Does anyone know how to make jerky I want to try and make some but have no clue how to.

We've made it in a food dehydrator. I started by reading the ingredients on a bag of store-bought beef jerky and thinking to myself, "I can do this". There are tons of recipes online.

I want to do it over a campfire with snake or frog meat

Look up biltong....here's a few links to get started....

https://memoryweaver.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/homemade-do-it-yourself-biltong-part-1-preparation/

http://www.instructables.com/id/BiltongNOT-jerky/


http://www.sa-austin.com/make-biltong-box.html

It can be made simpler with a 5 min viniger soak, rolled in coriandier, Salt*, and pepercorn...then hung to dry....

You dont need suger or some of the fancy ingredients.

(*SALT was not needed by us as we salt factory meat before the vineger...most of you will want it).

If anyone is interested in beef or deer jerky I use a food dehydrator and an old family recipe of ours that I would be happy to share. Usually I use it to make deer jerky but I've definitely used beef roasts in the past to make jerky.

8 Tbs Soy Sauce
8 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbs Ketchup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix these ingredients in a gallon ziploc bag and put in your sliced meat. I just eye ball everything but if I had to guess I use somewhere between a 1.5 to 2 lbs of meat per batch. Just make sure you've got enough marinade to cover all the meat. At minimum, marinate for 2 hours in the fridge, 1 hour per side. Dehydrate 8 to 10 hours.

Typically I end up leaving it in the fridge over night, will flip it in the morning, and then put it in the dehydrator when I get home from work or, if its too late, I will let it dehydrate overnight and it will be ready in the morning. It doesn't really hurt to marinate it over night. This makes more traditional jerky rather than the really soft store bought stuff. I actually have a batch going now and can take pictures if anyone desires.

I do mine about like the post above, except I add a little liquid smoke. To dry, I remove the bottom rack in my oven and put the top rack as high as it will go. Then I line the bottom of the oven with foil and get a bag of clothes pins and hang strips of meat/deer from the rack with the clothes pins. Then I get a box fan and set it on the open oven door and air dry over night. This is the best way I've found to dry a lot of jerky at one time. You can fit a lot of meat by hanging the meat, rather than laying it on a rack.

Where are you getting the fresh snake and/or frog meat, Matthew?

I make venison jerky every deer season using salt and blk pepper for seasoning. If your finished product taste salty you got it right. I like the taste of the meat rather than all the spices and perfumes that are often added to jerky recipes. That's just me though. You may like spices and perfumes and that's ok too.

Slice uniformly 1/8 to 1/4 inch thin and place on wire rack and smoke. I do this in winter with no heat. Some heat is ok but don't cook your meat. My jerky, depending on ambient humidity, is usually ready in 4-7 days. This is all done in a smokehouse. It can be jerked in the sun or over a cool fire.

You want to pull it when you can bend it and it dosen't snap.

does drying in the sun cook the meat?

I made beef jerky once and it came out just ok. I worked with a guy that did venison jerky with a dry rub and it was excellent. I may experiment soon if I get a chance between figs, hot peppers and setting up an aquaponics system.

I've made it many times. Beef, Deer, Moose. You can do in a dehydrator or in the oven on low temp however for best taste you can't beat a smoker. Electric smokers smoldering wood do just fine. Just make sure you rotate the meat occasionally for even drying.

Rule #1 - You can't rush it. Done right it's a slow process. It'll keep the meat tender.

Most of the jerky I've done have been recipes mainly of soy sauce, garlic powders, sesame oil, rice vinegar etc.... But this is a matter of taste. In theory you can use nothing more than salt. Again - time is a factor in the marinade. Don't rush it. Soak the meat slices at least overnight and turn it over occasionally to distribute the marinade. 

The best stuff I made could take from a day to a few days to complete. 

Storage (If you don't eat it all right away) is best done with a vacuum sealer. If you don't have a vacuum sealer they zip lock bags... But shame on you. Get a vacuum sealer. It's a great investment for your food. 

I have used mostly the "Little Chief" smoker but if I did it again I would get the big chief. http://www.smokehouseproducts.com. Good smokers for not a lot of $

Good luck