It's not all that difficult to make jerky, but takes time

I don't know about you, but good jerky is hard to find. There are a thousand different makes and models hanging in grocery stores or convenience stores, and some are pretty good. But what I find is that most of it is so tough it's downright hard to chew. I'm not an expert at making jerky, but let me share how I make jerky.

The first task in making good jerky is to get as good a piece of meat as you can. Meat that is too fat doesn't work very well, nor should the meat contain gristle or tendons or such. My favorite pieces are the big rump roasts on beef or those big muscles on the hind end of dear. I would imagine the tenderloin on deer would be great for jerky, but I'd rather have them as steak. You can make jerky out of about any meat, but I would skip pork or meat like pork that contains trichinosis, which is a type of roundworm.

You can use a mechanical slicer if you have one. There is a special jerky cutting board you can lay the meat on, which helps you slice it thin. I like to take a super sharp knife and just slice it by hand. It helps if the meat is just slightly frozen. The key for me is to slice the meat across the grain rather then with the grain. Almost all jerky is sliced with the grain so the muscle tissues run the length of the piece of jerky. I slice mine across the grain so the muscle tissues are short, which makes the jerky a lot more tender. I try to slice mine no thicker then a quarter-inch.

There are all kinds of recipies with a host of different spices. I've made my own and used gallons of soy sauce. What I finally settled on was a combination of different spices from Sausage Maker -- sausagemaker.com. I believe there were five different jerky seasonings, which came in the kit, with each one capable of making five pounds. So, the kit will make 25 pounds of jerky. My favorite is Uncle Abe's.

I mix up the seasoning packet just as the directions say, and add my sliced jerky. I use a fairly large bowl and not plastic bags. I find I can mix the jerky a lot easier in a bowl and make sure the pieces aren't stuck together. The directions say to let the meat marinade for 12 to 14 hours or so. I usually let mine marinade in the ice box for about 24. I think the marinade soaks in better.

Now, for the good-smelling part. Many use a dehydrator, and they work really well. I use our oven. My wife has a bunch of cookie sheets, so I lay the pieces of meat down on the cookie sheets, making sure the pieces don't touch. Most say to set the temp at 155 degrees. Our oven goes down to 170 and it works just fine. Just my opinion, but I want my jerky to get up to no less then 165 degrees if I'm going to eat it.

It will take several hours so I'd wait 'til you have four to six hours to tend to the drying jerky -- maybe during Thursday night football? I try to get mine in the oven around 5 p.m., which gives me the evening to tend to the jerky. Check it every 30 minutes or so. When one side looks dry flip it over and let the other side dry. When the jerky is as dry as you like, take those pieces out and let them cool. I store mine in zip-close baggies, and then freeze it. One of those vacuum, sealers would just be the cat's meow for storing jerky. Don't let the jerky get too dry.

Now it's time to enjoy.