If using a dehydrator, i like this one:

Slice up a lean roast really thin. Soak the slices in some "house of tseng thick and rich" soy sauce for a while. Toss in some liquid smoke and brown sugar for the hell of it.
Dehydrate. Tastes OK. Skip out on all of that tenderquick nitrite preservative stuff that some recipies call for unless you plan on storing the stuff for a while.

Mix a solution of:
one part soy sauce.
one part worchester(sp) sauce.
One part liquid smoke.
Half part Tabasco sauce  (the standard size bottle). The dehydrator takes a lot of the fire out of the Tabasco.

Soak thin slices of meat in solution for 12 hours.

Then assemble a mixture of:
One part black pepper.
One part onion salt.
One part garlic powder.

Sprinkle salt mixture on meat before placing in dehydrator.

Dry meat to your liking. I dry mine at least 12 hours. I like my jerky very dry.