Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Mix the mineral salt, black pepper and optional garlic powder and smoked paprika into the fresh ground beef until evenly distributed. Keep the meat cool. Divide into 3 or 4 portions, returning any portion you cannot shape and heat promptly to the refrigerator.
- Roll each portion between sheets of parchment into an even sheet no thicker than 1/4 inch. Size it for your actual oven pan and dehydrator tray without folding or overlapping. Peel off the top parchment and score jerky-sized strips, approximately 20 across the original batch. Keep the center as thin as the edges; count varies with strip width.
- Heat a conventional oven to 325°F. Arrange the scored sheets on parchment-lined rimmed stainless baking pans without overlap. Roast until the thickest sections reach 160°F while still moist, checking more than one section with a thin-tip food thermometer inserted sideways into the meat. Allow about 30 minutes for oven preheating and this stage as a planning estimate; remove the meat when the measured endpoint is reached, even if sooner. Heat any remaining refrigerated portions before they go into the dehydrator.
- Support the heated meat with a broad stainless spatula and transfer onto clean stainless dehydrator trays. Remove the shaping parchment for drying. If a sheet separates at a score line, arrange the pieces flat in a single uncrowded layer. Set an adjustable dehydrator to 155°F. Keep pieces from overlapping and leave space for airflow.
- Dry through, allowing an overnight-length run, approximately 12 hours for planning. Check during the run; thickness, tray area and machine affect time. Cool a test piece before judging texture. Thin ground-beef jerky can be crisp and crumbly, while a thicker piece has more bite. It must be dry throughout without a soft moist center. Ground meat does not have the long fibers of sliced-roast jerky.
- Blot any beads of rendered fat with clean paper towel and cool the finished batch. Separate along score lines, using kitchen scissors if helpful. Store covered in a clean glass container in the refrigerator at 40°F or below and use within 2 weeks, or freeze portions for longer storage. Pack with a cold pack when taking it out. Planning time assumes the whole batch fits in one drying load; smaller machines require successive loads and additional elapsed time.
Notes
Full GAPS after beef and chosen spices have been introduced. No dairy, egg or nut ingredients. Pepper and optional garlic and paprika are plant seasonings, so this is not a No-Plant version. This dry snack is not an early Intro boiled-meat preparation. Use fresh ground beef and pure single spices, not a commercial jerky packet.
The two-pound batch yields approximately 20 sticks depending on scoring. Keep 2 tablespoons mineral salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper, with optional 1 teaspoon EACH garlic powder and smoked paprika. No sweetener, soy sauce, coconut aminos or liquid smoke is added. The separate sliced-roast jerky has its own recipe.
Plan about 20 minutes mixing/shaping, a 30-minute allowance for oven preheating and heating the formed meat, and around 12 hours drying: approximately 12 hours 50 minutes, plus cooling. This is a planning estimate for a full-size dehydrator holding the entire batch in one load, with the actual endpoints deciding when it is done. Heat the moist formed beef to 160°F before drying at 155°F. Keep sheets no thicker than 1/4 inch. Actual measured heat and dry-through endpoints govern.
Smaller machines need successive loads. Keep unused raw portions refrigerated, heat each portion before drying, and allow another drying run for each load. The Ninja FD401 guide describes a two-level deluxe rack, a Dehydrate function from 80°F to 195°F and a timer up to twelve hours. A five-level stand is sold separately. Do not fold or stack meat to force the full amount onto a smaller rack.
At 2× use 4 pounds beef, 4 tablespoons mineral salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper and optional 2 teaspoons each garlic powder and smoked paprika, for approximately 40 sticks. Use more pan/tray space or successive loads, preserving the same thickness and endpoints. Do not double temperature or drying time automatically.
Cool, blot fat beads if present, and store covered in the refrigerator at 40°F or below. Use within 2 weeks, or freeze portions. Pack with a cold pack for outings. Keep this homemade batch cold when storing and carrying it.