il post up a proper one in a few days just been a bit tied up. heres a write up in brief for those that are wanting to make some asap.
btw in the mean time mate you can just google or youtube it there are shetloads of nice ones but in jist:
- topside/silver etc (any decent very low fat roasting joint) beef (2kg on offer at tesco is £12 approx) dont buy cheap cheap meat. some people even use steak. i like tesco finest or a good reasonable butchers
- bbq sauce (hole jar)
- light soy sauce ( 2/3 coffee mug full - maybe more)
- pepper (tblspn)
- worcester sauce (non essential - from original recipes but i dont use it) 2 x tblspns
- pick a shake or a spice or powder from below - adds to the texture - 2 heaped tblspns. again not essential.
- a bowl and a BIG sharp knife.
- hickory smoke (it does make it taste better if you can find - big tescos have it) to be sprayed over the meat when its layed out in oven.
there are plenty of recipes all over the net, you can even buy dehydrators, make it will mince meat etc etc, play around, but you will find soy sauce is the key incgredient here.
those are the essential ingredients then i play around with - tobasco/nandos per peri, paprika, peri peri spices, teriyaki sauce, cajun, honey, bbq sprinkle/shake, couple tblspn or dark soy/mushroom soy (dont go heavy on this stuff!!) etc etc and blend to taste. nothing with oil or fat though in it. it will come out greasy and not good. thats why its important you also trim the fat off properly at the beginning. it is raw meat but i taste it as i marinate and add as i go.
the beef needs to be thawed or in thawing stage, so either freeze fullly then partially defrost or freeze and pull out when its got a bit of firm ness to it - this is essential for easy cutting and you wont need to marinate over night (something about the thawing which soaks up the juices better). you can do it without but you'll needto marinade for a few hours and your hand will hurt like hell trying to cut it!
so when you meat (lets work with 2kg) is ready - trim off any excess fat/skin.
now cut into half cm strips approx (APPROX) 4inch by 1 inch strips again this is just a guide. thats the optimal shape ive found you can cut an inch thisck and you'll get a more chewier piece but it'll take a long long time in the oven. cut any length or size you want i just find that a good serving size.
MAKE SURE - you cut across the grain of the meat - DO NOT cut along the gran, if you dont know what this is just do a quick google, easier than explaining without photos. this is soooo important guys. it will be so tough and chewy, you'll end up spitting half of it out - i just give it to the cat/dog.
put all your meat in a bowl, it should still be cold and a tiny bit thawing - this will help with the marinading. now add all your ingredients. mix up well. for some reason when the meat is thawing it sucks in all the juices and helps with marinading so it only needs to sit if at all!) for 30 mins sometimes i dont bother. just make sure you have enough marinade - i.e. the meat should be covered but not drowning in sauce - just add some more bbq and soy sauce.
place on racking in oven - best to put some silver foil at the bottom of the oven to catch juices. i usually get 4 racks on my oven - il have full photos up for you to see. spray the hickory smoke ll over the meat.
Electric fan ovens are ideal but gas can work too. the main idea is to NOT cook but DRY the meat. i normally prepare arounf 9pm and leave over night untl 9/10am the next morning.
DONT preheat your ovens at a higher setting. you will cook the meat.
electric oven - fan on - gas mark 50 F
gas oven - as low as possible - leave top shelf of gas ovens empty.
DONT close the door fully. jar the door with a spoon etc so that it is approx 1/2 cm open.
leave over night.
some pieces will dry quicker than others - so you may find you need to rotate the racks after they have been left over night.
The meat is basically done when it is not snappable, but is bendable to the point it almost cracks but still has some play/bounce to it, not so soft its rubbery. The whole point is that you have dried out the meat and not cooked it. i'd maybe start with 500g or 1 kg of beef first in case you get it wrong...... ive ruined 4 kgs of organic meat before and it wasnt nice!
leave to stand on the counter for an hour or so. they will go more dry at this point, thats fine then zip lock in bags and they will soften again.
it i a bit of trial and error, but really easy if you follow my tips which ive had to learn from mistakes over the years.
good luck - il post a proper one soon with step by step phots.
any questions fire away
<message edited by patternsco on 14 February 2012 11:05>