Marinated Jerky

Instructions

1. Pick a genuinely lean cut and trim whatever fat is left back to the muscle. Fat cannot be dried out of meat, and it is what decides whether a batch keeps for weeks or turns within days.
2. Part-freeze the meat until it is firm to a fingertip before slicing. A wobbling piece of beef cannot be cut to an even thickness by hand, and uneven strips finish at different moments.
3. Cut strips 1/4" thick. Across the grain gives a jerky that breaks apart in the mouth and along it gives one you have to work at — pick one and treat the whole batch the same way.
4. Stir the brine until both the salt and the sugar have gone into solution, then taste it. If you cannot taste the salt strongly, the meat will not cure properly.
5. Submerge the strips fully, weigh them down with a plate if they float, and leave them in the fridge overnight. A strip riding above the brine is uncured meat going into a warm machine.
6. Tip the brine away, rinse the strips under cold water and blot them. Skip the rinse and a salt crust forms on the surface that makes the finished jerky almost impossible to eat.
7. Lay the strips so air reaches both faces and dehydrate at 150 °F for 8 hours. This setting is driven by food safety on raw beef rather than by texture.
8. Bend a cooled strip to a right angle. A finished one cracks at the fold and stays in one piece; one that folds softly wants longer, and one that parts completely went too far.
9. Blot the cooled batch once more before it is put away. A fortnight in a jar at room temperature, two months vacuum-sealed, a year frozen — and any strip showing fuzz or smelling sour takes the rest with it.