Tofu Jerky

I went veg and missed jerky, so I tried this out and it actually turned out really well.
(It really does taste better than it looks.)

Step 1 Ingredients

 Tofu
Vinegar, either malt or apple cider
Liquid smoke
Hot Sauce
Soy Sauce
Honey
Veg Oil
Garlic Salt
Salt and Pepper

Comments

[octollama]

What kind of tofu are you suing? is it just firm tofu?
because you can get firm, medium firm and soft.

[vlxwgn]

In the last picture it looks crispy, is it hard like crackers or somewhat soft/flexible?

[deathsmileyinc]

can a vegatarian eat honey? sometimes all the bees get killed for the honey, but most of the times they just take that "thing" out and poor the honey into pots i think, anyway, honey is the vomit of a bee :S

[bettbee]

Two different answers:

First, from someone I know and respect highly: Why Honey is Vegan: http://www.satyamag.com/sept05/greger.html

Second, a thoughtful piece from the opposite end of the spectrum, which I also find compelling: Why Honey is Not Vegan: http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm

[morganw]

Honey is not the vomit of a bee. honey is nectar that the bees expose to the air and condense it into what we know as honey. after that given that we don't take it from them they(the bees) store it as food. If it where vomit I really doubt that we would be eating it, that would be the equivalent of eating an owl pellet(owl vomit).

[deathsmileyinc]

they store it into a second stomach when they bring it to the hive

[Traibhse]

 Vegetarians can eat honey, vegans cannot.  Vegans cannot eat any animal products or bi-products.

[redheadeb]

If you don't eat honey for whatever reason you could most likely substitute agave nectar, maple syrup, or, heck, even a bit of sugar. 

This looks great, I'd bet even my jerky-loving son would like it!

[ghostrider2]

i doubt it.  nothing compares to the taste of a reel strip of beef jerkey.  unless you count moose meat jerkey.

[muberblob]

i like deer jerky too

[jdwaynes1980]

Usually, vegetarians don't eat meat because of health issues. Vegans are the die hards who do not eat a hamburger because a cow doesn't get to sleep in a king size bed with a down comforter.

So yes, this should be vegetarian friendly.

[bettbee]

Hi, Juggsy,

Well it's usually less about the lack of king sized beds and more about how they are kept in horrible dirty feedlots where they often suffer infections and illness from overuse of antibiotics, and the way they are killed, often being dismembered while still alive and conscious . . . same for chickens and pigs and other animals that are "farmed" . . . also the impact of concentrated animal feedlot operations upon the environment (to name just a few possible reasons.) But hardly ever about beds or comforters.

[deathsmileyinc]

thats not true, im vegatarian myself, a lot of my friend are vegatarian and i know 2 vegans, all of these people just love animals, i would like to be a vegan but my parents wont let me :P

[someniceguyon]

... Your parents have a say wether you turn vegan or not? That's nice of you and all but that can't be the only reason bacause being a vegan is YOUR choice... Btw, I eat meat and love it. lol 8D....

[deathsmileyinc]

lol i know, but they wont cook vegan for me, its hard enough to cook vegatarian every day. i dont think milk and eggs are inportent enough to cook my own meal every day when my mom can do it for me, of course i will be a vegan when i leave the home

[bettbee]

Hi deathsmileyinc,

You absolutely can learn to cook for yourself! Or at least to help and thus influence meal choice. Remember that even just reducing the amount of animal products you eat is a big help. I bet you could impress your parents by learning about nutrition. You can get this book from the library - if your local one doesn't have it ask for an interlibrary loan:
Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina

And I'll also bet that you can talk them into making at least some meals entirely animal-free if you present them with great recipes you can help make. There are some great vegan cookbooks for kids, and here are some websites with information and recipes:

www.101cookbooks.com/vegan_recipes
http://theppk.com/recipes/ (See: This month's features)
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com (not the same as fatfree.com)
www.fatfree.com/cgi-bin/recipes.cgi?vegan
http://seitanismymotor.com/
http://veganyumyum.com/
http://vegandad.blogspot.com/

[deathsmileyinc]

ive tried to talk with my family but my father, sister and mom wont give up meat :( ive convinced my little brother and some friends :) when i cook (one a week) it will be vegan, and i eat vegan moist of the times, but im not going to make a big deal out of eggs and milk cause its hard to replace them.

most of the times i eat vegan. most of the times i eat pizza ones a week, (with cheese) i think i will change that :P

[edsobo]

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to chime in with a couple additional suggestions.

The book Skinny Bitch is pretty awesome and is about 90% responsible for my wife and I going vegan to begin with. Plenty of good information and recipes in there.

The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook has a lot of good ideas for replacing cheese in your home cooked meals. There's a dilled havarti recipe in there that we use as a replacement for the Boar's Head dilled havarti that goes into our veggie pot pie recipe. Goes great in the pies or on a cracker.

And on the topic of pizza, believe it or not, there are several really tasty vegan cheeses out there - Daiya, Follow Your Heart and Teese, to name a few. Check your local health food store or co-op or, if all else fails, veganstore.com for some. (Beware that buying perishables from veganstore.com will cost extra in shipping and the mandatory cold packs that they add to the order.)

Good luck!

[bettbee]

edsobo,

Thanks! I love The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook, and Daiya is just incredible.

Now for folks who aren't already vegan, these things don't taste exactly like cheese. But for those who choose not to participate either in the damage to the body that these foods cause, or the damage to the Earth that they also cause, and so aren't having cheese or meat anyway, some of the replacement products make being vegetarian or vegan a whole lot nicer.

Another great product is Gardein. It could be better but it could be a whole lot worse. The previous generation of vegan meat analogues had better take notice, because it's now a lot easier to feed non-vegans with vegan foods.

Also good timing on your note, because HealthyPlanet Long Island is about to have our 17th TurkeyFree Thanksgiving Dinner this Sunday: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166733346679149 or http://www.healthy-planet.org/Series/index.asp

[codongolev]

some do.... my english teacher is a vegan and he eats it. and it's not the same vomit you'd think of, they just carry it in a second stomach.

[veggielife4me]

I know u said it tasts great, but does it actually tast like beef jerky?

[avengingwatcher]

I've found that wheat gluten produces a much better texture than tofu. Post Punk Kitchen has a decent starter recipe, some tips if you go the gluten route. Use a food dehydrator, it produces much better results, cut the slices thick enough so that they are chewy not crunchy. Also I recommend marinating in two stages with a barbecue sauce. I personally like Sweet Baby Rays Honey Barbecue, but they have vegan alternative and I have written the company who assures me that if it looks vegetarian it is. If anyone's interested I can dig up a recipe and maybe throw up a ible.

[roystonlodge]

I agree. I like to make veggie "ribs" out of wheat gluten from time to time.

Sadly, however, there are more than a few people out there who are allergic to gluten.

[hippyland2]

turn out botched for me didn't compare in the least to normal BEEF jerky.
its not fibery like BEEF jerky. ok idea though . one question though, why would you ever want to become a vegitarian? why would you want to give up meat, and as we ll know pork is the meat of kings.

[roystonlodge]

I'm not a vegetarian, but I love soy-based meat alternatives for one simple reason - camping trips. It is WAY easier to haul textured vegetable protein, dried soybeans, and/or wheat gluten (along with the requisite spices, flavourings, etc) through the bush than it is to haul meat.

[Una]

Why would you want to eat road kill? Not much diff between the stuff you buy in the store and the animals on the side of the road. At that. What business is it of yours anyway? Eat meat if you want to. Just don't come down on other people for their choices. If this is an honest inquiry into a person's c hoices, because you desire to learn something, then learn to ask in a more respectful manner.

[roystonlodge]

If it was freshly-killed and well-prepared, I'd eat roadkill.

[ghostrider2]

thank you.  i was about to ask the same question.  for me, nothing compares to the taste of a nice fat juicy steak.

[zombiehunter96]

Agreed. I couldn't live without my steak. Yesterday I went with some friends to the Texas Longhorn, ordered a big, fat, n juicy 24 ounce steak :P It was awsome. I want another one...now im sad D:             XD

[avengingwatcher]

Well aside from being unfunny and unoriginal, apparently all of you must love cattle that are pumped full of growth hormones things that cause the taint to shrink. Oh and I am sure you're such big guys you love higher taxes to pay for meat subsidy...yummm...most likely you guys are just complete asstards who are too afraid of looking weak in front of other men that you'd do whatever you were told to because you are complete cowards and have no minds of your own...kind of like posting the same thing 3 times... oh and hippyland probably made it wrong.

[PaulMakesThings]

This kind of trolling is common anywhere there is talk of vegetarian stuff for some reason. It's the same with any talk of religion, or lack of it, or political views, or sexuality or anything. People who aren't secure in who they are reassure themselves by attacking those who disagree with them.

[destructopop]

I'm just a little confused about it myself. If these people all love steak so much, why don't they read an Instructable about cooking steak?
So few websites I'm on have members who bother insulting vegetarians anymore, and I haven't been harassed in real life in years (mind you, I also don't harass others about their dietary choices) or on any websites... Especially not one with a "Be nice" policy. I find it really, really confusing, kind of insulting, and very distressing.

[Mr. Potato Head]

Some things just can't be ported to the meatless world - this surely looks to be one of them. Ditto for Vegan tofu shoes.

[Blackie Ray]

I think it looks brilliant, and no doubt tastes great. Tofu jerky is great.

[godfish]

Stupid political eating views aside! I eat what I want, I'm a free man! not some person that is told what to eat. I have this in the oven right now and can't wait to try it. I avoid meat, because it's murder, and murder is stupid. I don't fill my belly and body with anger and stupidity... Thanks for posting this and giving us a way to be kind and compassionate.

[tubanator-2.0]

mmmm this looks good...i will probably try these sometime this week.

[mmmmna]

Could the author please insert COMMAS where ingredients end? I have a hard time reading long, run-on style lists.

[topmack]

Did I miss the 'how much per ingredient' section? Looks good

[phatman]

When finished does it have to be refrigerated or is like meat jerky which can be stored at room temperature?

[otherscott]

 For me it usually doesn't get a chance. If I could keep it around longer than an hour I would just keep it in the fridge to err on the side of caution, but if you're going for a day hike or something outdoorsy like that you should be OK.