Don't be a Jerky!

 I discovered some of the most amazing turkey jerky, the only problem is it is really expensive.  I had resigned myself to the fact that it was just going to be a special treat occasion for me.  All that changed when I watched an episode on TV where they were making jerky with a modern twist.  The modern twist being the meat choices and the marinades.  I did my research and decided on two different meats and marinades.  I was going to try a mole inspired beef jerky and an Asian inspired turkey jerky.

I am calling this a mole inspired marinade.  I have never made a mole sauce before, so I researched and came up with this less time consuming option.  I chose the pictured spices.  In addition, I added some salt and pepper, cocoa powder, juice from one lemon and one lime (and zest), a quarter of an onion (grated, not chopped), a clove of garlic (also grated), canola oil, and agave nectar.  The last ingredient was a last minute addition.  I am a stickler for tasting my marinades before any raw meat is added.  If I don't like how it tastes, there is no way I'm going to waste my meat by hoping it helps it.  I enlisted my husband, as he is a huge fan of mole sauce.  It had a little bitter finish, so I added the agave nectar and a little more orange juice. 

Before touching the meat, I made my second marinade.  I grated the rest of the onion from my previous marinade, a couple cloves of garlic, a few tablespoons of ginger, and salt and pepper.  To this I added sesame oil, rice vinegar and a little canola oil.  Be careful with the sesame oil, it can become overbearing, really quickly. 

I sliced the beef a little thinner than I did the turkey.  My favorite turkey jerky is a thicker cut of jerky.  I like to use Ziploc bags for marinating.  It makes it really easy to make sure the marinade gets all over the meat.  I always put it in a bowl when I put it in the fridge to get happy.  leaving out the bowl is a mistake I only had to make one time.  It was not pretty.

I left my meats marinading overnight.  Next time, I will probably only leave the turkey marinading for a couple hours; overnight for the beef was perfect!  As I said, I don't currently have a smoker.  I know, I'm working on it!  This had been a big deterrent for me giving jerky making a try.  I did a lot of research and decided to give the oven a go. 

There are many different times and temps I found.  I decided to give 175F a go.  The times were just a varying as the temperatures.  So I had to just keep an eye on it.  The recipes I found had times all the way from two hours to 12.  The most important thing was I didn't want to walk away all day and come back to hard plastic like jerky. 

Now comes the racks to use.  I had my little cooling racks that I use to cool cookies.  I didn't have enough to make both recipes, so I decided to take a trip to the store.  I found these amazing racks that stack really well.  They enabled me to use my shorter, smaller racks and then have a higher rack.  I was able to get both of my batches done at the same time!  They also have a nonstick coating on them!  I don't think I would have trusted them had I been cooking much higher than 175, but they worked perfect!  When I pulled the meat out of the marinade, I tried to remove excess marinade from the meat, not to the point of using a paper towel, just my fingers.  I left a little on the meat.

I put the meats in the oven and after two hours I started watching it a little more carefully.  I can't even tell you how amazing my house was smelling!  The beef was done first.  It took about two and a half hours.  I left the turkey in for almost four hours.  My best discovery of the day was how amazing jerky is when it is nice and hot out of the oven.  After the jerkys had cooled, I definitely prefer the mole beef.  I was disappointed that the texture of the turkey wasn't close to the jerky I had my hopes set on, but my family loves it.  Overall, even though I didn't achieve the desired turkey jerky texture, I am really excited with the results.  One thing is for sure, I no longer have reservations when it comes to making jerky.