Easy Homemade Ground Beef Jerky Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How much jerky does 1lb of ground beef make? ›

You can understand why, since processing jerky takes time, and a pound of meat only produces about 1/4-pound of finished jerky. However, it really is a manageable process that you can do at home.

If you don-t have a jerky gun; spread ground meat on dehydrator sheet and cover with another sheet. Use a rolling pin to roll meat about 1/4 inch thick. Place in a dehydrator and dry at 160°F for 3 hours or until ground jerky is dry when touched. It should be pliable when bent.

Yes, beef jerky can be made without curing salt. As long as beef jerky has been properly cooked and dried, it does not require the use of a jerky cure.

The jerky should bend and eventually break, but not snap off. If you're unable to break the jerky into two pieces, and it's still rubbery, that means it needs more time. If the jerky snaps into two pieces with bending, it's most likely over-dried. Pro Tip: Finished jerky should be like a green tree branch.

Recommended curing time is 24 hours for stripped meat and 12 hours for ground meat.

Generally, 3 lbs of raw jerky meat will produce 1 lb of dry jerky. Each PS Jerky Kit is measured for 5 lbs of meat, so expect around 2 lbs of dry jerky. As you might expect, beef jerky is the most popular meat for jerky making but other meats can be just as, if not more, delicious.

Spread small pieces of ground beef on dehydrator trays with Excalibur Paraflexx® sheets under the mesh sheets. The nonstick sheets will catch any small pieces of dried beef that fall through the mesh. With Nesco Dehydrators, use the clean-a-screen or fruit-roll trays. Dry at 145°F (63°C) for approximately six hours.

Bottom line: you can either spend a little extra on non-stick parchment paper, buy the solid liners for the trays in your unit (far cheaper in the long run), or add a bit of cooking spray. Wax paper, plastic wrap, and aluminum foil restrict the airflow of your machine and do not work.

Using curing salt when making jerky is not essential, however it does have a lot of great benefits. Using curing salt correctly helps to reduce the chance of harmful bacteria growing on meat and ensures a safer curing process. It also improves flavour, colour and extends the shelf life.

What happens if you use too much cure in jerky? ›

Normally used at 1/4tsp per lb of meat, you should be fine with the amount you used. Nitrate poisoning occurs when a large amount of cure is added for a small batch of meat.

And here is even better news, you don't have to have strips of meat, you can use ground beef! You heard me right! My husband and I buy a half a cow at a time for our large size family, but we always end up with more ground beef than we need. That is where the jerky comes in.

Arrange the marinated meat on the wire racks in a single layer. Bake, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom midway through, until the meat is dried out, 3 to 4 hours. To determine if the jerky is thoroughly dried out, take a piece out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature.

Dehydration Method

They can typically dehydrate jerky within 4 to 12 hours, depending on the variables mentioned above. If you don't have a dehydrator, you may be considering dehydrating beef jerky in the oven.

Mix the ingredients with the meat.

The beauty of making ground beef jerky is you do not have to marinate the meat. This will save you between 16 and 24 hours, the typical marination type of whole-muscle beef jerky.

Jerky will lose two-thirds of its weight in the drying process — three pounds of meat will make one pound of jerky.

A typical jerky loses half of its starting weight in moisture, so 2:1 is the proper ratio. "Low moisture" jerky can actually be 1/3 the starting weight, a 3:1 ratio. So 2-3 pounds of beef will make 1 pound of jerky.

Quick tip: Purchase about 1 pound of ground beef or boneless roast for four servings.

One pound of ground beef can typically make 4 to 6 servings, depending on how much you use per serving. Here are some popular ground beef dishes and how many servings they typically yield: Skillet meals: These one-pan meals are great for busy weeknights. They typically use 1 pound of ground beef and serve 4-5 people.