Beef Jerky- Honey BBQ and Lemongrass Chili

Most anyone that knows me knows I love beef jerky. I even got beef jerky as a birthday present. So when the idea to try to make my own arose, I quickly jumped on it and told my boyfriend to buy some meat! He came home with a 5 pound chunk of meat and we got to work. Meanwhile, we've had our oven on craigslist for a while now and the day before we planned on cooking it someone replied saying they'd come by the next day and pick it up. We never got another response back so we just cooked the jerky anyway. It's a really good thing they didn't write back because they would have come to a terrible mess of an oven. And now that they never answered we're probably just donating it now, along with the rest of the appliances. Our to do list this weekend is ridiculous, thus the weekend has been dubbed housework weekend. ALL weekend long we'll be doing things from fixing bathroom tile in both bathrooms, to sanding down kitchen walls, to cleaning the basement room, going to the dump, and the list is never ending. For once in my life, I may not be excited it's Friday. 

Beef Jerky

Yield ~ a lot of servings

5 pound Eye Round (you can really use whatever cut you'd like), sliced

Honey BBQ

3 tablespoons honey

1 clove garlic,  minced

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon siracha

Lemongrass Chili

1/2 ounce lemongrass, chopped

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

1/2 teaspoon siracha

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon red curry paste

Slice the beef into thin slices. For each flavor, mix your ingredients together in a bowl. Place half the meat in each bowl and mix together making sure all the meat gets coated with the marinade. Place in a bag or tupperware over night so the flavors stick. The next day preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Place the slices of meat on the oven racks or you can do what we did for the second rack. We took a cooling rack and placed it on top of a cookie sheet so the juices wouldn't drip down to the bottom of the oven. Cook for 4 hours to completely dry out. You may need an additional 30 minutes. Let cool, then eat!