Name: Carne oreada
Cook time: 10 min
Cuisine: Colombian
Ingredients: 600 g lean boneless beef top round or eye of round, fat and silverskin trimmed; 6 g fine salt; 2 g finely grated garlic (about 1 small clove); 1 g ground cumin (about ½ teaspoon); 0.5 g ground black pepper; 5 ml neutral oil, for lightly coating the final hot pan or grill (optional)

Thin smoked and dried beef strips, briefly seared and plated with yuca and a plain arepa.

Region Orinoquía; San Luis de Palenque, Casanare, Colombia

Category Dried and lightly smoked beef main or shareable plate

Yield 4 portions

Active time 30 minutes, including slicing and seasoning

Cooking time 10 minutes of monitored oven heating; 4–8 hours in dehydrator; 2 minutes to sear

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Carne oreada

Casanare-style beef strips dried with a gentle wood-smoke character

Carne oreada is documented in San Luis de Palenque, Casanare, as thin strips of beef hung near the place where sancocho is cooked so the rising smoke flavors them as they dry. That concise description preserves the defining idea: thin beef, air-drying and smoke from a nearby cooking fire. It does not specify a seasoning formula, drying time or measured temperature. This home version keeps the beef and restrained seasoning simple, then uses a thermometer and a food dehydrator instead of hanging raw meat in open air. Heating the strips to 71.1°C (160°F) before drying follows current home-jerky guidance. The controlled process is an adaptation for household safety; it does not reproduce an open-fire smokehouse or claim to be the only regional version. Use a lean, whole-muscle cut and slice it evenly across the grain. A short refrigerated salt-and-garlic rest seasons the surface without relying on an unmeasured cure. Once dry, the strips are briefly grilled or seared for a toasty finish. Serve them warm with plain yuca, arepa or another simple accompaniment if desired; those sides are suggestions, not part of the measured recipe. The finished texture should be dry and leathery, bending with small surface cracks rather than remaining wet in the middle. Drying time varies with thickness, airflow and the machine. The recipe is not a home canning method, and its strips should be chilled or frozen for storage.

Ingredients

Beef

600 g lean boneless beef top round or eye of round, fat and silverskin trimmed
6 g fine salt
2 g finely grated garlic (about 1 small clove)
1 g ground cumin (about ½ teaspoon)
0.5 g ground black pepper

For finishing

5 ml neutral oil, for lightly coating the final hot pan or grill (optional)

Method

Slice and season Chill the beef until firm, then cut across the grain into strips no thicker than 6 mm. Trim away visible fat and silverskin. Toss with salt, garlic, cumin and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 2–12 hours; do not leave raw beef at room temperature.
Heat the strips safely Arrange the strips in a single layer on a wire rack over a rimmed tray. Heat in an oven preheated to 135°C. Use a clean, calibrated food thermometer to verify that the thickest strips reach 71.1°C. If a thin strip cannot be measured reliably, fold a strip over the probe tip or use a thermometer suitable for thin foods; check several pieces and continue heating until each tested piece reaches the target. Do not judge safety by color.
Dry under control Transfer the hot strips promptly to clean dehydrator trays, leaving space for airflow. Set the dehydrator to 60°C and dry for about 4–8 hours, rotating trays if the manufacturer recommends it. Begin checking after 4 hours: a cooled test strip should bend and show small surface cracks, with no damp or soft center. Continue in short intervals if needed. Drying time is a guide, not a safety test; do not use an uncontrolled room, sun or open-air hanging method.
Rest and finish Let the strips cool briefly on a clean rack. Heat a grill pan or skillet until very hot and brush it with up to 5 ml oil if sticking is likely. Sear the strips in batches for about 30–60 seconds per side, just until smoky-smelling and lightly charred at the edges. The strips are already heat-treated; this final step adds surface color and is not a substitute for the thermometer check.
Serve and chill leftovers Serve warm, with plain yuca or arepa if desired. Keep the batch small enough to cool promptly. Refrigerate in a clean, sealed container within 2 hours; use within 3–4 days or freeze for longer storage. Do not assume this home adaptation is shelf-stable.

Practical guidance

Practical

Nutrition per serving

Rounded ingredient-weight estimate using lean raw top-round beef as the composition proxy, plus measured salt, garlic and spices. Beef cut and trimming alter the result; values are not laboratory analysis.

Practical guidance

1. For uniform drying, choose a lean, whole-muscle steak and cut strips of consistent thickness. Slicing across the grain makes the dried beef easier to bite. 2. Keep the beef, marinade and utensils refrigerated or clean during preparation. Never reuse the raw-meat seasoning liquid on cooked strips. 3. Follow the dehydrator maker’s temperature and loading instructions. Air must move around every strip; crowded or overlapping meat dries unevenly. 4. Check cooled strips, because warm meat feels softer. A leathery bend and small cracks are useful texture cues, but they do not replace the 71.1°C heat treatment. 5. For a more pronounced fire note, finish the already dried strips briefly over a clean hot grill. Avoid cold smoking or hanging raw beef beside an open flame in a household kitchen. 6. Chill promptly and keep refrigerated. Freezing is the preferred option when you will not eat the batch within a few days.

Allergens and food safety

Contains no major allergen among the listed ingredients. Keep raw beef at or below 4°C and separate from ready-to-eat foods. Heat to 71.1°C before drying, verify with a clean food thermometer, and refrigerate the finished strips within 2 hours. Use within 3–4 days or freeze.

Final notes

1: Keep the strips thin and evenly spaced so they dry at a similar pace. 2: Serve soon after the quick sear, while the edges are warm and fragrant.

Nutrition per serving

Serving basis: One of four portions, based on 150 g raw lean beef and 1.5 g measured salt per portion; drying removes water but does not materially remove the starting nutrients.
Calories: 200 kcal
Carbohydrate: 1 g
Protein: 35 g
Fat: 5 g
Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: 640 mg

Carne oreada

Ingredients

Beef

For finishing

Method

Practical

Nutrition per serving

Practical guidance

Allergens and food safety

Final notes

Nutrition per serving

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