22 Jan 2009 Thursday

Well, I’m getting geared up for the Relay For Life Season by getting back in the Jerky Business. 

Last year I raised nearly $200 by making and selling homemade beef jerky to the guys and gals at work and church and, pretty much anywhere someone wanted some. This year I will be scaling back my operations to save some money, so I won’t be making so many types of jerky. Last year I was making 7-8 different recipes and I kept losing the notes on what kind of ingredients, and in what ratios for each recipe, so I’m backing it down to three basic recipes.

Those three will be Mesquite Smoked, Szechuan Spicy, and Hot and Spicy. I can easily modify the Hot and Spicy to a REALLY hot recipe with one simple step, so I have in essence four recipes to work with.

The Smoked is just that, a simple cure with Mesquite liquid smoke added for flavor. The Szechuan Spicy is really more of a Bar-B-Que flavor with an Asian kick to it. And the Hot and Spicy is just that. Fine ground Cayenne and fine ground Black pepper added to the cure mix along with the liquid smoke. To make it REALLY hot, this is what I do; once I’ve laid out the seasoned meat on the Dehydrator racks I take the leftover cure with all the spices in it and slowly pour it over the meat on the racks. This way the cure mix with all the spices pool on top of the meat. When the meat is done, there is a TON of spice left on the meat making it REALLY hot!

From my experience last year these were the most popular, so I figured to keep my costs down and stick with what the people wanted.

I sell the jerky for $10 a pound, that’s pre-cooked weight, mainly to cover the cost of the meat. I use London Broil roasts and it’s all hand cut. The meat costs close to $4-5 a pound and add my time and the spices, I usually profit about $4 per pound of jerky.

I keep track of the expenses and track the money from sales and roll the profit back into the jerky until I can start saving it for Relay. I expect I’ll sell 50-70 pounds this year to make about $200 for Relay. Maybe by keeping my recipes simple this year my profit margin will get better and I can save more for Relay.

Well that’s it. Gotta jump in the shower and hit the road to get some stuff done before I head into work today. The weather is supposed to turn warm today and I can’t wait. Tomorrow is supposed to be close to 60° so I just might get the motorcycle out. Man I am seriously “jonesing” for a motorcycle fix!!

I’m Alive… So Far…