Ground Meat Beef Jerky (garlic free)

So, since getting my food dehydrator...yeah I've gone a bit nuts with it *laugh*.  Anyone remember the show "Friends"?  Remember the episode where Chandler got a new roommate that was obsessed with dehydrating everything in the food dehydrator?  Yeah, I didn't think so *laugh*.  I'm not QUITE that bad, but my husband has been reaping the rewards of me experimenting with beef jerky for sure.  He's actually spreading it around for others to try and has been getting rave feedback, so I SUPPOSE it's not bad ;).

I kept making the beef jerky with like thin cut beef roasts and such and while it was tasty it was KILLING my teeth.  And then, one fine day, I was looking through my copy of Eat Like a Dinosaur and they did the coolest thing with one of their beef jerky recipes (and by the way if you are looking for cool ideas buy that book!  It's awesome and I'm not even THINKING of us going paleo :).  They made it with GROUND meat!  And that got me thinking to the beef jerky you'd buy at the store and how a lot of it IS made with ground meat, and voila!  An idea was born.

SO, I came up with this recipe.  It's super tasty, super tender (since it's ground beef) and you could make this with ground turkey, bison, buffalo, moose...whatever you have on hand.  It's a strong enough flavor I think it'd hold up quite well to different types of meat.

I'd also like to thank Paleo Parents for coming up with the tomato paste idea.  I tried this recipe with and without the tomato paste and BOY does the tomato paste add a depth of flavor to it :).

So, here you are folks.  Garlic free beef jerky you can make at home.

Ground "Meat" Jerky (garlic, refined sugar free)
    

• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. extra lean ground beef or other ground meat
• 1  Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp gluten free soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 3/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbs tomato paste ( Amore tomato paste, it's the tomato paste in the tube...is garlic free)
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. chile powder (ground and dried chiles)
• 1/4 tsp. mustard powder
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs olive oil (or other oil of choice)

1.  Mix all ingredients together in a good sized mixing bowl. Use your hands to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the meat.

2.  Refrigerate the mixture for at least a couple of hours (you can refrigerate for as long as 24, but I wouldn't go over that). Shape the meat into strips or patties and dry according to your dehydrator's directions.  Once dry let meat sit for another couple of hours in an open container to continue drying (I just turn off my dehydrator and leave the meat sit for four or so more hours) before storing.

3.  Store in fridge or freezer for optimal freshness.

My dehydrator states that you can get about 1 month shelf life, unrefrigerated (due to lack of preservatives in the meat), out of beef jerky, but I Food Saver mine as that easily quadruples the shelf life of the beef jerky (not that it ever lasts that long).

I took pictures of the beef jerky Food Savered because...well honestly it tastes GREAT, but it looks well...like icky things when you take pictures of it *laugh*.

Enjoy all!