I've been trying to cut down on carbs and lose some weight so a couple weeks ago I picked up some beef jerky in the local market - I've always liked it but was never an "advocate" so to speak. I thought that the cost was a little ridiculous (5.95 for 3.25 oz = 1.83/oz of Jack Links brand). After going through a couple of packs I decided to reduce the cost and buy "bulk" through Amazon - same jerky - about $25 for 20 oz = $1.25/oz.

Then I thought I'd try making it myself and really get the cost down, so Saturday I bought 2.75 lb of flank steak - not on sale - so $4.99/lb - sliced it up and marinated it overnight, then dried it in our oven @ 150 deg for 6 hours. Worked out well although the recipe I got over the net was not that great - good, but not great. Just for fun I weighed the jerkey that I dried - was almost exactly 16 oz - so it lost almost 2/3 of the weight by dehydrating. My cost (not counting marinade & oven) was about 86 cents/oz - pretty nice savings - plus I like the idea of making my own since I know exactly what's in it - if I can get some beef on sale (sometimes it's 3.49/lb or even less) it would be a better deal.

I also noticed that Walmart sells their own brand at a pretty nice price - opinions?

Anyone into jerky - tips or recipes?

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Lou