This jerky recipe was born from a breakfast sausage that I had a couple of weeks ago that was SO good! Fresh apple juice and apple makes this apple sage pork jerky delicious!
Doesn’t that look really good?! Well let’s get started making this great tasting jerky…
Slicing The Meat
I normally make pork jerky out of pork tenderloin, but decided to try pork loin for the three pork recipes I just made. It had a little more interior fat than I like, so will be sticking to tenderloin in the future.
Pick up a pork tenderloin or pork loin and slice away the fat cap and any other fat that you see. Getting rid of as much fat as you can now will help the jerky last longer after it has finished drying.
I have trimmed the fat cap and will slice WITH the grain at about 1/8″ – 1/4″ thick.
Here is the pork loin sliced in 1/4″ strips. You can see the white fat on the strips from all the interior fat on the loin. Like I mentioned earlier, I believe the tenderloin is a better cut when making pork jerky.
Related Page: Dozens of Jerky Recipes – Click Here!!!
Making The Marinade
This Apple Sage jerky recipe has some great natural and fresh ingredients including the all natural apple juice and fresh grated apple. Start by adding all the ingredients in a small bowl or ziplock bag.
Add the jerky strips to the marinade and make sure that all the strips are covered fully with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours mixing the strips in the bag every 4 hours or so to make sure the strips marinate evenly.
After marinating, strain the pork jerky in a colander. The jerky will NOT soak up all the marinade, using a colander is an easy way to get rid of the excess.
Before pre-heating the pork, pat dry the strips with paper towels to make sure they are as dry as possible. The paper towels shouldn’t remove any of the ingredients that are on top of the strips. Don’t worry, it will have a ton of flavor!
Drying The Jerky
When I make pork or turkey jerky I like to pre-heat the meat to an internal temperature of 165°F as recommended by the USDA. Pre-heat your oven to 350F and place the jerky on baking sheets.
I use a cooling rack to elevate the jerky above the baking pan. This will add a little more time onto the pre-heat, but it seems to not ‘cook’ the meat as much since the jerky is not on the extremely hot pan.
Wrap a thin piece of meat around an oven thermometer and place in the oven until the jerky reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. It took 22 minutes for my pork to reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
Once the strips have reached 165°F, remove from the oven and place on your dehydrator trays. I used my Nesco Gardenmaster Dehydrator when making this jerky. Above you can see the strips are NOT touching and have room in between for plenty of air flow allowing the jerky to dry evenly.
You can also use an oven or smoker to make this recipe. For step by step instructions on how to use a dehydrator, oven, and smoker to make jerky; make sure to visit my How to Make Jerky page.
Testing For When The Jerky Is Finished
While drying the jerky, you want to start testing to see if it has finished at about the 3-4 hour mark. Take a piece of jerky out of the dehydrator, oven, or smoker and allow it to cool for 5 minutes to room temperature. Bend the jerky in half; it should bend and crack but not break in half. You will also see white fibers in the meat. The fibers are really visible when a piece is ripped in half.
If the jerky is not finished, continue drying for another hour and repeat the same process until the jerky is finished. 90% of the jerky i make is finished within 4-6 hours when using a dehydrator or oven and 6-9 hours when using a smoker.
This jerky was finished at 145°F for 5 hours making it just perfect. I really enjoyed the sweet flavor and the fantastic flavor of apples. I LOVE apples!
Storing Jerky
To make the jerky last as long as possible, curing salt will really help along with keeping in air tight containers. I have put together a page on storing jerky and steps you can take to make your jerky have an extended shelf life. Check it out!
Old Pro Tips:
- Trim all fat from the meat before marinating for longer lasting jerky once it’s finished drying
- Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
- Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
- Pork Tenderloin is my favorite cut of pork to use
- This recipe can be made with Turkey as well
For more in depth directions on how to dry your jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods.
Apple Sage Pork Jerky
Ingredients
Lean Meat
Marinade
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp sage
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke hickory
- 1 tbsp apple grated
- 1 cup apple juice
Instructions
Trim all visible fat from the pork and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
- While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag.
Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain for an easy chew. Cut with the grain for a more chewy jerky. Visit my page on slicing jerky for more information.
Add sliced pork to the mixture in the ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.
After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.
Place strips on cooling rack atop a baking sheet and 'cook' in the oven for 22 minutes at 350F or until the internal temperature of the strips reaches 165F. Remove from the oven.
Continue to dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my Nesco Dehydrator and dried for 5 hours at 145F.
- The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. White fibers will also be seen when the jerky is bent.
Recipe Notes
Old Pro Tips:
- Trim all fat from the meat before marinating for longer lasting jerky once it’s finished drying
- Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
- Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
- Pork Tenderloin is my favorite cut of pork to use
- This recipe can be made with Turkey as well
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