Beef Jerky-Made At Home


One word:  A M A Z I N G.

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. flank steak


BRINE:
2/3 cups Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cups soy sauce
1 Tbl. honey
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/2 diced red onion
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 Tbl. liquid smoke
2 tea. red pepper flakes

Special equipment:
1 box fan
4 paper air conditioning filters
2 bugee cords

You may of course use a conventional food dryer

Trim the flank steak of any excess fat, place in a large zip-top bag and place in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours. Do not over freeze, partially frozen this will allow ease of slicing thin beef strips.

Remove the steak from the freezer and thinly slice the meat with the grain, into long strips.

Place the sliced meat strips with all listed ingredients into a one gallon zip top bag making certain all the strips are saturated with liquid. Marinate in refrigerator for 3 to 6 hours, turning several times to distribute flavor.

Remove marinated meat from brine and pat dry. Evenly distribute the meat strips in the air filter grooves without overlapping. Stack filled filters one on top of each other. 
Top stack with one empty air filter. Lay the box fan temporarily on its side, place the stack of filters on top and bugee cord all together so the filters stay in place when box fan is up-righted. Turn fan on to 'Medium', allow meat to dry 8 to 12 hours. If using a commercial dehydrator, follow the manufacturer's directions.

Once dry, place in an air tight contain in a cool dry place for up to 3 months....if it lasts that long!

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, "Good Eats", Food Network