Well, I have decided to get back into jerky making.

At the place where I had my longest-term job (10 years), I sold lots of jerky to other employees.  I have several recipes that I've developed and even posted a few of them on the old blog, although I later deleted it.  I have also sold it on eBay.

The meat has gone up in price since the last time I made it.  I think it was about $2.90/lb back then.  Today it was $3.28/lb.  It has been a while.

I use 90% lean ground sirloin and a jerky shooter to squirt out a long strip of meat, then I cut it into pieces about 3-4 inches long after it has dried.  I have developed several recipes from scratch and imagination--I don't use any of those prefab jerky flavor envelopes that some places sell.

I figure if nothing else, I can always sell enough jerky on eBay to pay for the blog.  Plus, I like to eat it myself.  There will be more news on this topic as I get geared up and back into the swing of making it.  Today I'm just making my first original recipe, which is slightly spicy but not hot.  Except I accidentally put twice as much black pepper as my recipe called for.  Heh, it won't matter.  It's starting to smell pretty good in here now, about an hour after I started up the dehydrator.  This recipe also includes a tiny pinch of sage, which really brightens up the spiciness.

My most popular and best seller on eBay is my habanero jerky.  I have one rule for this kind of food:  If it didn't actually kill you, it wasn't too hot.

Tomorrow I'm going to barbecue, also.  I got a brisket this morning and smothered it in brisket rub.  It's curing in the refrigerator right now.  Tomorrow morning, after a good 24 hours it will be ready for the smoker.

Back on jerky, the meat I use is from H.E.B. and is the stuff packaged in the one-pound capsule-shaped packages (which I think in butcher parlance is called a "chub").  It's a lot more convenient and easier for me to work with when it's exactly one pound at a time and not some weird fraction.  Also, the cut of this meat seems to be the best for this particular application.  I've tried Walmart ground beef, and it doesn't work nearly as well.  H.E.B. beef is superior.

UPDATE:  The first batch came out a little too dry.  I couldn't remember exactly how long I used to dry it.  I could only remember that it was either 5 or 6 hours.  Turns out six hours is too long.  It's still good, but not up to snuff.