One of the most delicious meat out there is the lamb. There is no doubt about it. In many countries, especially those located in the Mediterranean region, lamb is considered as a premium meat. Aside from lamb jerkies, there are a lot of recipes that you can make out of this meat. You can have lamb chops, ground lamb, and the very sumptuous braised lamb shanks.
Of course, since I am a lover of every type of jerkies, I will focus this article on how to make a delicious lamb jerky at the convenience of your home! There’s no need to fret over other stuff. The recipe and the procedure are all straightforward. However, I have to warn you that making jerkies, regardless of the meat, will always be time-consuming.
But after the ordeal, I can guarantee you that you will taste the deliciousness of this treat! It is a delicacy that is worthy of being savored.
Basics Considerations in Making a Jerky
Before I go to my lamb jerky recipe, let me take you in a detour first. Specifically, I will teach you the essential things that you need to learn about making jerkies. In this way, you can improve the efficiency and flavor of your final output. Don’t worry. This will just be short.
Temperature
You can convert a meat to a jerky through the process of drying or dehydration. The goal here is to make sure that the meat will run out of its internal liquid and fats. This is the very reason why jerkies are chewable and lean. All those excess parts were already taken off by the heat.
You can heat up your oven or smoker into any preferred temperature. You just have to take note that high temperatures can speed up the dehydration process. For example, an oven that has an internal heat of 140 degrees Fahrenheit can dry a slice of meat for 4 to 5 hours.
However, I forbid you from cranking your devices into extremely high temperatures. They will toast the meat, instead of just drying them.
The Meat
Of course, you can use any meat for a jerky recipe. The options are pretty limitless. As long as the meat is fresh and healthy, it can be an ideal candidate for your next jerky trip. However, there are specific parts of the meat that is best for making jerkies.
Specifically, the meat cut that you should choose must be lean. There should be no or less fat on the cut. In this way, you can make fine and thin strips. This is an essential thing to do so that you can quicken the drying process. Moreover, it also improves the chances of yielding a palpable and chewable jerky.
How to Make Lamb Jerky
I already covered the essentials jerky-making. Now, let us get down to our lamb jerky. Once again, the recipe that I am going to introduce to you is the basic one. I could teach you some other plausible recipes. But for the meantime, let us stick to the most simple one. After you can learn the ropes of a basic lamb jerky recipe, you can explore some other options. Let’s get started!
Ingredients
- Lamb fillet (2 pounds)
- Soy sauce (1/2 cup)
- Worcestershire sauce (1/2 cup)
- Garlic powder (1 teaspoon)
- Onion powder (1 teaspoon)
- Seasoning salt (1 teaspoon)
- Black pepper (1 teaspoon)
The Meat Strips
The best-tasting jerkies out there are in the form of strips. They are easy to dry and manipulating their flavor very doable. Of course, you can’t make strips from the fatty regions of the meat. Ideally, you should go for lamb fillets. Fortunately, you can find premade lamb fillets on the market. This reduces the preparation time that you need.
Alternatively, you can ground a lamb meat and use a jerky gun to make strips out of them. If you want to learn the best options for a jerky gun, better read this article for jerky gun reviews.
Marinating and Drying the Meat
Next, you need to prepare your marinade. You have to mix all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Stir the mixture properly until the desired flavor and texture are already achieved. Once the marinade is ready, play the lamb fillets there. Soak them thoroughly so that the sauce would seep through properly. After this, put the bowl in your refrigerator and let it stay there for 8 to 12 hours.
When the refrigeration is over, take out the lamb meat from the bowl. Place them on a clean baking tray. When arranging the strips, make sure that they don’t have a contact with each other. This will help in the efficient dehydration of the jerky.
Making the Lamb Jerky
Once your initial preparation procedures are completed, you can already start making your own lamb jerky. Put the jerky in a preheated oven. Ideally, it should be around 175 to 180 Fahrenheit. Also, I recommend that you should put an aluminum foil on the bottom part of the oven. It will catch the falling grease and liquid that the meat will be producing.
Since you are aiming to dehydrate the meat, you should assure that there is enough circulation of air inside your device, regardless if it is an oven or a smoker. This is the reason why you to leave a small opening on the door if you are using an oven. If you are using a smoker, you should open the vents up.
If set at such given temperature, the jerky would already be prepared after 4 to 6 hours. Of course, you need to flip the sides of the jerkies in between this duration to balance out the cooking.
Preserving the Jerky
Of course, there is a possibility that you won’t be able to finish your jerky on a single eating. Even if we eat together with my kids, consuming a five-pound jerky is way too difficult for us. That’s we always practice the habit of food preservation.
You can keep the quality of a jerky by putting them in airtight containers and bags. I also recommend that you should blot out the remaining liquid in the surface of the jerky. Molds and bacteria can grow on them. Just use a clean paper towel and gently tap the jerky until its exteriors are dry.
With this process, you can preserve the jerky for one to two months. But if you put the container in the freezer, the jerky can still be consumable after four to six months!
Conclusion
Overall, the process of making a lamb jerky is pretty easy. The ingredients and the procedures are really straightforward. As long as you follow my guide, you can create a jerky that as delicious as the one that I am eating right now!
Moreover, if you want to explore other types of meat, I suggest that you should go to other article. I have listed all of the ideal meat choices for any given jerky recipes.
Did you like this article? Do you have any questions that you want to ask me? Just tell all of them in the comment section below. I will be waiting!