Section A -- MEAT:

1. Buff (Buffalo meat), (or Beef)
2. 1 Kgs (2.5 Lbs.)
3. ‘Whole-Muscle’ (NOT Minced) meat
4. Super-Lean (as little fat as possible)
5. Rump or Tenderloin best
6. Preferably avoid using ‘Organ Meats’ (liver, kidney, heart, lungs, pancreas, etc.)
7. Use ONLY conventional Meat -- EXCLUDE fat, silver skin, tendons, sinews, veins, bone, offal, beak, hooves, horn, hair / fur, teeth.

Section B -- CUTTING / SIZING:

1. The Meat should be chilled (30 to 60 minutes) -- to firmness -- for easy cutting.
2. The Meat Strips must then be cut -- AGAINST THE GRAIN (since most Indians prefer soft, less chewy meat, preferring a "melts in your mouth" mouthfeel!) ... 

   Research: Cutting Meat Against the Grain

3. ... into strips (dimensions like bacon strips): IDEAL size for the meat strips –

   THICKNESS	:	3 mm (0.25 inches), or slightly less
   LENGTH	:	about 6 inches
   WIDTH	:	about 1 inches

   In Calcutta / Kolkata, India, your (regular, friendly, cooperative) butcher / meat-vendor can easily be requested to do all the meat-cutting and sizing in advance -- perhaps for free -- before delivering the meat to you.
4. Note that it is really important that every slice or strip of meat is the same THICKNESS.  If this is not so, the strips will dehydrate at different rates, and your Jerky will be inconsistent -- some pieces will be too dry and brittle, while others will be too chewy and moist. Trust me, you will want to avoid this mess.  One way to slice the meat evenly is to use a professional Meat Slicing Kit -- like this one from Jerky.com. 

Section C -- MEAT PREP:

1. Meat must be Cleaned first by washing, very thoroughly -- by hand -- in water, at room temperature.
2. Then, meat must be Cleaned again – by BLANCHING -- to prevent microbial activity.  For this,

   	a	)	Drop meat in boiling (lightly salted) water for 5 minutes (to cease all potential microbial activity).
   	b	)	Using tongs, take meat strips out fast (to prevent cooking) …
   	c	)	… and immediately drop in ice water, keeping it there for another 5 minutes.
   	d	)	Then take out, again using tongs.

3. Next, the meat must be patted down with a towel or Paper Towels to minimize moistness. 
4. Set aside for ambient drying, in a colander or perforated-bottom surface, for 30 to 60 minutes.

Section D -- MARINADE INGREDIENTS:

The marinade ingredient proportions given below (for 1 kg of Meat) are very tentative only!  These proportions, and in some cases the ingredients themselves -- need to be experimented with and tested to reach the desired taste.

One thing to keep in mind is that after dehydration, you expect to lose about two-thirds of the weight of the meat you started with, to get the Jerky you are making.  In other words, all the Spices, Condiments and Flavorings you will be putting in, including the Salt, will be flavoring only one-third as much meat as you are putting in.  So, all the flavors and tastes will intensify, becoming 3 times as strong.  So, apply much less of these spices and condiments as you would in normal cooking!

Having said that, also keep in mind that Jerky is an American tradition (and to a lesser extent, a part of the ancestral heritage of Canadians, Russians and Northern Europeans, even Aussies and Boer Afrikaaners (see Biltong), all of which groups tend to be traditionally habituated to eating relatively bland, less spicy, more meaty / meat-flavored foods).  Most jerky recipes are written by Americans, for Americans, catering to the 'Typical American' palate, which is used to much blander foods, less spices, more subtle tastes.  Indians, au contraire, are 'spice fiends' -- used to, and expecting much more strong tastes and complex flavors, even in their everyday diet! 

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Variations of these ingredients, and/or their proportions -- may also be used to create other Jerky Flavors. 

Do not let the above long ingredient list discourage you. Americans make delicious jerky with very few ingredients.  Click below to review a few other sample marinade / flavor varieties --

• JerkyHolic - Jerky Recipes
• The Jerky Chef - Jerky Recipes

Section E -- MARINADE PREP:

1. In a suitable container, the Marinade ingredients will have to be mixed thoroughly together to make the liquid Marinade for marinating the Jerky. Using electric Blenders / Mixers is recommended.  

Section F -- PREPPING MEAT FOR DEHYDRATION:

1. 1 kg of the meat strips – Ambient-dried after Blanching -- should then be put into a large Zip-lock Bag.
2. Enough of the liquid marinade mix should then be poured into the Zip-lock bag -- just enough to completely drown / cover the meat strips. 
3. The bag should then be squeezed to let as much as possible of the air out, and then be air-locked / zip-locked.
4. The bag should then be refrigerated for up to 48 hours. 
5. During this 'refrigerated marination' period, the bag should be squeezed (gently) and turned several times, as needed, to ensure the maximum and even marination of the meat. 
6. By the end of the refrigerated marination period, much of the marinade will be absorbed or soaked up into the meat strips. 
7. After this refrigerated marination period is over, the meat strips should be taken out of the Zip-lock bag. 
8. As much as possible of the marinade must then be manually removed from the meat strips, by hand, and the excess marinade liquid set aside.
9. The remaining, and/or recovered, marinade(s) can then be stored away (in the freezer) for the next batch of jerky to be made. 
10. On a tray covered with a dry cloth towel or paper towels, the meat strips should be laid out arranged in a single layer, with no overlapping. 
11. The meat strips should thereupon be patted down with another towel or paper towels (from above), to dry off as much of the surface moisture as practicable. 

Section G -- COMMERCIAL ELECTRIC DEHYDRATOR PROCESS:

1. Next, the meat strips should be loaded onto the (perforated) dehydrator trays and kept ready to start the drying process. 
2. The trays should then be loaded unto the dehydrator.
3. The Dehydrator should be set to dehydrate each batch for 4 hours, initially. 
4. The optimal temperature at which to set the Dehydrator (for buff / beef) is 68°C (155°F).
5. The Dehydrator should be started with these above settings.
6. At the end of the initially set drying period, the Jerky should be tasted for doneness.  Ideally, when bent, the Jerky strip should crack, but not break.
7. If not quite done yet, dehydrate for another 1, or 2, hour(s) more, and repeating the doneness test each time. 
8. When the Jerky is ready, the Jerky trays should be taken out of the Dehydrator.

The Jerky can now be eaten, as-is, at this stage. But for commercial production, the next steps should also be followed, for a more hygienic and professional-grade product -- for sale to paying customers.

Section H -- COMMERCIAL ELECTRIC SMOKER PROCESS (OPTIONAL):

This Step should be followed if ‘Liquid Smoke’ was NOT used (as a Marinade ingredient), but a Smoky Flavor is still desired.

1. The jerky should now be placed on the Smoker trays (or hung by hooks) in the Electric Smoker and smoked using the desired type of wood and/or charcoal to achieve the desired smoky flavor.  This can take 30 to 60 minutes. 
2. Then the Jerky should be taken out of the Electric Smoker. 

Section I -- COMMERCIAL ELECTRIC OVEN PROCESS (OPTIONAL):

This Step is to sterilize any residual microbial life remaining in the meat, and to give the Jerky a nice surface finish. 

1. For this Step, the jerky should be placed on trays in an oven which has been pre-heated to 73°C (163°F) (for buff / beef;  although for Chicken, this needs to be 1 to 1.5°C higher).
2. The Jerky should bake in the oven, ideally in the Convection setting, for 10 minutes. 
3. After this, the jerky should be taken out of the Oven, and set aside to cool down for an hour or so. 
4. Now, the Jerky is ready to eat.