Description
Easy to make. Packed with protein. Bacon makes it better. You may even have ground turkey on-hand.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground turkey (85% lean)
- 1 strip center-cut bacon, all white fat removed, minced very finely (about 1 tablespoon minced)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper – about 10 grinds with the pepper mill
Instructions
- Cover 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. (For the trick to keep parchment paper from rolling up on you see this #HealthyKitchenHack)
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl; place into a gallon-sized zip-top plastic bag. With scissors, snip one bottom corner of the bag about 3/8-inch from the tip. Twist top of bag and pipe 5-inch strips of jerky meat onto prepared parchment paper. Fit about 9 strips on a sheet. If you have a rimmed baking sheet, just slide the parchment paper onto the counter and cover with another sheet of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin (or empty wine bottle,) carefully and evenly flatten the jerky to about 1/8-inch thick. Slide parchment paper back on baking sheet. (If you don’t have rimmed baking sheets, there’s no need to remove the parchment paper from baking sheet.)
- Preheat your oven to 160-degrees if you have a regular oven. Preheat to 195-degrees on a convection setting (so the oven automatically sets for 170-degrees). A convection oven is preferable for this recipe.
- Roast jerky for 2 hours; remove from oven and turn jerky pieces over. Replace baking sheets in different locations in oven (to allow for even roasting.) Check jerky after 30 minutes; it should be no longer pink – but pliable. It should only have a small amount of moisture/fat remaining on surface and should be nearly completely dry.
- Remove from oven and dry remaining moisture by pressing between paper towels and then placing on cooling rack to dry for 1 hour further (only if you have heat or air conditioner on – or live in a dry climate – a humid climate will only add moisture to jerky.)
- Store in refrigerator for 2 weeks – or longer in the freezer.