jerky marinades

Just started drying and making jerky for the coming season.Was wondering if anyone had any unusual,yet awsome,ingredient secrets.I'm mostly just old stand-by,soy sauce,garlic,black pepper,etc.Basically just looking for something out of the ordinary.Any feedback is much appreciated.

Club house "Montreal Steak Spice" is awesome on jerky added into the marinade and then dried with it, if you can find it.

phat:

do u realize how much it'd cost in US$ if we could find it? (note the recurring theme in my posts.)

Kikkoman's Teriyaki marinade works really well. You can buy a jug of it at Sam's.
That, salt, and brown sugar sprinkled on the meat before drying is quite good. A couple ounces of bourbon in the marinade is good too, along with a tablespoon of Liquid Smoke.
I love garlic but for some reason it doesn't set well with jerky, so I leave it out.

Not my fault you get paid in pesos thes days.. (picture andre the giant as the canadian dollar.. "I don't even exercise...")

Maybe I'll get some to Earthling to find it's way into some boxes <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> or PM me <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm guessing canadians have more cash, because they don't pay for their own military protection.I'm assuming we take care of them on that.Not really a self sustaining type country.aa

Hi Kevonionia and phat,

I use Montreal Steak Spice right here in Idaho. It may not be the exact same as used by phat, but who knows….?

phat, we really like it too, Its got a great kick to it. Kevonionia, it costs about $3 for a small bottle and found in all my local grocery stores in the spice section. Maybe because I have dual citizenship (Canada and USA) is why I was able to find Montreal steak spice? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Carol

Phat drop some into the box when you get it and I'll repack it into all the boxes that come through <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I like lemon pepper on my Bison/Salmon Jerky <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Seeing as how we spend about Twice as much as Israel, and a third of what China spends, considering the whole country has less people in it than the state of California, and we actually go help you guys out in places like Kandahar where nobody else will, your attitude is well, interesting to me, but hardly surprising. Kind of what most of us have come to expect.

Perhaps it is because we expect our elected representatives to be accountable for their military expenditures and put them to good use, as opposed to lining the pockets of the companies they consult with. and chasing products of their imagination.

Ah Phat, a topic best left for the Political Forums eh? I'm grateful for having Canada as a neighbor, and have lots of nice friends up that'a way <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Looks pretty similar at least to the Club House stuff I get, and I know McKormicks is all over the states so it should be findable.

Maybe it's not because of the Canadian connection Maybe it's actually the Dual Citizenship (I'm also dual Canada/USA - I was born in Fort Belvoir VA. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

This isn't another flippant, jerky post, but I'm just glad I kept all that change from our Canadian Rockies trips back when we could afford to backpack there, back when we could come off.a long hike and still have enough money to buy an order of poutine to get my cholesterol back up to it's normal level -- which can only be done in Miami with Masas de Puerco Fritas (Cuban fried pork chunks).

I got out the jar of bills and coins my wife has saved and I think I must be a millionaire, or at the least a looneytic!

(BTW, as phat will verify, poutine is French fries smothered in gravy and fresh cheese curds.)

Yeah, while it makes a great self destructive post-hike food (ranking right up there with the Big Striploin steak with mushrooms and fries at the L&W in Hinton Alberta) ,At least in Western Canada, Poutine is often viewed as a weapon of m...ot;" />

As far as jerky, if you use venison that would be different. It's enlightening to hear views from other countrys and from people who acctually live there. I have a frend from the Chek Republic that has told me much about his country and the transition from socialism to how they live today. He lives in Prauge and his first job was to visit lakes, wilderness areas etc and report to the government. I guess it was like a ranger. The more I hear and learn about Canada the more it makes me want to visit. Great wide open spaces. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I make venison jerky, and moose jerky. In both cases there is little difference from beef once made other than you need to slice it pretty thin and allow for fairly dry jerky. These meats do not have the fat content of beef and so really get dry.

With venison at least for me (and this goes for more than with jerky) I make sure to get any fat off of it because I find deer fat with it's really high melting point not what I like in
there.

phat
A long time ago and far far away... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I flew to Europe on Icelandic air on a turboprop. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />We had to stop in Rejkavik to refuel and ate in the airport. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

It must have been reindeer bacon. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />It tasted great as long as you could swallow it whole after getting the flavor out of it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> I never ate anything as tough as that ever again. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Anyway the very beautiful princes of Luxembourgh <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />was on the plane. She bought us breakfast in Germany someplace <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />and got the passport guy to wake up so we could get our passports stamped in Luxembourgh. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />We didn't know she was the princess till we got to Luxembourgh. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Jerky marinade - sounds like BBQ sauce to me.
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Eeew. Gander to Rejkjavik.. shudder...



I've had caribou (reindeer) and didn't find it tough at all. Maybe it was walrus, or musk-ox;)



Now *that* is a cool story...

Jim, did you know that Princess Marie-Adelaide died last year? Brum

I did the Bourbon marinade for my bar-b-que back in the states and loved it. Bourbon costs about double here in Mexico, so I use good Tequila instead. Not considering the proof of the tequila I was using out of the 2 gallon wooden cask I'd been given as a gift, I burned up the first steak. After I used a razor to even out my singed eyebrows, I wiped most of the tequila marinade off of the other steaks and continued on. Here we use chili peppers in about every thing. A combination of anchos, habanero, rock salt, and tequila marinaded steaks, or chops, or chicken, or an old shoe for that matter, slow grilled over a mesquite wood fire works out to be good eatin.

Now before leaving to go backpacking, I make up three or four of my favorite marinades and I add double the salt as a preservative and to aid in replacing the salt I lose from sweating out on the trail. Then I slow cook the meats down dry like a good chewy jerky on my adobe smoker here at home. I like the fat left on for the trail meats. I have a butcher in the village of Jocotepec that will slice bacon a half inch thick and a beef roast or flank steak down to an eighth of an inch thick for me to make jerky with on the grill.

I also marinade fresh pacific shrimp in fresh lime juice, crushed mangoes, crushed black pepper corns, and sea salt, and then smoke them over a black tea smoldering fire on the same grill. They will last for about three days before beginning to turn, where as the beef or pork will last 5 days on the average, if I don't eat it all first. Yes, it weighs more than a Raman noodle meal, but hey, I get seriously hungry on the trail and good quality food just tastes so much better sitting around a camp fire at night.

Carrying the smoked meats around in my pack also helps me to be accepted by people in the small villages. Within 5 minutes after I arrive, usually every dog in the village is following me around wagging their tails and sniffing at my pack, (I think the dogs use cell phones to announce my arrival). The village people tend to be a bit wary of strangers, but I suppose they think I must be a good person if all the dogs like me, and they warm to me rather quickly.

Made myself hungry, heading for the kitchen. Brum

Brum,
___________________________________
Carrying the smoked meats around in my pack also helps me to be accepted <snip>Within 5 minutes after I arrive, usually every dog in the village is following me around wagging their tails and sniffing at my pack, (I think the dogs use cell phones to announce my arrival). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The village people tend to be a bit wary of strangers, but I suppose they think I must be a good person if all the dogs like me, <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> and they warm to me rather quickly.
____________________________________

Dogs are the best judge of character. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> If you're a stranger and the dogs are nice to you then you're OK. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Jim said: <<Dogs are the best judge of character. If you're a stranger and the dogs are nice to you then you're OK. >>

That is especially true for brown, wet dogs <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

OK, to bring this back to the OP's topic. I'm with Brum on using bourbon. And I also like cola (any brand) too. Carol

Hmmm... now what am I supposed to make of that, Carol? By the way, Carol, can you please at least post your gender in your profile? If you're female your remark is interesting, if male, it makes me uncomfortable, that is, if you start sniffing around to see if you like me... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Brum <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I might start soaking some loins in Samuel Adams.... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Brum, you missed the CAROL part at the end of HER post eh <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Carol can be a guy or gal, Eugene. The mystery continues. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Not since the likes of Archie Bunker have I known a guy named Carol, Paul <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> But point taken, and my apologies to any lurkering guys named Carol <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

His name was 2 'LL''s. But...Carroll Shelby, Caroll O'conner, King Carol I, and King Carol II of Romania, Carol Reed (director of "the third man"), "Carol" has Germanic roots meaning "free man". <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Dang this is fun!

Next we'll discuss "Sue". As in "A Boy Named Sue". <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Never mind! Brum

BrownWetDog wrote:
Jim said: <<Dogs are the best judge of character. If you're a stranger and the dogs are nice to you then you're OK. >>
That is especially true for brown, wet dogs. Carol

And of course, then stupid wrote:
Hmmm... now what am I supposed to make of that, Carol? By the way, Carol, can you please at least post your gender in your profile? If you're female your remark is interesting, if male, it makes me uncomfortable, that is, if you start sniffing around to see if you like me... Brum

Earthling wrote:
Brum, you missed the CAROL part at the end of HER post eh

Dryer wrote:
Carol can be a guy or gal, Eugene. The mystery continues.

Earthling wrote:
Not since the likes of Archie Bunker have I known a guy named Carol, Paul But point taken, and my apologies to any lurkering guys named Carol

Dryer wrote:
His name was 2 'LL''s. But...Carroll Shelby, Caroll O'conner, King Carol I, and King Carol II of Romania, Carol Reed (director of "the third man"), "Carol" has Germanic roots meaning "free man". <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Dang this is fun!
Next we'll discuss "Sue". As in "A Boy Named Sue". <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Now, Senor Stupid, seeing that he screwed up wrote:
Ok, OK! You guys, I have seen my mistake. My apologies Ms. Carol. Tell your husband (who is probably 6' 9", 320lbs, and goes by the nick name of, AxHandle) that I was just kidding. Brum

PS: Carol, if he's a little runt CPA, call me.. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Still Stupid Brum

Dang, I'm off line for two days and look at this thread run amuck! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Now get in there and clear up that mess (said in her sternest, yet still quite feminine voice). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Carol

You gotta like mexican food down there cause if you don't, well I guess you could make some kinda suedo mexican italian dish. With all the peppers and such. I worked for a guy that would only go to mexican resturants and it seem we were eating it 4 times a week. When someone would request something different we still ended up at a mexican resturant. I got so burnt on fish tacos and chips with lime and salt, I couldn't eat it again for a year. Well the other nite the family couldn't make up their mind about what to eat for dinner and didn't want to get dressed to go anywhere so I went after mexican take out. Real mexican take out, not taco hell. I have a taste for mexican food again but not takeout. It ain't the same as fresh off the grill. So the next time I fire up the grill it will be mexican style. So post your best dish and I'll have it with bourbon and raise a toast to you and your good work in mexico. Good luck on you next mission.

Brumfield wrote:

Yes, Dear! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Brum

Chaz wrote:


Chaz, to get my absolutely favorite Mexican recipe, you will have to go out and buy a Volcanic Rock Molcajete. Buy one large enough to hold food for at least four people, so probably one that's around 32 ounces capacity. Bring it home and email me that you have it, and I'll send you one of the best recipes in Old Mexico. You cannot cook this particular recipe in a pot or skillet. We eat this dish cooked in a Molcajete at least twice a month and crave it in between. It will be a hit with your family and friends, I promise.

When I'm backpacking I sometimes smell it cooking in the villages and will go in begging for some. They have never turned el gringo hambriento con mochila grande down! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I always leave something as payment. Makes a good way to open doors to new friends.

Thank you for your blessings. Brum

Yikes...32 oz. molcajete? Now that should be an interesting UPS bill!
He'll have to 'season' it a few years before its just right, but a blender won't seem the same again. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Molcajetes are fairly common around here but avoid the concrete/vacano mix ones. Not the same.

Brum, lemme guess....this has to do with chicken?

Or an extremely large amount of avocadoes <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Yeah, what paul said, forget the concrete mix type molcajetes <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Brumfield wrote:

And shrimp, and beef! Paul, you must be a bad boy on Christmas eve. How many presents have you peeked in before Christmas day? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Brum

I didn't know they made molcajetes out of concrete! Do ya'll live in Portand? Must be more decorative than for cooking. If handled wrong, the lava rock puts off enough grit as it is, I can only imagine adding concrete dust to the mix. Maybe I should send you guys a recipe you can cook in an aluminum pot on an electric stove. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Brum

How many? All of em! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Concrete/lava mix molcajetes usually found at garden centers, posh 'gormet' kitchenware places, and are for looks, but people try to use them for cooking. The real ones are what ground the tortillas I grew up on. Pretty common around here in north Mexico (Tejas) As you probably know, there is a HUGE difference between machine made and hand gound/patted masa tortillas. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Stop it you two!

[email]D@#$%@#%@![/email] I'm an expat Californian living in Canada. Yes the hiking has defineate benefits
up here and I know it. However your talk of decent civilized tortillas is driving me absolutely mad!
I'm living in a place where it's hard to find a tortilla not made of wheat flour. And I mean *really hard*
and a tortilla that doesn't come in a bag - (What - all tortillas come in bags don't they -- eh? ) Aaaaargh! Wal mart even stopped carrying the La Victoria sauces! (les boittes n'avez aucun mot
de Francais - l'Anglais et d'Espangnol seulment - alors on ne peut pas les achetez au Canada)

Now let me find my snowshoes and go out this weekend to eat a dehydrated backpacking enchilada in the snow... It's better than any other mexican food I can get up here....

You are cruel evil men. Stop talking about decent mexican food. Grrrrrr..

At least we have good beer...

Doooood (phat....I say "dooood" when I'm being 'frank'..whatever) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.....make yer own! It's easier and faster than the trip to the store and you'll gain weight like never before!
First, go to your store's flour section and look for 'masa' flour. That's corn flour NOT corn meal. I'll mail you some if you can't find it. Good tamale and tortilla recipes are right on the bag. Or, you can grind you own corn flour with a Mexican grinder like we've been talking about...a pain. Buy the bag. Use bacon drippings or real lard for the real deal. We've used olive oil for an interesting twist.
Here's another recipe:
http://www.texascooking.com/features/may98corntortillas.htm

Corn tortilla recipes are everywhere on the web. The masa bag recipes work fine.

You don't need a "tortilla press" unless you have to have 'em perfectly round. Most Mexican and Tex/Mex mommas patty-cake 'em by hand. My sister uses a rolling pin. A cast iron skillet or better, a big griddle, is required. The hand patted ones will come out a little thicker and taste like real food. Not shirt cardboard like the bagged store bought ones. 2 dozen will take you about an hour, with a big skillet.

Down here, we have 'tortilla factories' local that do a pretty good job stamping 'em out. They're ok if you're in a hurry, and those are what most of us have on hand. Sam's, Costco, big chain grocries, sell the local made product.
The "mexican" food in Canada is....well....not.

My pack ALWAYS has tortillas of some kind in it!

Oh I know what masa flour is. Finding a reliable source for it up here is
a bit tricky. I do occasionally find it, and I do make corn tortillas. Finding good ingredients for the
rest of it (like decent chiles, sauces, etc.) is a lot harder. I've unfortunately never taught myself
to make good enchilada sauces and mole poblano from scratch. So I ususally resort to "muling"
back stuff from the states when I go down. (The requisite trip to Wal-Mart for Nido (also unobtainable
here) and Mexican Food fixings..)

My tortilla ranting was more directed at the total lack of being able to find decent ingredients or even
a decent mexican restauraunt here. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Ok you guys.
I was backpacking in Big Sur along the California coast. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I had been out for 10 days and was down to my packet of emergency instant mashed potatoes and instant gravy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />I had killed a rattlesnake that day on its 3 rd strike and I had hiked/climbed/descended ten miles cross country down a dangerous steep upper "carmel River" canyon. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I was sitting by a campfire making some tea [made of local herbs] when a skinny tired looking kid comes along and wants to camp with me because people told him there were feral pigs in the area. Anyway he was too exhausted to eat, BUT
HE HAD A SKILLET, 2 AVOCADOES, A BLOCK OF CHEESE AND TORTILLAS. He was too tired to eat, so I ate ALL of his food and we hiked out the next day.

Oh - that night I was awakened to an animal crying right near me. In a flash I had my bowie knife and flashlight in hands. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />A silver fox <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />was standing 15 feet away in the light and watched me for a pregnant 5-30 seconds - who knows - time stood still. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Jim, after time continued on, did you kill and eat the 3-strikes-you're-out snake or Silver Fox along with the remainder of your tortillas? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I would love to hear the skinny kid's side of the story about the guy that ate all of his food while he slept. Brum

Yeah, let's get the skinny kid's side of the story <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> He's skinny fer a reason....he keeps giving away his food <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> And the skillet, now that's a charmer in the bush <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Out near Deming NM on the way to lordsburg there is a GREAT Tortillaria <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> I used to stop at on my way home to Mesilla NM when I lived there...of course we had the best chilies there <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Soy sauce, a little red wine, a touch of vegetable oil, brown sugar, ground pepper, some red pepper flakes, grated fresh ginger, minced garlic, and minced onions

I have yet to try this for jerky, but it is an awsome steak marinaid and just bump up the soak tme and it should make for a nice Jerky marinaid


2 medium shallots, minced (green onions)
1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
3 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use virgin olive)
(i also add 3 garlic cloves)

NOW you are making me miss living in San Antonio. I do like my Alamo Cafe.

I just made some deer jerky from meat my bro gave me. My secrete weapon is Rudy's BBQ sauce. I am addicted to it ever since living in San Antonio. Now, I have to buy it online. You can also find many Rudy's in a lot of other Texas cities, not just SA. Here is there site to order online Rudy's Country Store .

Now, I usually mix a bunch of stuff. I also don't use any measuring, just pour in what I feel like. Here is a list of stuff I use. You can use it in any combination or exclude what you want.

Worcestershire sauce
BBQ sauce (use a few different ones)
smoke sauce
lemon or lime concentrate
Italian salad dressing
mustard
steak sauce
7-up / sprite / etc.
teriaki sauce
soy sauce
basil
onion
other spices that you have in your cupboard or find at the store (be creative)

if you like to clear your sinuses when you eat it (you like it HOT) try this:
get a blender or food processor
without cutting up first mix a couple of habanero peppers with a couple jalapeno peppers and maybe a few other types of peppers in the blender with a little water. Pour the liquid into your marinade. Good stuff. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I found this recipe about 30 some odd years ago and I forget where (curse of living so long I guess). It was for venison (my favorite) but I have used on beef. I find if hunting was not so good, a cheap london broil works ok.

3 lbs. venison (or beef) cut into 3/8 inch thick strips
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup worcester sauce
2 tsp season salt
2/3 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2/3 tsp black pepper

mix all the ingredients untill disolved, add meat, marinate over night in the refridgerator making sure that meat is submerged. Then dehydrate in dehydrator untill almost dry (too dry gets crunchy.too wet spoils too easy) You can use the oven on your stove on lowest setting but be sure to put foil on bottom of oven as it drips. After making, store in airtight containers and should last up to two years.I say should say mine never has (yum) This is probably close to your recipe but I think the Worcester sauce gives it a kick.