The wife likes to use either round roast or brisket.

We've got some delicious Macau style pork/beef jerky here.

Nice, I've been doing quite a bit lately. Do yourself a favor and don't spend money on good cuts of meat. Just use whatever is cheapest and leanest you can get. I just put Montreal seasoning on it and call it christmas. Good stuff.

Thanks for the reminder! I haven't used my dehydrator in a year and still have most of a cow in my freezer. Will make some jerky and biltong this week.

Depends on what you're willing to spend. Iirc, London Broil is supposed to be a good lean cut which is affordable. I believe top and bottom rounds are more expensive but considered better cuts.

Full disclosure, I don't remember clearly on these details. But they should point you in the right direction.

We have a killer recipe - tamari, liquid smoke, garlic, onion, worcestershire. I will typically halve it and add reaper sauce to it for mine or I will flake reapers for after.

But since you say you prefer plain, I'd start there to learn the process - build as you go.

Edit: for the above soak - we let the soak go for about 2 days. Cuts vary, but I will typical seek out eye of round because it's lean - the more fat the easier it is to go rancid.

I haven't made jerky in years, but I seem to recall having good results with the cut that becomes London Broil which is usually flank steak or top round roast. It's lean enough to use directly without doing a lot of fat trimming and it slices well either with or across the grain depending on whether you want strong jerky or softer jerky. I usually go for the strong cut with the grain since I want my beef jerky to have some real chew to it.

Hmm, I'll have to go get my dehydrator back from my brother and look for my old recipes. Homemade always beats anything mass produced and thrown into a plastic bag. I hear you on the plain version, but it doesn't hurt to add a little salt and pepper in there. Beef always gets better with both.