I'll see if my parents still have some. Every other year or so, my dad builds a smoke house, buys a cow and a few turkeys and makes jerky. Everything from semi-soft to dry. Yes my parents are foreign and going to eat at their house is similar to the movie My Fat Greek Wedding. Deuce (IR2) can relate.
How to make Jerky...
Its actually pretty easy. First get your meat...I like beef and turkey. Get a plastic tub that you can close, fill it with water, dump a crap load of salt, mix well, and then place pieces of meat inside. Cure anywhere from 3-7 days, maybe even longer depends how fast the salt penetrates the meat. The salt is a necessary component to preserve the meat...after all...you are eating raw meat.
Then, make a wooden box about 8 feel tall, 4 feet wide. Make little side vents that you can open and close on each side, and a small door for you to get in and out of. After that add rods for you to hook your meat or simply nail a bunch of hooks on the roof of the box (on the inside). Hook the meat and make sure the side vents are closed completely. Then at the bottom of the box (forgot to mention, the bottom doesn't have a floor...the ground is the floor) place rocks in a cirlce with bunch of wood of your choice and set it on fire. Eventually you'll put the fire out, because your goal is smoke...lots of it. Once you get smoke, close the door and let it sit there for a day or two. The longer you leave it, the more smoked flavor it will get. After a day or two, open the side vents on both sides to create a draft and let wind with combination of salt dry the meat out. The salt is the drying agent here and the preserving agent. The salt actually dehydrates the meat. This process takes a week or more, depending how thick the pieces are. Often you can cut little chunks to test the meat. The longer you leave it the dryer it gets. Personally, I like my beef and turkey a bit soft, so you can slice it nicely and put it sandwiches. Then I also leave some pieces longer so they are drier in case you want jerky.
Then open up your own store to sell dried and cured meat and make a fortune as its very expensive. Just don't do this in the backyard of your upscale OC home, your neighboors might not like your red-neck behaviour. However, I notice that many are willing to let it go once you give them a sample. Often they will ask you to make more.
Anyway, excuse grammar and spelling...typing this kinda fast.
