Introduction: Box Fan Jerky
Make beef jerky (or any kind of jerky really) with a box fan, 3 AC filters, some steak, and some time..
I'm writing this as I'm doing it, so i dont have a finished product yet, but I've seen it done online so i dont have any doubts it will work.
Shopping list:
20" Box Fan
3 20" Cotton Based AC filters
2 24" Bungee Chords
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Pepper
Natures Seasoning
Garlic Salt
1lb Thin sliced Beef Top Round
1lb Beef stir fry
Optional** Meat Cure
I'm writing this as I'm doing it, so i dont have a finished product yet, but I've seen it done online so i dont have any doubts it will work.
Shopping list:
20" Box Fan
3 20" Cotton Based AC filters
2 24" Bungee Chords
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce
Pepper
Natures Seasoning
Garlic Salt
1lb Thin sliced Beef Top Round
1lb Beef stir fry
Optional** Meat Cure
Step 1: Buy the Meat, Fan, and AC Filters
Pretty self explanitory here. Buy yourself some meat and a box fan if you dont already have one. Mine broke so i had to go buy a new one anyway. My box fan is a 20" box fan, which happens to coincide perfectly with the 20X20 AC filters that Wal Mart sells for 1.47 each. I bought 3. That's all you should need really.
For the meat, i bought 2 kinds. I've never done this so i wanted to test 2 different kinds of meats.
the first kind of meat that i bought was boneless stir fry beef. I figured it was thinl enough and precut into bite size pieces so why not.
The second kind of steak i bought was boneless top round that was think sliced. Again, convenience of being thinly sliced already. You dont want anything too thick because it wont dry out fast enough.
For the meat, i bought 2 kinds. I've never done this so i wanted to test 2 different kinds of meats.
the first kind of meat that i bought was boneless stir fry beef. I figured it was thinl enough and precut into bite size pieces so why not.
The second kind of steak i bought was boneless top round that was think sliced. Again, convenience of being thinly sliced already. You dont want anything too thick because it wont dry out fast enough.
Step 2: Make a Marinade
I have no clue how this will taste, but it smells really good.
You can find all kinds of marinade recipes online but i chose to wing it. We'll see if it pays off.
I used:
Garlic Salt
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Pepper
Natures Seasoning
and a Meat Cure packet that i got with my dehydrator.
I've never seen anyone use this for whole meat, but what can i say... I'm paranoid. You're supposed to use it for ground meat (hamburger, etc). It's probably an unnecessary step, but i did it anyway.
I poured everything into the bowl without measuring it.. Like i said, i just eyeballed it. I made sure the sauce was enough to fully marinade the meat though. I didnt want to come up short on how flavorful the meat would be.
You can find all kinds of marinade recipes online but i chose to wing it. We'll see if it pays off.
I used:
Garlic Salt
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Pepper
Natures Seasoning
and a Meat Cure packet that i got with my dehydrator.
I've never seen anyone use this for whole meat, but what can i say... I'm paranoid. You're supposed to use it for ground meat (hamburger, etc). It's probably an unnecessary step, but i did it anyway.
I poured everything into the bowl without measuring it.. Like i said, i just eyeballed it. I made sure the sauce was enough to fully marinade the meat though. I didnt want to come up short on how flavorful the meat would be.
Step 3: Prepare the Meat and Marinate
I sliced up the top round into smaller pieces so that it would dry a bit quicker and then added everything to the bowl of marinade. I sloshed it around with my hand until about everything had a nice coat on it. then i stuck it in the fridge for 4 hours. Some people say over night, but damn it... I'm impatient.
Step 4: Lay Out Meat and Let It Dry
After the meat had a chance to soak up some tastyness for a bit, i pulled it out of the fridge and layed it on the AC filter.
a few things to note here:
I found COTTON Ac filters... i wouldnt use fiberglass or whatever
I found the tightest weave backed by steel grating so that the air flow was good, and the strength was good.
I laid the meat on the filter leaving some room for air circulation so that it would dry evenly (I hope).
Once i was done with the first sheet i layed the second on top of that with the veins gonig the opposite direction to hold the meat in place better. I then layed all the other meat on the top one.
I put the bigger chunks of meat on the lower filter (which will be closer to the fan) because they're going to need a little more time to dry i think.
finally, once all the meat is on the filters, use the last one to cover the whole thing up and make a double decker meat tray with the last one. (Filter/Meat/Filter/Meat/Filter)
Now, lay the fan on it's back and put the filters on top.
Use 2 bungee chords to keep the filters stuck to the front of the fan.
Now, go plug it in and wait for about 10 hours and have some jerky!
a few things to note here:
I found COTTON Ac filters... i wouldnt use fiberglass or whatever
I found the tightest weave backed by steel grating so that the air flow was good, and the strength was good.
I laid the meat on the filter leaving some room for air circulation so that it would dry evenly (I hope).
Once i was done with the first sheet i layed the second on top of that with the veins gonig the opposite direction to hold the meat in place better. I then layed all the other meat on the top one.
I put the bigger chunks of meat on the lower filter (which will be closer to the fan) because they're going to need a little more time to dry i think.
finally, once all the meat is on the filters, use the last one to cover the whole thing up and make a double decker meat tray with the last one. (Filter/Meat/Filter/Meat/Filter)
Now, lay the fan on it's back and put the filters on top.
Use 2 bungee chords to keep the filters stuck to the front of the fan.
Now, go plug it in and wait for about 10 hours and have some jerky!
Step 5: Enjoy
I'll enter more when i actually eat it tomorrow morning...