Experimenting as a second step

January 2023.

I’m looking for answers online. It’s Sunday and I’m making beef jerky for the first time.

I’m checking out recipes. To make beef jerky, you need at least:

• sliced beef
• marinade
• an oven

From there on there really isn’t a consensus. Many questions remained. Which beef to use ? Which part of the beef ? How thick should I slice it ? How long should it dry ? Which marinade is best ? On and on.

I like certainty. There wasn’t any with this. It had to be experimental. I just had to start somewhere, assess the result, and move forward from there.

I used a regular oven the first few times. Then I bought a small dehydrator. I went to dozens of butchers, tried different meats. Started comparing beef parts on tenderness, fat content and price. Played with the marinade recipes, adding, replacing and removing ingredients. Measured dehydration ratios.

Almost naturally, I started creating my own dataset through experimentation. As I made beef jerky every week, my mission became to find the best beef jerky production method and recipe using only natural products and local Belgian meat. Just for fun and as a challenge to myself.

I found that the best meat for beef jerky is Blanc Bleu Belge, because of its low fat content and natural tenderness. Discovered using acids in marinades breaks down the meat’s fibres, making it more tender. Discovered the right thickness is, in my personal opinion, 6mm. Many, many, many more things, mostly through trial & error.

This period lasted 6 months.

Sharing more tomorrow.