Staying at home, as ordered

As we're all stuck away from our fellow humans and activity, like every other, my household is spending this time cleaning, doing things around the house and trying some new things.

I love camping and I can't wait until we can do it again, so I wanted to try making a soup mix I've been thinking about. The base ingredients are 13-bean soup, brown rice and beef jerky

I made Alton Brown's beef jerky recipe , slightly modified for my own preferences on spice, and dried it in my oven. He's got instructions for making your own dehydrator with a box fan and furnace filters which I'd like to try but I used my oven. His recipe also uses liquid smoke.

Ingredients

• 3 lb London broil or other lean beef
• 10 oz. bottle low-sodium soy sauce (still has PLENTY salt)
• 10 oz. bottle Worchestireshire sauce
• 4T ground black pepper
• 3T red pepper flakes
• 2T dried onion
• 6 cloves crushed and minced garlic
• ⅓ C honey

Directions

1. Trim as much fat as you possibly can off the beef. Fat doesn't dry well and is more likely to mold so you'll want to remove as much as you can.
2. Slice the meat in strips as thin as you can, try for ¼", the thinner the faster and better it will dry.
3. Put all ingredients in a gallon bag that seals, like a ziploc, squeeze out all the air and lay flat in the refrigerator 20-40 hours to marinate well.
4. When marinating is complete, remove from fridge and preheat oven to 274℉/135℃.
5. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry.
6. You can dry it on baking racks over cookie sheet or string it by one end on pre-soaked bamboo skewers and hang those on oven racks over a cookie sheet to catch drips.
7. Cook 10 minutes, then lower temp to 160℉/71℃ or as close to that as your oven will go under 200℉/94℃.
8. Block the door at least a couple inches open with a wood spoon or something else so that air will circulate and moisture can escape.
9. Drying can take 5-7 hours, depending on the thickness of the meat.  When it appears completely dry but still malleable (you can bend it easily without breaking), remove from oven and set somewhere cool and dry to dry further in the air for another 24 hours.
10. Store in sealed container in cool, dry place three months or in your fridge for up to six. I stored mine in canning jars with some cheap rice in the bottom to soak up any moisture that might arise.

Next, dried mushrooms and prepping beans and rice.