balcony or in the refrigerator, that is, in the room where the temperature does not drop below 4 degrees.
  6. Weed beef from ten days to two weeks.

Cooking in Armenian

Basturma is a traditional dish of Armenia, which is prepared from a large piece of beef and spicy seasoning called a chaman. At home, drying a large meatloaf is rather difficult, so it’s better to cut it into thin strips.

Ingredients:

  • beef tenderloin;
  • 5 tablespoons chaman spice;
  • 5 tablespoons of coarse salt;
  • 1 tsp black pepper (ground);
  • 4 tablespoons of red pepper (ground);
  • 1 tsp allspice;
  • 2 heads of garlic;
  • 1 bay leaf;
  • a pinch of zira.

 

Cooking method:

  1. Take a wide container, cover the bottom with paper towels, put laurel leaves on top and sprinkle them with salt. We spread the prepared meat on a spicy substrate, add it, close it with napkins and set oppression. To do this, you can take an ordinary tablet, put it on the meat, and put a jar of water on top. We remove the whole structure in the refrigerator for a week, while every day you need to check the beef, turn it over, add salt and change the napkins if they get very wet.
  2. Cooking plaster. To do this, grind the chaman into a fine powder, pour it into a container and gradually begin to pour water until the mixture acquires the consistency of liquid sour cream. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix with the rest of the spices.
  3. We get the meat, dry it in the wind or with a fan. We remove excess salt from it, put it again in a wide container and carefully coat with the prepared mixture of seasonings. The thickness of the coating should be from 0.5 to 1 cm. We cover the dishes with cling film and put in the refrigerator for a day.
  4. After this time, take out the meat for final drying. To do this, hang it on a thread in a dry, well-ventilated area. Depending on the humidity, the basturma can dry up to a week. On the prepared jerky, the coating sticks well and does not sprinkle much when sliced.

Oven cooking method

It is possible to cook jerky in one day using a conventional oven. We offer you a recipe for a traditional American snack - meat jerky. Minimum time and cost, and as a result, a rich and dense meat that can be stored for a long time is obtained.

Ingredients:

  • 800 g of beef meat;
  • 1 tablespoon of salt;
  • 1 tablespoon ground chili;
  • 1 tablespoon dried garlic.

 

Cooking method:

  1. The beef pulp is cut into thin plates, a couple of millimeters thick. In order to make the meat easier to cut, it can be slightly frozen.
  2. Then we carefully flavor each slice with a mixture of pepper, salt and garlic.
  3. We cover the baking sheet with parchment and put pieces of meat on it, put in the oven for 3 hours at a temperature of 110 degrees. In the middle of drying, turn over the beef slices.
  4. The finished product should be stored in airtight packaging.

Home-style beef jerky

A simple recipe for a delicious appetizer allows you to enjoy an exquisite delicacy. And for this it is not necessary to buy expensive ingredients. All that is required of you is fresh meat, vodka and spices. Instead of vodka, you can use other alcoholic beverages, such as cognac.


 

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg of beef tenderloin;
  • 5 tablespoons of sugar;
  • 5 tablespoons of salt;
  • 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
  • 1 tsp black pepper (peas);
  • 150 ml of vodka.

Cooking method:

  1. We take a food bag, pour oil, vodka there and add spices. Mix everything well, lay the meat and tightly tie the bag.
  2. Shake the packaging so that the marinade envelops the pulp, and put the billet in the refrigerator for three days.
  3. We take out the meat, dry it with a paper towel, but in no case wash it under water. We give an appetizer to dry and after that you can enjoy a delicious delicacy.

How to cure meat in wine

Bresaola is an Italian beef delicacy that is pre-soaked in wine before drying.

Unfortunately, such a product cannot be found on our shelves today, but do not despair, because you can cook this snack at home.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg of beef tenderloin;
  • 1 kg of sea salt (coarse);
  • nine tablespoons of black pepper (coarse grinding);
  • a spoon of oregano;
  • a spoonful of thyme;
  • a spoonful of dried garlic;
  • a spoon of rosemary;
  • a spoon of hot paprika;
  • a spoonful of dried juniper berries;
  • 250 ml of dry red wine.

Cooking method:

  1. For the preparation of jerky, it is better to cut the beef tenderloin into two equal parts.
  2. Pour salt and coarsely ground black pepper into the container (for this you can take ordinary peas and grind them).
  3. We put the pieces of meat in a separate container and sprinkle them well with a mixture of salt and pepper, pour wine. We cover the workpiece and put in the refrigerator for a week. During this time, the meat should change its color.
  4. We get the beef, dry it with napkins, as it should be absolutely dry.
  5. Now we take the remaining spices, mix and carefully grease the meat - you should get a “fur coat”, wrapped the meat tenderloin.
  6. We put pieces of meat on cheesecloth, wrap them in several layers, dress them with food thread and hang them in the refrigerator for a week.

Bouquets of flowers from dried beef

Do not know what to give to your man? Present him with a bouquet, not of flowers, but of dried beef. What macho will refuse meat, and even more so from such a delicacy? “Flowers” ​​with delicate meat petals, among other things, it is very convenient to decorate salads and snacks on the festive table. Creating a bouquet is simple enough if you know how to thinly chop meat.

To do this, take a piece of dried beef and thinly cut it into slices, which will serve as buds. Then we cut them lengthwise into small strips, that is, we make stems. Twist the buds from thin slices and string them onto cooked stems with toothpicks. We put a bouquet in a vase or tie a beautiful ribbon.

Finished Product Storage

Many people think that keeping beef must be the same as all other dried foods. Despite the fact that the delicacy has a long shelf life, it can deteriorate if a number of conditions are not met.

  1. Cured meat is best stored in airtight packaging. Conventional lidded containers, vacuum casings or a sealed food bag are suitable for this.
  2. On the packaging it is recommended to mark with the date of manufacture in order to know the degree of freshness of the product.
  3. Different types of jerky should be stored separately.
  4. Water and fat have a huge impact on the quality and shelf life of a dried product. Therefore, if you notice droplets of moisture or fat on the meat, remove them with a paper towel. And best of all, put napkins between pieces of beef. They will absorb moisture, but you need to change them as you moisturize.
  5. Depending on where you will keep the meat, the shelf life depends on it. If you plan to keep the product in a cool place, for example, in a pantry, then such meat can be eaten for a month, but not longer. For six months, you can store meat in the refrigerator and for a year in the freezer.

There are many recipes for making beef jerky and in each country it is made differently. So, in South Africa, cane sugar is necessarily used for marinade, Pan-Asian cuisine does not represent such a delicacy without soy sauce, but the Turks must dry meat mixed with dry fenugreek and other hot spices.Try it and you will realize one of the proposed recipes. You will definitely enjoy the result!

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