The nuances of cooking dried meat
Dried beef at home is not only an exquisite delicacy, but also a high-quality product, since during the cooking process we do not use preservatives, but only spices and herbs. Homemade jerky is also good because it can be stored for a long time and can be deliciously fed to unexpected guests. Preparing such a delicacy is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance, the main thing is to know some of the intricacies of cold drying beef.
Fresh chilled meat is suitable for drying; it is better if it is tenderloin or neck. When you do use a frozen product, it should be defrosted only naturally, no hot water or microwave. You can add ginger to the general blend of spices, which will improve the taste of the final product.
Dry the meat 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 radiator.
Beef jerky - classic recipe
Dried meat is loved by almost everyone for its unique taste and piquant aroma. This product has its own name in each country - jamon, basturma, speck, prosciutto. Using the dry drying method, you can make beef jerky at home.
- 1 kg beef tenderloin;
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper;
- 700 g sea salt;
- 1 tsp. red pepper;
- 1 tsp. dried garlic;
- 3 tsp. paprika;
- 1 spoon of Provençal herbs;
- 2 spoons of cognac.
Cooking method:
- We clean the meat, rinse it, and if you get a large piece, cut it into several parts.
- Prepare the mixture for dry pickling. To do this, mix salt with black pepper and cognac.
- Place part of the prepared mixture on the bottom of a wide container, place pieces of meat on top and cover them with the remaining salting. Wrap the container tightly and put it in the refrigerator for a day, do not forget to drain the liquid.
- We take out the meat, dry it and coat it with a mixture of the remaining seasonings in the bowl.
- We wrap the workpiece in several layers of gauze, tie it with thread and hang it on the balcony or in the refrigerator, that is, in a room where the temperature does not drop below 4 degrees.
- We dry the beef for ten days to two weeks.
Cooking methods
To prepare dry-cured beef in the oven, cut into 0.5-1 cm slices. Grind the dry spices to a powder. Place the meat pieces, spices, sauce and sugar in a deep bowl. Mix the ingredients and leave to marinate for 40 minutes. Place a baking sheet on the bottom of the oven, and place the prepared slices on the wire rack, wait for the marinade to drain, heat the oven to 80 degrees and let it sit for about an hour, then set the heat to 50 degrees and cook for another 4 hours.
For preparation you will need the following ingredients:
- Beef - 900 gr.
- 1 tsp each dried garlic and brown sugar;
- 2 tsp each paprika, coriander, black pepper, ground;
- juniper berries 5-6 pieces;
- sauces: Worcestershire - 35 ml, soy sauce - 25 ml, Tabasco - 1 ml.
Classic recipe
To prepare beef jerky at home , choose the recipe at your discretion and be sure to study the stages of preparation:
- First, the beef is dry-cured or kept in a brine of water, sugar and salt. Add spices to taste. Keep for about three days.
- The salted piece is placed under a press for 3 hours.
- Before drying, rub the product with spices.
- Wrap in a clean cloth and place in the refrigerator for a week.
- Dry in a well-ventilated area for 10-14 days.
Using brine
When preparing beef jerky, a recipe using brine will be of interest to beef jerky lovers. Wash the raw materials, cut out all the veins and films. Prepare brine - brine solution. To do this, dissolve salt in two liters of boiled water. Sprinkle with a spoon and stir until the grains disappear. The brine is ready. Place pieces of meat in it and refrigerate for a day.
After the time has passed, remove the meat pieces, let the brine drain, this process will take 2-3 hours, dry with a paper towel. At this time, prepare the spice mixture, rub it in with light movements. Wrap in three layers of gauze and hang on a balcony or other well-ventilated area. The delicacy will dry for 7-10 days.
Dry cooking
This recipe is quite simple. You can do some magic with spices. For spiciness, add pepper; the aroma will be enhanced by a double portion of Provençal herbs.
The following set of products will be required:
- 1 kg beef;
- 1 kg sea salt;
- 3 tsp. paprika;
- 1 tbsp. l. Provençal herbs;
- 3 tbsp. l. ground black pepper;
- 1 tsp. dried garlic;
- 2 tsp. red hot pepper;
- a pinch of coriander.
Tenderloin is ideal for this method. Strip it of films, veins and excess fat; if the piece is thick and wide, cut it into pieces. Dry with a paper towel. Then prepare the salting mixture, mix black pepper and salt. Pour half of it into the bottom of the dish, then add the meat and top with the remaining spice mixture.
Cover the vessel with a lid or cover it with film and put it in the refrigerator for a day; if liquid is released, it must be drained periodically and add salt; when the meat is salted, dry it, put it in a dry container, cover with film, but leave an opening for air. Put it in the refrigerator.
spices for coating the finished product. Wrap the meat in breathable cloth or gauze and hang it on the balcony. The beef will dry for 10 days, after this period you can safely eat it.
Cooking in Armenian
Basturma is a traditional Armenian dish made from a large piece of beef and a spicy seasoning called chaman. It is quite difficult to dry a large meat roll at home, so it is 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 red pepper (ground);
- 1 tsp. allspice;
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 1 bay leaf;
- a pinch of cumin.
Cooking method:
- Take a wide container, cover the bottom with paper napkins, put bay leaves on top and sprinkle them with salt. Place the prepared meat on a spicy base, add some salt, cover it with napkins and apply pressure. To do this, you can take an ordinary board, place it on the meat, and place a jar of water on top. We put the entire structure in the refrigerator for a week, and every day you need to check the beef, turn it over, add salt and change the napkins if they get too wet.
- We are preparing the coating. To do this, grind the chaman into a fine powder, pour it into a container and gradually begin to pour in water until the mixture acquires the consistency of liquid sour cream. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix with the rest of the spices.
- We take out the meat, dry it in the wind or using a fan. We remove excess salt from it, put it again in a wide container and carefully coat it with the prepared mixture of seasonings. The thickness of the coating should be from 0.5 to 1 cm. Cover the dishes with cling film and place in the refrigerator for a day.
- After this time, remove the meat for final drying. To do this, hang it on threads in a dry, well-ventilated area. Depending on air humidity, basturma can dry for up to a week. The coating adheres well to the finished dried meat and does not crumble too much when slicing.
Cooking the dish step by step with photos:
- Pour water into a saucepan, add salt and bring to a boil.
- Add sugar, bay leaf, black and allspice peas and cloves. Let the water boil for 2-3 minutes and turn off. Then cool completely.
- We thoroughly wash the pork and place it in a saucepan. Press down so that the meat is completely covered with water. Leave in the refrigerator for 2 days.
- After 2 days, remove the meat from the water and dry it with a paper towel.
- Mix all the seasonings and spices indicated in the ingredients (black pepper, coriander, chili pepper, paprika, rosemary, cumin, salt, ground bay leaf).
- Rub the pork with the mixture and place it on parchment paper.
- Roll the paper tightly so that it completely covers the meat. We wrap it with thread so that the paper holds tightly. Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- After this time, remove the pork from the paper; if desired, you can add some spices, wrap the pork in gauze and secure with thread. The gauze should hold tightly, completely enclosing the pork.
- We hang the pork on the balcony in a well-ventilated place (drafts are desirable) for 5-7 days. It is best to cook pork this way in spring or autumn, when there is no extreme heat or cold. After 5-7 days, our dried pork will be ready! Less often, cut the meat into pieces and serve it to the table!
Bon appetit!
Oven cooking method
You can prepare dried meat in one day using a regular oven. We offer you a recipe for a traditional American snack - meat jerky. A minimum of time and costs, and the end result is rich and dense meat that can be stored for a long time.
Ingredients:
- 800 g beef meat;
- 1 spoon of salt;
- 1 spoon of ground chili pepper;
- 1 spoon of dried garlic.
Cooking method:
- Cut the beef pulp into thin slices, a couple of millimeters thick. To make the meat easier to cut, you can lightly freeze it.
- Then carefully season each piece with a mixture of pepper, salt and garlic.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment and lay out pieces of meat on it, put in the oven for 3 hours at a temperature of 110 degrees. Turn the beef pieces over halfway through drying.
- The finished product should be stored in airtight packaging.
Homemade beef jerky
A simple recipe for preparing a delicious snack will allow you to enjoy an exquisite delicacy. And you don’t have to buy expensive ingredients for this. All you need is fresh meat, vodka and spices. Instead of vodka, you can use other alcoholic drinks, for example, cognac.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg beef tenderloin;
- 5 spoons of sugar;
- 5 tablespoons of salt;
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- 1 tsp. black pepper (corns);
- 150 ml vodka.
Cooking method:
- Take a food bag, pour oil, vodka into it and add spices. Mix everything well, add the meat and seal the bag tightly.
- Shake the packaging so that the marinade envelops the pulp, and put the preparation in the refrigerator for three days.
- We take out the meat, dry it with a paper towel, but under no circumstances rinse it under water. Let the snack dry and after that you can enjoy the delicious delicacy.
Homemade pork jerky
Ingredients:
- pork tenderloin - 600 g;
- coriander - 2 tsp;
- allspice peas - 2 tsp;
- black peppercorns - 2 tsp;
- ground chili pepper - 2 tsp;
- ground sweet pepper - 2 tsp;
- vodka - 200 g;
- salt
How to make cold dry pork jerky:
First, wash the tenderloin and dry it with a paper towel, then trim off excess fat and membrane.
Pour coriander, black and allspice into a mortar and pound them into crumbs, pour the crushed spices into a saucer and add sweet paprika and red pepper. Mix the spices.
Rub the tenderloin with salt, do not skimp on the salt, and then rub with the prepared spices. Place the meat stuffed with salt and spices in an enamel saucepan. You can use glass or porcelain dishes, but not aluminum, so that we don’t experience any unnecessary reactions.
Pour a glass of vodka over the meat, cover and place in the refrigerator for one or two days.
Be sure to turn it over from time to time.
Two days have passed, remove the meat from the refrigerator. Lay a paper towel on a cutting board and place the tenderloin from the pan on it, cover with another piece of towel on top and dry the meat.
Now we take the same spices again and combine them in a mortar in the same proportions, pound them in the same way and rub the piece of meat again. Place the grated piece on a sheet of parchment paper and wrap tightly.
You can use a cloth instead of parchment.
We tie the meat package with twine and hang it in a cool place for about a week, be sure to find a cool place, since the meat should be aired during drying and breathe fresh air.
It stayed in parchment paper for three days, now you need to remove it and rewind the piece with a rope, hang it back and let the cutting dry for another two days.
And so, the specified time has passed, we take out a piece of tenderloin and, as you noticed, the meat has dried out so much that the rope has become easy to remove. Cut the jerky into pieces and serve.
How to dry meat in wine
Bresaola is an Italian delicacy made from beef that is first soaked in wine before drying.
Unfortunately, such a product cannot be found on our shelves today, but do not despair, because you can prepare this snack at home.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg beef tenderloin;
- 1 kg sea salt (coarse);
- nine tablespoons of black pepper (coarsely ground);
- spoon of oregano;
- spoon of thyme;
- spoon of dried garlic;
- spoon of rosemary;
- a spoonful of hot paprika;
- a spoonful of dried juniper berries;
- 250 ml dry red wine.
Cooking method:
- To make jerky, it is best to cut the beef tenderloin into two equal parts.
- Pour salt and coarsely ground black pepper into a container (for this you can take regular peas and grind them).
- Place the pieces of meat in a separate container and sprinkle them well with a mixture of salt and pepper and pour in wine. Cover the preparation and put it in the refrigerator for a week. During this time, the meat should change its color.
- We take out the beef and dry it with napkins, as it must be completely dry.
- Now we take the remaining spices, mix and thoroughly coat the meat - you should get a “fur coat” that wraps the meat tenderloin.
- We place the pieces of meat on gauze, wrap them in several layers, tie them with food thread and hang them in the refrigerator for a week.
How to make dried pork: recipe with photo
First of all, clean the meat from films and fat, cut lengthwise into two equal parts. Rub it with salt, put it in plastic bags and place it in the refrigerator for a day (at least 9-10 hours). During this time, shake and turn the bags over several times so that the salt can be absorbed evenly.
After this, remove the meat from the refrigerator. Place one piece in adjika, wipe the other with kitchen napkins (to remove excess salt) and rub thoroughly with the prepared spices. Place them on the dehydrator tray. Dry for three hours on each side (at a temperature of 50 degrees). After this, let the pork cool, cut it into thin slices. The version with adjika will be lighter and softer, while the one with spices will be darker and dryer. The longer this pork is stored in sliced form, the tastier it becomes. Store meat in the refrigerator.
This pulled pork recipe can be made another way. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can use the oven on the lowest setting. However, in this case, you will have to carefully monitor the meat, as this will dry out much faster and may burn. You can even keep the oven door open during the drying time.
Beef jerky flower bouquets
Don't know what to give your man? Present him with a bouquet, not of flowers, but of beef jerky. What macho man would refuse meat, and especially such a delicacy? “Flowers” with delicate meat petals, among other things, are very convenient for decorating salads and appetizers on the holiday table. Creating a bouquet is quite simple if you know how to thinly slice 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. We twist the buds from thin slices and use toothpicks to string them onto the prepared stems. We put the bouquet in a vase or tie it with a beautiful ribbon.
Storage of the finished product
Many people believe that dried beef should be stored in the same way as all other dried foods. Despite the fact that the delicacy has a long shelf life, it can spoil if a number of conditions are not met.
- It is best to store jerky in an airtight container. Regular containers with a lid, vacuum seals or a sealed food bag are suitable for this purpose.
- It is recommended to mark the packaging with the date of manufacture in order to know the degree of freshness of the product.
- Different types of jerky should be stored separately.
- Water and fat have a huge impact on the quality and shelf life of the dried product. Therefore, if you notice droplets of moisture or fat on the meat, remove them with a paper towel. Best of all, place napkins between the pieces of beef. They will absorb moisture, but you need to change them as they get wet.
- Depending on where you store the meat, its shelf life depends. 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 no longer. You can store meat in the refrigerator for six months and in the freezer for a year.