Chewy Bacon Jerky

Dan's Chewy Bacon Jerky:

For the Bacon Lover in all of us!

Ingredients:

1 cup trimmed and sliced fresh beef (either from a roast, or steak)
1/2 package of Bacon (From the everyday size packages)
A screen to filter the bacon fat.

This is easily one of the simplest recipes for jerky you will ever come across, but won't disappoint you with its results!

To begin, pan fry the bacon on low-medium heat until the bacon is fully cooked. Its easier to work with if you slightly overcook the bacon, but if you cook it to the normal amount it will be better when you are done. Place the cooked bacon onto a plate with paper towel to absorb the extra bacon fat.

Trim your meat. I would recommend for this recipe to trim all of the fat out of the meat for best results. Once we have added the bacon we will be adding plenty back in anyways.

In your frying pan, let the fat begin to cool off, but not to the point where the fat is going hard. If the fat turns white, turn the heat back on just lightly to keep it in a liquid state.

Place your trimmed meat into a bowl and pour the bacon fat through the filter over the meat. Use a wooden spoon to mix the fat into the meat, and drain any excess. The goal is to lightly coat your meat, without leaving it in a puddle of fat. We are aiming to get the flavor, not the fat itself.

Dice the bacon itself, and add this to the bowl when done. You can add bacon to taste, so don't be afraid if you snack on the piece while your cooking (I know all the real bacon lover's out there will be relieved to hear this :)).

Place the meat flat into your dehydrator, and cook for 4-5 hours based on the thickness of the jerky. Be sure to flip your jerky at least once during the cooking process, but it doesn't actually hurt to flip it several times during the process. This will also allow you to remove pieces as they cook.

Enjoy~!