Post by darcie on Apr 11, 2014 18:38:18 GMT -5
I just made the best batch of chicken jerky! I have tried making a few different kinds (with beef, etc.) but this is my favorite. It is very easy and you don't need a dehydrator!
I used one whole chicken breast - this fills 3 baking sheets. (If your oven only holds 2 racks, do half a breast).
- Put the chicken breast in the freezer for 1-2 hours, then slice it as thin as you can.
- Marinate overnight - I used about 1/2 C coconut aminos.
- Cover baking sheets in parchment paper and lay the jerky pieces out in a single layer. This part is a little time consuming. Make sure the pieces don't overlap.
- Turn on your oven at the lowest temperature. Mine does 170 degrees.* If you have convection, turn it on, because the fan will help with the dehydration. You can put a stopper between the oven and door to hold the door slightly open.
- After an hour or so, peel the jerky off the parchment paper and flip it over.
- After another 30 min. or so, start checking for doneness - the thinnest pieces will be dry and translucent, ready to come out.
- Keep checking periodically, and remove the finished pieces.
- Try not to eat all of it as it comes out of the oven!
I know some people don't refrigerate jerky, but I do, just in case. It will travel well when you need to take it on the road.
*Funny story, I didn't know my oven actually had a dehydrator feature - I leaned against it the other day and it beeped with a "Dehydrate?" indicator. Say what? Apparently I hold down the convection "Bake" button for 5 seconds... So now it goes as low as 140 degrees, but it worked fine with the regular oven too. :-)
