How To Make Beef Jerky in the Oven

The thought of making my own beef jerky is so tempting I couldn't wait to get started. I also despised how much beef jerky costs, so that was my top motivation. I was going to sprint for a food dehydrator, but as I did more research on making beef jerky, I thought it would be a good idea if I'd try making some in the oven first - the oven is currently available and it is free.


The marinated sauce recipe for how to make beef jerky has been altered from the original, but even so I would still change a few things. I had deliberately used a light Soya Sauce, not the regular but I would still go at least a 1/8 of a cup less. Also, next time, I would add a little extra virgin olive oil on the meat before refrigerating just so the meat doesn't stick to each other or to the cookie sheet



It is actually better to have a (very) little fat in the meat, since it helps keep the jerky from becoming crunchy. I used petite top sirloin and was worried about the little veins of fat throughout the meat, but when the beef jerky was done, there was absolutely no signs of fat. The baking had cured it completely. If your meat has big chunks of fat in the steak, just cut them out.

And lastly, using liquid smoke is an option, I didn't use it and didn't miss it. The beef jerky already has a wonderful aroma. However, one thing I wouldn't leave out is the brown sugar, this ingredient is what helps the beef jerky taste like store bought, a little sweet.

I held back on the Worcestershire sauce and I was right to do so, it was perfect to use less. BTW- it only took me six hours to do three pounds of beef jerky in the oven on low, warm. Although four hours would have been good enough. Good luck and have fun, it is well worth the effort.

Ingredients
2 pounds petite beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips, 
1/4 cup brown sugar, 
1 teaspoon meat tenderizer, 
1 teaspoon garlic powder, 
1 teaspoon onion powder, 
1 teaspoon paprika, 
1/2 cup soy sauce, 
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 
(Optional) 2 tablespoons liquid smoke.

Preparation:
Place beef strips in a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients brown sugar, meat tenderizer, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika over beef and mix well. Pour soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, mix well to ensure all the meat is evenly coated. Once done, put the beef in a freezer Ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight. 

Take the beef strips out of the refrigerator and arrange the meat strips on the cookie sheets and set the oven to warm / low for at least four hours. After four hours remove the beef from the oven and place your freshly made beef jerky in resealable bags. 

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