The finished product!

I had written last week about making some beef jerky for an upcoming hiking trip.  Well, the results are in and I must say even with my mistake of having the meat sliced too thin it turned out really well.  My son took a generous amount to school with him.  I received text messages from him around lunch time with requests for a pepper version, and also a spicy version.  He also had so many students at his lunch period requesting a taste he decided to sell it for one dollar per piece.  I hope he used the money wisely at the end of the day.

My wife had to coach a basketball game on Friday night and my son and I headed to the Oklahoma foot hills.  I received a voicemail on my cell phone from her telling me how much she loved this jerky.  While on the trail I like to use jerky like cash.  You can bribe people on the trail with jerky and also once they know you make jerky yourself they become your friend.  I also like to reward people who are doing good and helping others and also if someone is having a hard time, a piece of jerky always seems to bring a smile to their eyes. 

As you can see from my pictures I took a bag to work with me so that I could try it out before heading into the woods.  I must say Scott's has a great taste and flavor.  The flavor has a smokey, slightly sweet, and salty taste to it.  I would say it has similar taste as the store bought jerky does but, with more punch of smoke and salt and less of the sweetness and prepackaged flavor.

 

Marty let me know that next time I could use half of all the cure and make two separate batches.  That is probably what I will do next time.  I also will play with pepper and other dry rubs to add to the flavor.  I wanted the first batch to give me the base flavors of the cure and adjust from there.

In the end making homemade jerky is simple, fun, and extremely cost effective.  I first would recommend to anyone to make their own jerky for the better quality of product and at a cost of one third what you pay at the store.  Then I would recommend Scott's Jerky Cure because of its great flavor.  Last I would make them give me a sample because just like homemade pecan pie every bodies taste just a little different.