Peppery Beef Jerky (Edit recipe)

I absolutely love making my own Whole30 beef jerky. After always being so intimidated by the thought of dehydrating something, I took the leap and began experimenting. I think what really motivated me to make my own jerky was the fact that I was in complete control of the ingredients, the cut of beef and most importantly, the amount of money I would save. You do not need to own a food dehydrator to make beef jerky. The first thing people usually say when I tell them I make my own beef jerky is, “Well, I don’t have a food dehydrator so I can’t make that.” Wrong – You can. Your oven can dehydrate food by setting the cooking temperature to around 200° F. This method works seamlessly (and I’ve made plenty of beef jerky in the oven – so count on that!) My preferred method to cook beef jerky in the oven. I’ve tested several ways and this method, although it sounds odd, works great. You see, when I first began experimenting with this recipe, I placed the sliced meat onto a baking sheet with wire rack. Don’t get me wrong, this works, but it’s not the best method. I found that as the fat would render, it would pool onto the meat and when it would cool – so would the fat. (Not the most appetizing) So, I had to think of something that could prevent that from happening – and this is what happened.