THE SECRET TO THIS JERKY is to slice the meat very thinly and trim the fat. Here’s a chef tip for you: Always put a damp tea towel under your cutting board to keep it from sliding. That’s particularly important for jerky: The thinner the meat, the better it’ll dry, and the longer it’ll keep. Cut carefully with a very, very sharp knife to get paper-thin slices. You can flavor jerky many ways, but I think of this as my “meat and potatoes” recipe.
MAKES ABOUT
1 POUND / 500 GRAMS DRIED JERKY
3 pounds / 1.5 kilos top round London broil
Olive oil, for marinating
White vinegar, for marinating
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Cut the meat into thin strips, then lay the strips in a large, flat, shallow bowl with a lid, or into a flat glass casserole dish that you can tightly cover with foil or plastic wrap. Drizzle on enough olive oil to moisten each strip of meat, and toss. Next, pour in enough white vinegar to cover all the pieces of meat.
Cover the bowl or casserole tightly, and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
After the meat has marinated, combine the salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a large bowl. Using your hands, lift each strip of meat out of the marinade individually, and hold it over the marinade bowl, allowing the excess oil and vinegar mixture to run off, about 5 seconds per strip. Dredge the meat strips in the dry spice mixture. Rub the spice mixture into each meat strip, then let them rest in the spice mixture bowl, covering the bowl loosely with foil. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 180°F / 80°C, and take out 1 of the racks.
The next day, working in batches of strips that will fit in a single layer on your oven rack, remove the strips from the dry spice mixture, and lay them directly on the oven rack so that air can circulate around them. Place a foil-lined baking sheet under the meat to catch the drippings. Return the remaining meat to the refrigerator until you have space on the oven rack.
Bake each batch for up to 6 hours, checking for doneness at regular intervals. When the meat is fully dry, remove the rack and allow the meat to cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. The jerky should last up to 6 months in the refrigerator and a year in the freezer.