I am currently sitting next to the Caribbean sea. The wind is blowing the sun is shining and we are getting ready to head out on one of the biggest adventures I think I have ever been on. Sailing on a 39’ catamaran with another couple and we are the captain and crew. Only one of us has actually sailed a boat so wish us luck!

A few years ago I was golfing with some girlfriends I was a last minute fourth so one of them packed me a lunch; how cute is that. Well I can’t remember what kind of sandwich it was but I do remember the homemade beef jerky. It was AWESOME and while I am not a connoisseur of jerky this was something I really wanted to make for myself; and to share with my family. While my daughter is not a huge jerky fan the guys are another story.

I have never owned a dehydrated and really never looked into them to purchase. My son asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year so hesitantly gave him a list of kitchen appliances I am interested in getting. My hesitance is he is the one that pitches a fit when I buy something new for the kitchen; his first comment is always “OK so what are you going to get rid of?” I have a lot of storage space but it is all pretty full. And I do purge every so often; I can justify pretty much everything in it so it’s hard to let go sometimes.

Back to my list, I sold him on my purchases as stating they didn’t need a “home” in the kitchen I could store them on the shelf in the garage. Voila I now have a dehydrator in my arsenal of cooking tools. The reason he picked it was purely selfish reasons; he knew he would be eating yummy homemade beef jerky.

Beef Jerky

3 lb angus round tip

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup worcestershire sauce

2 tbs ketchup

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion salt

Trim off all the fat you can, it will not dehydrate and is not something you want to eat.

Slice or buy sliced beef into ¼ inch pieces. If you are slicing it it is best if you freeze the beef overnight, it cuts SO much easier. If you are lucky enough to find it already sliced at your butcher.

You can put ingredients 2-6 in a ziploc bag and add the sliced meat, take out as much air as you can and marinate overnight moving the pieces around so they all get yummy.

Dry the beef and place on the racks of your dehydrator leaving plenty of space between each piece so the air can flow all around.

155’ for 4 hours – check and if needed add some more time. Do not over hydrate