Homemade Beef Jerky

We bought a new air fryer/toaster/dehydrator combination machine. I decided to try making my own beef jerky. I frequently buy jerky from Buc-ees, but it's a long drive from home. I wanted to find out how difficult it is to make, and how the cost compares. 

First, I bought eye of round for $6.79/lb. The recipes I looked up said to use lean beef. I bought almost a pound of meat that was already sliced thin. Next, I marinated it overnight in a mixture of soy sauce, Worcester sauce, pineapple juice, fresh garlic, and other spices. 

After the meat marinated overnight in the fridge, I took it out and drained it. (I saved 1/4 of the meat and the marinade for another project.) Even though the meat was already sliced thin, I pounded it flatter between two pieces of plastic wrap to make sure it was evenly thin.

Then I sliced the meat into 1-inch strips and arranged it on the mesh tray. It wouldn't all fit so I used the wire rack too. Then I used the dehydrator function at the highest setting, 175F (79C). I set it for 5 hours, but it only took 4 and a half hours. I left the house for a couple of hours, which stopped me from eating all the jerky before it was ready.

When the jerky was done, it had shrunk from 12 oz (not including the marinade) to just over 4 oz. So in total, not counting the small cost of the marinade or electricity, I spent $5. The same weight of jerky at Buc-ees would have cost $9. Plus my jerky was drier, making the price difference more significant.

The leftover marinade and 1/4 of the meat that I saved was perfect as part of a stir fry for lunch. The meat was sliced into very thin short pieces and cooked with about 2 cups of bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and the remaining marinade.

Ingredients- eye of round, fresh garlic, soy sauce, onion powder, Worcester sauce, pineapple juice, homemade tabasco salt, smoked paprika, black pepper.

Amazon Affiliate link for the oven: https://amzn.to/3q7L05b