By Jack Spaulding For the hunter/gourmet cook hankering to try something new, the long days of winter offer a perfect time for turning out a batch of homemade jerky. Primitive hunter-gathers jerked meat to preserve it thousands of years ago. The American Plains Native Americans jerked buffalo meat on a scale hard to imagine. Providing enough jerky for a village would be an awesome task. The modern recipe I use is for four pounds of meat. The meat can be beef or venison but should only be lean meat cut into inch-wide strips not thicker than 1/4 inch, with all the fat and gristle removed. (If you are buying and using beef, the butcher will sell you a good cut for jerking and will usually slice it for you at no charge). The marinade recipe for the meat consists of 2/3 cup water, 2/3 cup soy sauce, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper, 2 teaspoons garlic salt and 2 teaspoons of Liquid Smoke. Marinate the meat overnight in a covered glass bowl in the refrigerator (use glass not metal), then drain and place the strips on lightly oiled racks. Make sure the strips are spread out and slightly separated to ensure even drying. Put the racks of jerky in the oven and dry at 150 to 160 degrees or put the marinated strips in a dehydrator set at 140 degrees. The dehydrator can take up to eight or more hours, while the oven usually takes less time to dry the meat. The jerky must be slowly and completely dried. You can check the dryness by taking a piece of jerky and bending it between your fingers. If the jerky is properly dried, it will snap in two when sharply bent. If the jerky is rubbery or still somewhat pliable, continue drying. Once properly dried and stored in an airtight container, jerky will keep for weeks without spoiling. Just to be on the safe side, I keep any “excess jerky” stashed in the freezer for the future. Budding gourmets turning out their first batch of jerky will soon realize the term “excess jerky” refers only to that jerky which they can safely hide. Too much jerky doesn’t seem to be a problem during the holidays, or at any other time. I have found through personal experience my friends and family can eat jerky just about as fast as I can make it. Angola man dies in snowmobile accident Indiana Conservation Officers continued to investigate a fatal snowmobile accident occurring Jan. 23 in Steuben County. About 5 p.m., the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office was contacted and requested to assist with locating 34-year-old Adam Fifield, of Angola. Fifield had been missing for approximately one and a half hours after leaving a residence in the 6100 block of South 400 West in Hudson on a snowmobile. Authorities were notified when Fifield failed to arrive at his predetermined destination. A search of the area where Fifield had last been seen was unsuccessful. About 10:45 p.m., authorities were notified family members had located Fifield and an accident scene in a creek near the 1900 block of West 500 South. Despite lifesaving efforts, he was pronounced dead on the scene. Conservation officers remind everyone to wear a helmet and protective riding gear when operating or riding an ORV or snowmobile. For information on ORV laws and safe operating procedures, see offroad-ed.com/in/handbook and on.IN.gov/offroading. Other responding agencies included Hamilton Police Department, Indiana State Police, Pleasant Lake Fire Department, Steuben County EMS and the Steuben County Coroner’s Office. Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication, or e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net. Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download. |
