A super simple beef jerky recipe anyone can make at home with their oven. No need for a food dehydrator or fancy equipment, just a couple of oven racks and away you go!

Ingredients

• 350g Lean Beef
• 1 tbsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme
• 40ml Soy Sauce

Steps

1. Trim the beef of excess fat and sinew. Cut the beef to your desired width (I prefer 3-5mm) and your desired way (with or against the grain). Personally I prefer mine to be cut against the grain that way its easier to eat.
2. Mix the beef thoroughly with the soy sauce, pepper and thyme and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Mix the beef again and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 80°C. Strain beef and squeeze out excess soy sauce (stops it from being too salty). Lay beef out on racks ensuring it does not overlap and sprinkle a bit of extra fresh thyme and pepper over the top for more flavor if desired.
4. Dry out in the oven for about 3-5 hours depending on thickness and desired dryness. Personally I like mine thin and dry so I go for about 4-5 hours. I would check it at about 2-3 hours just to see how its going.
5. Once you take it out of the oven it will continue to dry so take that into account. Once its cooled down on the bench (don't cover during this) its ready to store in the fridge!

Notes for Thyme Beef Jerky

• The thyme can be replaced with something like rosemary for a different but still super easy to make flavor.

Shared notes for Jerky recipes

• Very important to get a lean cut of beef otherwise you'll get gross chewy bits. Marbled with fat is OK but it will render out effectively reducing the weight even further during the process.
• If you cut it super thin you can create something like beef chips which is my favourite way to prep this. Super thin and super dry.
• As long as the moisture content is quite low and you get the jerky up to a food safe temp before continuing the drying it should stay fine in an air tight container for a few weeks. Moisture absorbers will help ensure this. However do take caution and research more thoroughly if you don't intend on eating within a week like I do.
• If your oven doesn't really vent you can prop the oven door open slightly with a wooden spoon if possible to allow moisture to escape, aiding the drying process. If doing so, you may want to ensure you get the jerky to a food safe temp first. Propping it open may take longer.
• When setting up your over I add 1 tray at the bottom wrapped in foil to catch any drips otherwise it's gonna be a mess.
• Slightly freezing the beef can make it easier to cut consistently.
• While I recommend squeezing out the marinade mixtures,

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