Kurt’s Homemade Beef Jerky Snack
Once you eliminate all of the trash snacks in your home, you’re left with very little choices that are actually good for you. Kurt’s Homemade Beef Jerky Snack is the absolute best, most satisfying snack you will ever eat.
Can you buy beef jerky ready made? Absolutely! Read labels because most contain sugar, and other harmful ingredients. Most packaged foods, including most jerkies, contain artificial preservatives. The purpose of preservatives is found in the name–they are added to foods to preserve them and push back expiration dates. In addition, Sodium Nitrites are chemicals commonly added to cured meats. They are preservatives designed to extend the shelf life of products and preserve flavor. They also add a pink color to meat products that makes them appear fresh. The potential consequences of consuming nitrates and nitrites include short-term and long-term health issues including cancer. Labels can be deceiving like the label on one of the most well-known jerky companies in the United States. It is widely available in grocery stores and gas stations. This company uses cultured celery extract to keep their products self-stable. Don’t let the word “celery” throw you off though, cultured celery extract is simply a plant-derived source of Sodium Nitrite. While it’s technically derived from a natural source, it’s biochemically identical to Sodium Nitrite, serves the same purpose, and poses the same health risks to consumers.
When you make jerky, you eliminate all additives and know exactly what is inside your meat. This recipe contains only meat, salt and pepper but you can certainly add other spices if desired.
Beef jerky should be stored in the fridge. It lasts about 2 weeks. Jerky is a constant in our home and we eat it on the golf course, on trips, or just anytime we feel hungry. Our friends love sampling it and constantly beg us to make some for them. Maybe someday we will figure out a way to sell it. Here’s a video of the process….
Here is a link to our meat slicer we bought from Amazon: https://a.co/d/6hEFlZW
Kurt’s Homemade Beef Jerky
Equipment
- 1 smoker
- 1 meat slicer optional
Ingredients
- 4 lbs Beef Tri Tip Roast You can buy more of less beef!
- 1 cup cherry wood chips Cherry is our preferred but other wood works too.
- salt
- course pepper
Instructions
- Place your cherry wood in your smoker.Add a small bowl of water underneath. Preheat the smoker until the temperature reaches 250 degrees.
- Slice tri tip roast into strips about 1/8-1/4″ thick with a meat slicer or knife.
- Place a generous amount of salt and pepper in the bottom of a jelly roll pan and place the beef strips in a single layer on top of the salt and pepper. Shake more salt and pepper to taste to the top of the beef strips. You will need 2-3 pans to hold all of the meat.
- Transfer the beef to the smoker in single layers directly onto the grates.
- Close the smoker and allow the meat to smoke for an hour checking on it occasionally to make sure it isn’t getting too done. Make sure the temp does not go above 250 degrees. Slower, lower heat is perfect as long as you are producing smoke.
- Check on the jerky. Remove any pieces that look done. It could be that all of your meat is ready. Think of it as a steak bite not a tough piece of jerky.
- Close the smoker and allow to cook any pieces that remain. Check on the meat frequently to prevent it from getting dry and crispy.
- Enjoy your jerky snack!