This Original Jerky recipe really does taste like good ol’ fashioned jerky you got from a small town smokehouse when you were a kid on a long road trip. Hell, it reminds me of my favorite smokehouse in between Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas’ Prasek’s Family Smokehouse. This place is good, seriously good!

Original Post Date: August 21st, 2015  *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*

Slicing Meat for Jerky

The first step to making beef jerky is choosing a lean cut of beef. I used beef eye of round when making this beef jerky. You can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat for making beef jerky by clicking here!

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky. a 1/4″ in thickness is just right.

Slice with the grain for a chewy jerky or against the grain for more of a tender chew. Wanting a little more chew, the meat was sliced with the grain when making this beef jerky recipe.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

This is a very traditional beef jerky and that calls for some pretty common but TASTY ingredients. Most of the ingredients you will already have in your pantry, so no need to break the bank at the grocery store.

Simply add all the ingredients into a bowl or ziplock bag and mix until they are well incorporated together.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours mixing the bag up several times to further make sure the strips are evenly coated. This makes sure the every piece of finished jerky has a consistent flavor.

RELATED PAGE: ——-> DOZENS OF GREAT TASTING JERKY RECIPES – CLICK HERE <——-

Drying The Beef Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 21 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Once you strain the jerky strips in a colander, lay out some paper towels and place the strips on the paper towels. The goal is to pat dry the strips removing any marinade that is still on the surface of the beef jerky strips.

Getting off the marinade on the surface will prevent the jerky from having that “sticky” feel when it is finished. This also speeds up the drying process. A double win!

A Nesco Snackmaster Dehydrator was used when making this jerky recipe. I LOVE the Nesco dehydrators. They work, are reasonably prices, and they last a long time!

Make sure there is space in between the strips so air can circulate around all the jerky and dry it evenly. This is not the time to cram a bunch of meat on one tray and have it overlapping. Give them space people!

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 or bent in half.

This jerky took 6 hours to be 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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

Storing Beef 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 beef jerky and steps you can take to make your jerky have an extended shelf life.

This Original Beef Jerky has a rich meat taste brought out by the simple ingredients and finishes with a nice pepper taste. The curing salt definitely adds to the smokehouse beef jerky flavor we are all accustomed to.

Not a fan of curing salts? Not to worry, you can leave out this ingredient if you choose. As I mentioned earlier, most of the recipes I make do NOT call for curing salt. Just make sure that you heat the meat to 160° to prevent any bacteria along with the possibility of becoming sick.

Old Pro Tips:

• Leaving the curing salt out of the recipe will alter the look and flavor of this recipe
• Use liquid smoke that does not include filler ingredients, such as Wright’s Liquid Smoke
• When finished, jerky will bend and crack but not break in half. Test for doneness after a piece has cooled for 5 minutes, not while warm.
• Store in ziplock bags or vacuum seal for longer storage. Check out my page on Storing Jerky for more information.

For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods.

4.2 from 25 votes

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Original Jerky

This Original Jerky recipe really does taste like good ol' fashioned jerky you got from your parents when you were a kid.

Course Beef Jerky, Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword beef jerky, Jerky, original jerky

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 45 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 175 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Meat

• 1 lb Beef Eye of Round or Venison

Marinade

• 1 1/2 tsp pickling salt
• 1/4 tsp Prague Powder #1 curing salt
• 1/4 tsp coriander ground
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke mesquite
• 1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cold water

Instructions

1. Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine the pickling salt, Prague Powder #1, coriander, onion powder, garlic powder, liquid smoke, black pepper, sugar, and cold water in a medium size bowl or ziplock bag. Mix well.
3. Remove the meat from the freezer and slice 1/4" strips with the grain. Or skip the freezing phase and use a Jerky Slicer for evenly sliced strips.
4. Tenderize the beef strips with a tenderizing mallet to prevent the jerky from being too tough.
5. Add sliced beef to the mixture and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.
6. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels.
7. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. A dehydrator was used with this recipe and dried for 7 hours at 160 degrees.

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Leaving the curing salt out of the recipe will alter the look and flavor of this recipe
• Use liquid smoke that does not include filler ingredients, such as Wright's Liquid Smoke
• When finished, jerky will bend and crack but not break in half. Test for doneness after a piece has cooled for 5 minutes, not while warm.
• Store in ziplock bags or vacuum seal for longer storage.

Nutrition Facts

Original Jerky

Amount Per Serving (70 g)

Calories 175 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 733mg32%

Potassium 209mg6%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 24g48%

Vitamin C 0.2mg0%

Calcium 8mg1%

Iron 2.2mg12%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This beef jerky recipe with Texas Pete’s hot sauce tastes even better than it’s super cool name! I came up with Pistol Pete from the old television show Brisco County Jr. I then realized that the character was only named Pete, not Pistol Pete.

So maybe it’s from a guy we called Pistol Pete at a seafood restaurant I worked at when I was a teenager… Come to think of it, I’m not sure why we called him Pistol Pete… Anyway, it doesn’t matter, I like the name. Let’s check out Pistol Pete’s Beef Jerky from Texas!

I’m a big fan of hot sauces and Texas Pete Hot Sauce really put the final touches on this jerky. Who doesn’t like hot sauce?

Slicing Meat for Jerky

The first step to making beef jerky is choosing a lean cut of beef. I used beef Bottom round when making this beef jerky. You can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat for making beef jerky by clicking here!

The second step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat.

That white fat is called the fat cap. Just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Here I used a sharp knife to slice even 1/4″ pieces from the roast. Putting the roast in the freezer for an hour or two will help firm up the meat and make it easier to slice.

Then slice the meat in strips to your liking. I went with skinny strips with the grain for this jerky recipe. Slicing with the grain gives the jerky a little more chew. If you sliced it against the grain it would make the jerky a little more tender and easier to chew.

For more information on slicing meat for jerky, check out my slicing jerky page.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Making the Jerky Marinade

Pistol Pete’s jerky is made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. The only thing you might need to buy is the Texas Pete’s hot sauce. Feel free to substitute your favorite hot sauce if you already have it handy.

Add all the ingredients into a ziplock bag or bowl and mix really well.

Add the beef strips to the marinade and mix it around well making sure that all the slices of meat are covered with marinade. More importantly marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours, not on the kitchen counter. Food Safety first folks! Take the bag out of the fridge and mix the beef jerky strips around several times while marinating to further make sure the strips are covered evenly.

RELATED PAGE: ——-> DOZENS OF GREAT TASTING JERKY RECIPES – CLICK HERE <——-

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. We had this marinating for about 18 hours, the longer the marinade process the more intense flavor the jerky will have!

After the jerky is strained, lay out some paper towels on the kitchen counter to pat the strips dry of any further marinade that isn’t soaked into the meat.

You can see the excess marinade on the strips above. That will slow the drying process down and can also leave a ‘sticky’ feel to the surface of the finished beef jerky. It’s better to remove that by patting dry with the paper towels.

A Nesco Gardenmaster Dehydrator was used when making this beef jerky recipe, but you can use an oven or smoker if you prefer.

If using a dehydrator, lay the jerky strips on your dehydrator trays leaving space between the meat for air to circulate for effective drying.

Put the dehydrator setting to 160F or 165, whatever the highest setting is, and dehydrate for 2 hours. After 2 hours, you can turn it down to 145F to finish it off.

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 or bent in half.

This jerky took 6 hours to be 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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

Storing Beef 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 beef jerky and steps you can take to make your jerky have an extended shelf life.

This was a great tasting jerky. It was a little salty with the soy sauce flavor coming through. I’m a BIG fan of soy sauce flavored jerky! The spice is not overpowering, Texas Pete has a great flavor without crazy spice. This will definitely be a crowd pleaser and you WILL have people asking you to make more.

Old Pro Tips:

• Add apple, hickory, or mesquite liquid smoke if you want a smoky flavor
• Substitute any hot sauce that you desire or have on hand
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Store in vacuum seal bags for 6 month shelf life

0 from 0 votes

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Pistol Pete's Beef Jerky

Fantastic tasting beef jerky recipe having a salty/soy sauce flavor paired with the mild heat of Texas Pete hot sauce making it a HUGE hit!

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword beef jerky, Jerky, spicy, Spicy Beef Jerky

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours

Servings 5

Calories 38 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Meat

• 1 lb Beef Eye of Round or Venison

Marinade

• 2/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp Texas Pete hot sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper course
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp basil fresh or dried flakes

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1
• 1 tsp liquid smoke hickory

Instructions

1. Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.

2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix well. 

3. 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. You can also use a Weston Jerky Slicer when making this recipe.

4. Add sliced beef to the mixture in a ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.

5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade in a colander and pat dry the beef strips with paper towels

6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my Nesco Dehydrator and dried for 2 hours at 165F and 4 hours at 145F.

7. The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Add apple, hickory, or mesquite liquid smoke if you want a smoky flavor
• Substitute any hot sauce that you desire or have on hand
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Store in vacuum seal bags for 6 month shelf life

Nutrition Facts

Pistol Pete's Beef Jerky

Amount Per Serving

Calories 38 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 2598mg113%

Potassium 219mg6%

Carbohydrates 6g2%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 74IU1%

Vitamin C 5mg6%

Calcium 26mg3%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Teriyaki sauce is one of the most popular flavors when it comes to beef jerky. This recipe knocks the socks off any store bought teriyaki jerky I have ever tried.

Original Post Date: May 4th, 2016  *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*

I used my Masterbuilt smoker when making this recipe, but this can be made in your oven or a dehydrator! Let’s get started!!!

Slicing The Meat

Choose a lean cut of beef, I used beef eye of round when making this jerky. You can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky. a 1/4″ in thickness is just right. 

The beef eye of round was sliced with the grain giving this jerky a little more of a chew. I still don’t have a favorite way of slicing meat. Sometimes I am in the mood for an easy chew and sometimes I like a tougher jerky.

I was just craving some long lasting chew and that’s why I went with the grain on this recipe.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

This simple recipe is made great by utilizing local honey and only a touch of sesame oil which brings together all the flavors.

Since I did not use any whole ingredients that needed to be chopped up into small bits, I did not use a blender and simply added all the ingredients into a ziplock bag and mixed well.

Next, add the beef strips into the ziplock bag and mix well to make sure all of them are evenly coated with the marinade.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours mixing the bag up several times to further make sure the strips are evenly coated. This makes sure the every piece of finished jerky has a consistent flavor.

RELATED PAGE: ——-> DOZENS OF GREAT TASTING JERKY RECIPES – CLICK HERE <——-

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 23 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Before adding the meat to your smoker, dehydrator, or oven; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.

After patting the strips dry, place them on your smoker racks, dehydrator trays, or oven rack.

If using an oven or smoker, you can pierce the strips on one end with toothpicks that way you can hang them from the racks. Make sure to place some aluminum foil underneath the rack to catch any dripping liquid for easy cleanup.

The all trustworthy Masterbuilt Smoker was fired up to give this Teriyaki Jerky some real smoke flavor. I decided against the mesquite in the picture above and went with some hickory chips. It provided a nice mild hickory smoke flavor. I love making jerky in a smoker, you just can’t replicate that real smoke flavor.

If you do make this in a dehydrator or oven, liquid smoke does give the jerky a nice smokey flavor. Definitely add some to your marinade in the previous steps to replicate that amazing smokey flavor!

I dried the strips for 1.5 hrs at 160°F then turned up to 200°F for 1 hr while hitting it with a handful of hickory wood chips. One handful of wood chips is all you need when smoking jerky.

After it gets that tasty smoke from the handful of chips, the temp is lowered back down to 160°F and finished off. Mine took another 8 hours to finish, bringing the total time in the smoker to 10.5 hrs.

You can see the jerky dries nice and even when hung from the smoker racks.

RELATED PAGE: DEHYDRATOR REVIEWS – CLICK HERE

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.

When making jerky in a dehydrator or oven I find my jerky is normally finished around the 4-5 hour mark. When using a smoker it is closer to 6-8 hours.

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!

So, how was it? They turned out great! It had the perfect amount of spice for my liking and a great chew. So get some beef and give this Mexican heat beef jerky a try!

Old Pro Tips:

• Make sure the smoker is hot when adding the wood chips. If they burn at too low of a temperature it will give the jerky a sour flavor
• Use liquid smoke if using a dehydrator or oven
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Slice strips at 1/4″ thickness for a good jerky feel

For more in depth directions on how to Smoke your beef jerky, visit my page: How to Make Beef Jerky in a Smoker

4.24 from 21 votes

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Teriyaki II Beef Jerky

Teriyaki sauce is one of the most popular flavors when it comes to beef jerky. This recipe knocks the socks off any store bought teriyaki jerky I have ever tried.

Course Snack

Cuisine Beef Jerky

Keyword teriyaki beef jerky

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 10 hours

Total Time 11 hours

Servings 5

Calories 237 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Meat

• 1 lb Beef Eye of Round Roast or Venison

Marinade

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried ginger

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Instructions

1. Trim all visible fat from the beef, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic powder, & dried ginger in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix well.
3. Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain for an easy chew. Slice with the grain for a chewier jerky. Or skip the freezing phase and use a Jerky Slicer for even sliced strips.
4. Add sliced beef to the mixture and marinate for 8-24 hours in the refrigerator.
5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade.
6. Pat dry the strips with paper towels.
7. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my smoker to make this batch of jerky.
8. The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.

Nutrition Facts

Teriyaki II Beef Jerky

Amount Per Serving (70 g)

Calories 237 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Fat 7g11%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 1330mg58%

Potassium 257mg7%

Carbohydrates 13g4%

Sugar 11g12%

Protein 27g54%

Calcium 14mg1%

Iron 2.8mg16%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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THE BEST DEHYDRATOR FOR MAKING BEEF JERKY

SLICING MEAT FOR BEEF JERKY

So many flavors! Dark soy sauce and worcestershire meld beautifully with the white wine making this jerky a delicious snack to eat or store for later during this tough time the world is going through.

Right now the best thing to have while prepping for the future is protein that will last a VERY long time and tastes great! Let’s be honest, the second best thing to have right now is also alcohol. This recipe has you covered!

An excuse to buy some alcohol and you also get to make a fantastic tasting beef jerky to store for the future…. and eat some right away…

Slicing The Meat

Choose a lean cut of beef, I used beef eye of round when making this beef jerky recipe. Some stores may be low on meat, so check out the  best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here! You can use MANY different cuts, you are bound to be able to find one of them.

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky. a 1/4″ in thickness is just right. 

Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky. If making more than 3lbs of jerky, having a slicer REALLY speeds up the process!

Not sure what way the grain runs in your cut of beef? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know..

Making The Marinade

This Vineyard Mash Beef Jerky recipe does not have any whole ingredients, such as peppers, so using a blender is not necessary when mixing the ingredients. 

Simply mix all of the ingredients into a ziplock bag or bowl and add the previously sliced meat.

Mix the strips around really well to make sure they are all evenly coated with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours mixing the bag up several times to further make sure the strips are evenly coated. This makes sure the every piece of finished jerky has a consistent flavor.

If you are in a rush, these vacuum marinating machines do work pretty well. About 1/2 an hour and your jerky will turn out like it marinated for 12 hours. Not bad!

RELATED PAGE: DOZENS OF GREAT TASTING JERKY RECIPES – CLICK HERE

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 18 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade.

This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.

I used my Excalibur Dehydrator when making this jerky. I love how easy it is to use a dehydrator, so that’s what I use to make most of my jerky.

If you want to use your oven or a smoker, you can see more information on drying on the jerky making methods page. This page will also have even more in depth directions on using a dehydrator.

After drying for 3 hours at 165°F and 1 hour at 145°F, the jerky turned out just perfect. The 3 hours were done on high to make sure the internal temperature reaches 160°F to kill any potential bacteria.

After the kill phase, I turned it down to finish it off. Turning the heat down will prevent the meat from becoming brittle.

RELATED PAGE: DEHYDRATOR REVIEWS – CLICK HERE

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 or bent 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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

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. This is a MUST READ during these times of lock down and uncertainty.

Taste Test!

The Vineyard Mash Beef Jerky turned out tasting GREAT! I really enjoyed this recipe and will definitely make it again. The flavor resembles a traditional beef jerky with a subtle flavor of the white wine. The black pepper gives it a little kick, however not overpowering, just enough to let you know it’s there. ENJOY!!!

Old Pro Tips:

• Switch apple liquid smoke out for hickory or mesquite to suit your desired flavor
• I used a Pinot wine, but any white wine will work well
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Slice strips at 1/4″ thickness for a good jerky feel

For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods

3.5 from 2 votes

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Vineyard Mash Beef Jerky

So many flavors! Dark soy sauce and worcestershire meld beautifully with the white wine making this jerky a delicious snack to eat or store for later during this lock down the world is going through.

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword beef jerky, Jerky, spicy, Wine jerky

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 6 hours

Servings 5

Calories 32 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Meat

• 1 lb Beef Eye of Round or Venison

Marinade

• 1/3 cup white wine pinot
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp black pepper course
• 2 tsp liquid smoke applewood

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Instructions

1. Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.

2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix well. 

3. 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. You can also use a Weston Jerky Slicer when making this recipe.

4. Add sliced beef to the mixture in a ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.

5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade and pat dry the beef strips with paper towels

6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my Excalibur Dehydrator and dried for 3 hours at 165F and 1 hour at 145F.

7. The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Switch apple liquid smoke out for hickory or mesquite to suit your desired flavor
• I used a Pinot wine, but any white wine will work well
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Slice strips at 1/4" thickness for a good jerky feel

Nutrition Facts

Vineyard Mash Beef Jerky

Amount Per Serving

Calories 32 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 1983mg86%

Potassium 114mg3%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 13mg1%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This jerky is SPICY and PACKED full of flavor from the soy sauce, cumin, honey and those great looking cherry popper peppers! YUM YUM YUM!!!

Who didn’t LOVE lighting and throwing cherry bomb’s, the fire crackers, when they were kids?! I loved blowing things up, pretty much every male from 8-20 years old loves playing with explosives.

Well when I came across peppers that were called cherry poppers, It reminded me of my childhood and I knew I had to use them in a jerky recipe! They did not disappoint either, this jerky is incredibly good! Enough talk, let’s get started…

Slicing The Meat

Choose a lean cut of beef, I used beef eye of round when making this spicy jerky. You can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky. a 1/4″ in thickness is just right. 

Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

This recipe revolves around those amazingly spicy cherry popper peppers. I found these at my local Whole Foods Market.

Since I am using whole peppers in this recipe, using a blender is the best way to fully incorporate them into the marinade. The cherry bomb pepper was added whole (do not remove seeds, only stem) to the other marinade ingredients inside my Vitamix blender to make sure this jerky keeps that amazingly spicy flavor.

Blend until the pepper and the other ingredients are fully sliced thin and incorporated together. Look at those great looking seeds!

Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag and add the previously sliced beef. Mix the strips around really well to make sure they are all evenly coated with the marinade.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours mixing the bag up several times to further make sure the strips are evenly coated. This makes sure the every piece of finished jerky has a consistent flavor.

If you are in a rush, these vacuum marinating machines do work pretty well. About 1/2 an hour and your jerky will turn out like it marinated for 12 hours. Not bad!

RELATED PAGE: DOZENS OF GREAT TASTING JERKY RECIPES – CLICK HERE

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 21 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.

Place the strips on your dehydrator trays, oven trays, or smoker rack to dehydrate/dry the jerky. 

I used my Excalibur Dehydrator when making this jerky. I love how easy it is to use a dehydrator, so that’s what I use to make most of my jerky.

If you want to try drying with a different method however, you can see more information on drying on the jerky making methods page. This page will also have even more in depth directions on using a dehydrator.

These were dehydrated for 4 hours at 160F and came out just perfect. Make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. The 4 hours at 160°F in this dehydrator does the trick.

Related Page: Dehydrator Reviews – Click Here

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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

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!

So, how was it? They turned out great! It had the perfect amount of spice for my liking and a great chew. So get some beef and give this Mexican heat beef jerky a try!

Old Pro Tips:

• Use a blender to chop the peppers and incorporate them into the marinade for maximum flavor
• Taste the marinade after blending and decide if you want to add more pepper if you really want a SPICY jerky
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Slice strips at 1/4″ thickness for a good jerky feel

For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods

0 from 0 votes

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Cherry Bomb Beef Jerky

This jerky is SPICY and PACKED full of flavor from the soy sauce, cumin, honey and those great looking cherry popper peppers! YUM!

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword banana peppers, beef jerky, cherry bomb, Jerky, spicy

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 6 hours

Servings 5

Calories 30 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Meat

• 1 lb Beef Eye of Round or Venison

Marinade

• 1 cherry popper pepper whole
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/3 cup beef broth

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Instructions

1. Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.

2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until the ingredients are fully mixed. Transfer to a bowl or ziplock bag. 

3. 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. You can also use a Weston Jerky Slicer when making this recipe.

4. Add sliced beef to the mixture in a ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.

5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade and pat dry the beef strips with paper towels

6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my Excalibur Dehydrator and dried for 4 hours at 165F.

7. The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Use a blender to chop the peppers and incorporate them into the marinade for maximum flavor
• Taste the marinade after blending and decide if you want to add more pepper if you really want a SPICY jerky
• Use Prague Powder #1 to increase the shelf life of the jerky and help kill any bacteria
• Slice strips at 1/4" thickness for a good jerky feel

Nutrition Facts

Cherry Bomb Beef Jerky

Amount Per Serving

Calories 30 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 1390mg60%

Potassium 78mg2%

Carbohydrates 6g2%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 86IU2%

Vitamin C 13mg16%

Calcium 3mg0%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

You Might Also Like:

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THE BEST DEHYDRATOR FOR MAKING BEEF JERKY

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This Mexican Heat Beef Jerky is made with spicy Serrano peppers and red pepper flakes to light your lips on fire and satisfy that spice craving.

Original Post Date: Janurary 12th, 2016  *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*

Slicing The Meat

When I remade this recipe I bought a couple of packs of already thin sliced beef top round from my local grocery store.

This really speeds up the process because all I needed to do was slice them into 1″ wide strips as they were already sliced 1/8″ thick.

If you can’t find or want to start from scratch, grab a chunk of Beef Eye of Round. You can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky.

Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

I am a big fan of Serrano peppers, mainly eating them in picante and pico de gallo sauces. They are from Mexico and their spice is a little hotter than a jalapeno. What I like the most about them is that they are spicy, but pack a great taste as well. I love eating spicy jerky, but it has to taste good too!

Since I am using whole peppers in this recipe, using a blender is the best way to fully incorporate them into the marinade. The Serrano peppers were added whole (do not remove seeds) to the other marinade ingredients inside my Vitamix blender to make sure this jerky has a strong spicy flavor.

Feel free to adjust the amount of peppers to suit your spice preference.

Pour the marinade into a ziplock bag and add the previously sliced beef. Mix the strips around really well to make sure they are all evenly coated with the marinade.

Marinate in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours mixing the bag up several times to further make sure the strips are evenly coated. This makes sure the every piece of finished jerky has a consistent flavor.

Related Page: Dozens of Great Tasting Jerky Recipes – Click Here

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 18 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.

Place the strips on your dehydrator trays, oven trays, or smoker rack to dehydrate/dry the jerky. 

I decided to use my Excalibur Dehydrator when drying this jerky. The dehydrator is my favorite way of drying jerky and the Excalibur is my favorite dehydrator. This recipe will turn out well using other drying methods, you can see more information on drying on the jerky making methods page.

After dehydrating for 4 hours, these bad boys were ready to be eaten. Make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. The 4 hours at 160°F in the dehydrator does the trick.

You can also pre-heat the meat in an oven before drying if your dehydrator does not heat up to 160°F. Check out my page on jerky safety for more information on this process.

Related Page: Dehydrator Reviews – Click Here

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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

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!

So, how was it? They turned out great! It had the perfect amount of spice for my liking and a great chew. So get some beef and give this Mexican heat beef jerky a try!

Old Pro Tips:

• Buy already sliced beef roast to avoid slicing yourself. It saves time!
• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
• Use a blender when using whole peppers or other whole ingredients for more intense flavors

For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods

3.34 from 6 votes

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Mexican Heat Beef Jerky

This Mexican Heat Beef Jerky is made with spicy Serrano peppers and red pepper flakes to light your lips on fire and satisfy that spice craving.

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword beef jerky, Jerky, Mexican Beef Jerky

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 6 hours

Servings 5

Calories 189 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Meat

• 1 lb Beef Eye of Round or Venison

Marinade

• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 Serrano peppers Whole
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Instructions

1. Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.

2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until the ingredients are fully mixed. Transfer to a bowl or ziplock bag. 

3. Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain. Cut with the grain for more chew.
4. Add sliced beef to the mixture in a ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 8-24 hours in the refrigerator.
5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade and pat dry the beef strips with paper towels
6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my dehydrator and dried for 5 hours at 160 degrees.
7. The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Buy already sliced beef roast to avoid slicing yourself. It saves time!
• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
• Use a blender when using whole peppers or other whole ingredients for more intense flavors

Nutrition Facts

Mexican Heat Beef Jerky

Amount Per Serving

Calories 189 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Fat 7g11%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 114mg5%

Potassium 282mg8%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Sugar 3g3%

Protein 24g48%

Vitamin A 370IU7%

Vitamin C 2.5mg3%

Calcium 15mg2%

Iron 2.8mg16%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods

You Might Also Like:

Best Cuts of Beef for Jerky

How to Make Beef Jerky with a Dehydrator

The Best Dehydrator for Making Beef Jerky

Slicing Meat for Beef Jerky

Lemon pepper tastes fantastic on fresh fish, so why not jerky? Fresh speckled trout fillets from the Laguna Madre sprinkled with a heavy dose of lemon pepper cooking on the grill is what comes to mind when I think of lemon pepper. But after making some lemon pepper jerky, well…. it comes in a close second.

Original Post Date: June 10th, 2015  *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*

I made this recipe again the other day and I have to tell you, it was some damn good jerky. It’s easy to make and lemon pepper can be found at any grocery store.

Slicing The Meat

I cheated a little bit when making this recipe. I bought some beef top round from my local grocery store already sliced thin, saving me a couple of steps!

These pieces were sliced at about 1/8th of an inch thick. All I needed to do was cut them into 1″ wide strips with a sharp knife.

If you can’t find or want to start from scratch, grab a chunk of Beef Eye of Round. You can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky.

Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

My taste buds prefer a spicy jerky, and this lemon peppered jerky fit the bill. Not too spicy, but a nice little kick to it. The only pepper in this recipe is the lemon pepper and some black pepper. Throw in some garlic, salt, and soy sauce; you have a great batch of jerky just beggin’ to be eaten!

Start by mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag and then add the previously sliced beef strips. Make sure to mix the bag and move the strips around making sure all of the strips are evenly coated in marinade.

Related Page: Dozens of Great Tasting Jerky Recipes – Click Here

Allow the strips to marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator. The longer the better! Do NOT marinate the meat at room temperature, always marinate in the fridge to prevent the meat from spoiling.

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 22 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.

Place the strips on your dehydrator trays, oven trays, or smoker rack to dehydrate/dry the jerky. For more in depth instructions on drying your jerky, check out my Jerky Making Methods Page.

I dried them in my Sahara Dehydrator, like the one seen below, for a total of 4 hours at 165°F. This dehydrator is on the expensive side, but if you live in a small apartment the fact that it folds down to 1/3 of it’s size for storing is really nice.

Make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. The 4 hours at 165°F in the dehydrator does the trick. You can also pre-heat the meat in an oven before drying if your dehydrator does not heat up to 160°F. Check out my page on jerky safety for more information on this process.

Related Page: Dehydrator Reviews – Click Here

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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

The ingredients are pretty straight forward and easy to find for this recipe. Make sure you do not omit the water. The water cuts the salty taste and thins out the soy sauce flavor. Not being a huge fan of overly soy tasting jerky, you will find water in a lot of my recipes. I believe that it mellows that strong taste and allows the other ingredients to shine through.

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:

• Buy already sliced beef roast to avoid slicing yourself. It saves time!
• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
• Find lemon pepper in a grinder instead of previously finely ground for better flavor

For more in depth directions on how to dry your jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the pictures below. 

4.37 from 11 votes

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Lemon Peppered Jerky

Lemon pepper tastes fantastic on fresh fish, so why not jerky? Fresh speckled trout fillets from the Laguna Madre sprinkled with a heavy dose of lemon pepper cooking on the grill is what comes to mind when I think of lemon pepper. But after making some lemon pepper jerky, well.... it comes in a close second.

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword beef jerky, lemon pepper, lemon pepper beef jerky

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours 30 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 177 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Beef

• 1 lb beef top round

Marinade

• 3/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Instructions

1. Pick a lean cut of beef and trim all visible fat. After trimming the fat, place the meat in the freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze. If purchasing already sliced beef as I did, skip the freezing step.

2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine and mix the soy sauce, water, black pepper, garlic powder, lemon pepper, and salt in a medium size bowl or ziplock bag.

3. Remove meat from the freezer and slice against the grain between ⅛" - ¼" in thickness and 1" wide.

4. Add sliced beef to the mixture and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.
5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels.

6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. A dehydrator was used when making this recipe. The slices were placed on dehydrator racks so they were not overlapping or touching. Dried for 4 hours at 165 degrees.

7. Jerky will be finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. Allow to cool for several hours before storing in air tight containers.

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Buy already sliced beef roast to avoid slicing yourself. It saves time!
• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Marinate closer to 24 hours for the most intense flavor
• Find lemon pepper in a grinder instead of previously finely ground for better flavor

Nutrition Facts

Lemon Peppered Jerky

Amount Per Serving (70 g)

Calories 177 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 914mg40%

Potassium 225mg6%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Protein 26g52%

Calcium 8mg1%

Iron 2.5mg14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Need more in depth directions on how to make jerky in an oven, dehydrator, or smoker? Visit my page Jerky Making Methods to become a pro at making jerky!

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Best Cuts of Beef for Jerky

How to Make Beef Jerky with a Dehydrator

The Best Dehydrator for Making Beef Jerky

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Spicy, Spicy, Spicy…. I LOVE spicy beef jerky. This easy to chew ground beef jerky is wicked fiery and guaranteed to have you searching for an icy glass of water to cool you down!

Ground beef jerky is great for someone that doesn’t want a mouth workout or might have more sensitive teeth. It’s a lot more tender to eat and still has all the great flavor and taste of regular beef jerky. 

Choosing The Meat

Start with ground meat that is 10% fat at the most. I chose 93/7 grass fed beef when making this recipe. You want some fat so the jerky stays together, but not too much because then it will spoil faster.

This recipe would also work great with ground bison or deer. I’m definitely going to make a batch with some ground deer after this hunting season.

The Seasonings

I love that this recipe is very simple and doesn’t have too many ingredients. That makes it easy to make and you probably have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen.

These amazing looking banana peppers were picked up at the supermarket the other day. Right now they have A LOT of cool peppers that I picked up and have been making a bunch of jerky with.

I love spicy jerky and these peppers have not let me down. Say it with me, Banana Peppers taste amazing!

I did have problems blending this. You can see above the dry ingredients, 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce and a banana pepper in my Vitamix blender. Even with this bad ass blender, there just isn’t enough liquid to really get this blended up well.

I recommend slicing the pepper really small and then blending them with the other ingredients in a ninja food processor.

Mixing The Jerky

Let’s mix this great ground beef with those amazing flavors and seasonings.

Add the chopped peppers and other ingredients to your 1lb of lean ground beef in a bowl. I always make sure I use curing salt when making jerky to make sure any bacteria is killed and it also adds that traditional ‘jerky’ flavor and color. 

Using a food safe glove, mix the ingredients into the ground beef until it is equally mixed throughout. Don’t those pieces of banana pepper look fantastic?! Yum…..

Does ground beef jerky need to marinate? No, it doesn’t… BUT, it sticks together better when it’s cold. So after mixing all the ingredients into your beef, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or so.

This helps the meat stay together and makes the next step go a lot easier…

Related Page: Dozens of Great Tasting Jerky Recipes – Click Here

Making The Jerky Strips

There are several different ways to turn your ground beef into nice easy to eat jerky strips. I chose to use my Jerky Cannon to make this jerky. I love this thing, it makes it very easy and the strips are always uniformly the same size. 

Start by adding the meat into the jerky cannon little by little. The key is to make sure there is no air inside the tube when filling it. 

To do this, push the lever that is found by the handle all the way to the front only leaving about 3 inches of room from the end you can see above. Fill that 3 inches of space with the jerky mixture and then pull that lever back another 3 inches.

Pulling the lever back is essentially pulling the piston towards the handle giving you more room for more jerky mixture. Continue doing this until the whole pound of ground jerky is added into the cylinder. 

Screw the jerky nozzle onto the end of the jerky cannon and shoot strips onto your dehydrator trays. I used my Excalibur Dehydrator when making this jerky recipe.

This is a great dehydrator for making ground jerky because the trays are square, not round like many other dehydrators. It’s my go to dehydrator when making ground beef jerky.

Keep a butter knife next to you when shooting your strips onto the dehydrator tray to cut the meat from the nozzle after you have finished a long strip. Then use that knife to score your strips into your desired individual jerky lengths. I chose to score mine at about 4-5 inches in length.

Not using a dehydrator or jerky gun? No problem!!! You can also use an oven when making ground jerky as well as flatten the jerky meat with a rolling pin. Check out my page on How to Make Ground Jerky to see step by step directions on how to use that method.

Drying The Jerky

As I mentioned before, I used my Excalibur Dehydrator when making this jerky. I dried it for 3 hours at 165°F and 1 hour at 145°F. 

The jerky was a tiny bit over done, maybe by 30 minutes or so. It was still AMAZING tasting though! 

The banana peppers really gave this jerky a real kick. An original jerky flavor at first followed by a strong heat towards the end of chewing.

These peppers aren’t always spicy, the younger the pepper the more spicier it is. I added one whole pepper to this recipe and it was pretty spicy. Add two for a REALLY spicy jerky. 

If you don’t have spicy banana pepper and are looking for a spicy jerky, you can substitute for a more fiery pepper such as a Habanero.

A habanero is A LOT more spicier than a banana pepper, so just use one small pepper. I like the habanero as a substitute because it won’t change the flavor as much as a jalapeno would.

Testing The Jerky

To test to see if the jerky is finished, bend it with your fingers. It should bend a good amount without breaking in half. If it is brittle, it is overdone.

This jerky was a little overdone. It cracked and did not bend as much as I normally like. It over dried by much, so still a great result.

Adding Corn Syrup Solids will also help the jerky be more pliable and stick together better. It is not a required ingredient, but if you make a lot of ground jerky, it’s nice to add it to your recipes.  

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:

• Use no more than 90/10 ground beef
• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Refrigerate for 1 hour to bind the meat together
• Use corn syrup solids for better texture
• Substitute with habanero if your banana peppers aren’t that spicy

0 from 0 votes

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Wicked Fiery Ground Beef Jerky

An amazing flavored spicy ground beef jerky that everyone will enjoy. Start with great ingredients, end with great jerky.

Course Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword banana peppers, beef jerky, ground beef jerky

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 135 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Beef

• 1 lb Lean ground beef 10% fat or less

Marinade

• 1 banana pepper finely chopped
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp sea salt finely ground
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp curing salt optional
• 1/2 tsp corn syrup solids optional

Instructions

1. Finely chop banana pepper and add to other ingredients. Pulse in food processor to mix well

2. In a bowl, combine the 1lb of ground beef with the previously mixed ingredients

3. Mix the ground beef and seasonings thoroughly

4. If using a jerky gun, load the gun with the ground beef mixture & shoot 3-4" long strips onto a dehydrator tray or on a baking sheet

5. If not using a jerky gun, spread the ground meat on a baking sheet, cover with wax paper, and roll with a rolling pin until meat is 1/4" thick
6. Slice the pan of beef into jerky strips 4-5" long and 1" thick

7. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used a dehydrator at 165F for 4 hours and 145F for 1 hour

8. Ground jerky is finished when it first starts becoming dry to the touch. It should bend without breaking in half. If it cracks in half when bent a little bit, it was over dried

Recipe Notes

Old Pro Tips:

• Use no more than 90/10 ground beef
• Use curing salt or celery juice powder to extend the life of the jerky
• Refrigerate for 1 hour to bind the meat together
• Use corn syrup solids for better texture

Nutrition Facts

Wicked Fiery Ground Beef Jerky

Amount Per Serving (70 g)

Calories 135 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 56mg19%

Sodium 1174mg51%

Potassium 376mg11%

Carbohydrates 3g1%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 20g40%

Vitamin C 3mg4%

Calcium 15mg2%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

South Texans love their Jalapenos, and this jerky will satisfy that craving! If you like spicy jerky with the zing of a fantastic flavored pepper, this is the jerky for you.

Original Post Date: April 8th, 2015  *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*

Texas takes their jerky pretty serious, and for good reason. Beef jerky helped the cowboys cross long distances between towns with some great protein stashed in their pockets. Jerky wasn’t always a nice snack, it was vital in the Lone Star State in the not so distant past.

Slicing The Meat

Start with a great cut of beef when making this jerky. I used Beef Eye of Round, but you can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky.

Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

There are a lot of great ingredients that go into this recipe, however, the star ingredient is the Jalapeno! I love a spicy jerky, that’s why I kept the seeds in my jalapenos giving this meat snack an extra kick. 

To get the most flavor out of those fresh jalapenos, make sure to bring out the blender and add all of the ingredients. I used my VitaMix Blender; these blenders are SUPER expensive but totally awesome.

Blend until all of the ingredients are mixed well and the jalapenos are as small as you can get them. The smaller the pieces, the more they will stick to the marinated jerky strips. *If you don’t want a spicy jerky, remove the seeds prior to blending*

Related Page: Dozens of Great Tasting Jerky Recipes – Click Here

Add the earlier sliced meat strips to the marinade and mix around so all the strips are evenly covered. Allow the strips to marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator. The longer the better! Do NOT marinate the meat at room temperature, always marinate in the fridge to prevent the meat from spoiling.

Don’t those small bits of jalapeno look so good?! 

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 20 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! 

Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying.

Place the strips on your dehydrator trays, oven trays, or smoker rack to dehydrate/dry the jerky. For more in depth instructions on drying your jerky, check out my Jerky Making Methods Page.

I dried them in my Excalibur Dehydrator, like the one seen below, for a total of 3 hours at 165°F and 1 hour at 145°F.

Make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. The 3 hours at 165°F in the dehydrator does the trick. You can also pre-heat the meat in an oven before drying if your dehydrator does not heat up to 160°F. Check out my page on jerky safety for more information on this process.

Related Page: Dehydrator Reviews – Click Here

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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

Using my favorite cut of meat, eye of round, this South Texas Jalapeno Jerky recipe was made straight from the deep depths of my mind. Adding fresh jalapenos to the marinade is what gives this recipe that authentic South Texas Jalapeno flavor.  It is topped off with dried ground jalapeno powder which gives it that extra kick. Remember, If you are looking for even more of a kick, leave the seeds in the marinade!

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
• Using a blender really helps incorporate the jalapeno flavor in the recipe
• Keep the seeds in the jalapeno for more of a spice

For more in depth directions on how to dry your jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the pictures below. 

4.15 from 7 votes

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South Texas Jalapeno Jerky

South Texans love their Jalapenos, and this easy to make jerky will satisfy that craving! So get your spice on and make some jerky!

Course Beef Jerky, Jerky, Snack

Cuisine American, Beef Jerky

Keyword beef jerky, jalapeno, Jalapeno beef jerky

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 30 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 150 kcal

Author Will

Ingredients

Lean Beef:

• 1 lb eye of round

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 diced jalapeno
• 2 tsp liquid smoke mesquite

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Topping:

• 1/2 tbsp ground jalapeno pepper

Instructions

1. Pick a lean cut of beef and trim off all visible fat. After trimming the fat, place the beef in the freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.

2. While the meat is hardening in the freezer, add worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, beef broth, liquid smoke, and jalapeno in a blender and blend until jalapeno pieces are very small. Pour marinade into zip lock bag.

3. After meat has hardened, but is not fully frozen, take out of freezer to slice. Using a sharp knife, slice the meat 1/4" to 1/8" thick.

4. Add beef strips to your marinade and shake the bag coating meat evenly. Allow 6-24 hours to marinate the jerky. Shake/mix the bag every couple hours to allow the marinade to evenly soak in to each piece of meat.

5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle on ground jalapeno pepper (optional). Add heavily for a real kick, or light for a nice spice.

6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. A dehydrator was used when making this recipe. The slices were placed on dehydrator racks so they were not overlapping or touching. Dried for 3 hours at 165 degrees and another 1 hours at 145 degrees.

7. Jerky will be finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. Allow to cool for several hours before storing in air tight containers.

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
• Using a blender really helps incorporate the jalapeno flavor in the recipe
• Keep the seeds in the jalapeno for more of a spice

Nutrition Facts

South Texas Jalapeno Jerky

Amount Per Serving (70 g)

Calories 150 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 56mg19%

Sodium 1277mg56%

Potassium 464mg13%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 22g44%

Vitamin A 41IU1%

Vitamin C 5mg6%

Calcium 34mg3%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Need more in depth directions on how to make jerky in an oven, dehydrator, or smoker? Visit my page Jerky Making Methods to become a pro at making jerky!

You Might Also Like:

Best Cuts of Beef for Jerky

How to Make Beef Jerky with a Dehydrator

The Best Dehydrator for Making Beef Jerky

Slicing Meat for Beef Jerky

Watch out, this Habanero Tabasco jerky is spicy! I love spicy jerky and this recipe just jumped to the top of my favorite recipe list. You NEED to try this jerky!

Original Post Date: April 30th, 2015  *Recipe updated with more pictures and step by step instructions*

Before we get into the recipe, I want to wish everyone a Happy Jerky Day! June 12th is National Jerky Day, a perfect time to make some great tasting jerky. This is a great recipe to make too! So Good….

Slicing The Meat

Start with a great cut of beef when making this jerky. I used Beef Eye of Round, but you can find a complete list of the best cuts of meat to make beef jerky with by clicking here!

The first step of slicing meat for jerky is to trim the cut of meat of all visible fat. You can see the white fat in the picture below, just trim that off BEFORE you start slicing the meat. Fat spoils faster than meat, so the more you get off now, the longer your jerky will be shelf stable.

Slice the meat with a very sharp knife either with the grain for a more chewy jerky or against the grain for a more tender jerky.

Slice even strips so they will dry evenly and be finished at the same time. You can wrap the roast in plastic wrap and partially freeze for 1-2 hours to make slicing easier.

I didn’t use it on this recipe, but a jerky slicer is a FANTASTIC piece of equipment to help get even strips when slicing jerky.

Not sure what way the grain runs? Need more information on slicing meat for jerky? I have put together a page on Slicing Meat for Jerky where you can find EVERYTHING you need to know when slicing meat for jerky.

Making The Marinade

I wasn’t sure how I would like this recipe as I very rarely use Tabasco on anything I eat. Don’t get me wrong, I love hot sauce, just not Tabasco. I understand that Tabasco has been around forever and has many fans of it’s taste; I’m just not one of them. The only reason I tried a recipe with Tabasco is because I have never tasted their Habanero sauce until now…..and it’s GOOD!

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix well. Since this recipe does not have any whole peppers, blending in a blender is not needed. If you can’t find the Tabasco at your local grocery store, you can pick it up here on Amazon.

Related Page: Dozens of Great Tasting Jerky Recipes – Click Here

Add the earlier sliced meat strips to the marinade and mix around so all the strips are evenly covered. Allow the strips to marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator. The longer the better! Do NOT marinate the meat at room temperature, always marinate in the fridge to prevent the meat from spoiling.

Drying The Jerky

Once the meat has finished marinating, strain any excess marinade in a colander. I marinated this beef for a total of 23 hours before straining. The longer the marinade process, the more intense flavor the jerky will have! This recipe has a lot of intense flavors, so make sure you give yourself enough time and marinate it over night!

Before adding the meat to your dehydrator, oven, or smoker; lay out paper towels placing the meat strips on top. Pat dry the strips to remove even more of the excess marinade. This step will help speed up the drying process and prevent the meat from being ‘sticky’ after it has finished drying. 

Place the strips on your dehydrator trays, oven trays, or smoker rack to dehydrate/dry the jerky. For more in depth instructions on drying your jerky, check out my Jerky Making Methods Page.

I dried them in my Excalibur Dehydrator for a total of 3 hours at 165°F and 1 hour at 145°F. Make sure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160°F to kill any potential bacteria. The 3 hours at 165°F in the dehydrator does the trick. You can also pre-heat the meat in an oven before drying if your dehydrator does not heat up to 160°F. Check out my page on jerky safety for more information on this process.

Related Page: Dehydrator Reviews – Click Here

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. If pre-heating the meat in the oven, drying time can be as little as 2.5 hours.

When I taste the lime in this jerky, I picture myself sitting on a beach in Mexico sipping on a Corona or a Dos Equis. Sand between my toes while slowly turning my beer upside down allowing the lime wedge to float throughout the beer giving it that little extra kick. In reality, I am normally in the middle of hot Texas without a beach in sight! It’s still nice to day dream…

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
• Using smoked paprika instead of regular paprika really gives this jerky a smokey flavor

For more in depth directions on how to dry your jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the pictures below. 

4.24 from 17 votes

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Habanero Tabasco Jerky

Watch out, this Habanero Tabasco jerky is spicy! I love spicy jerky and this recipe just jumped to the top of my favorite recipe list. You NEED to try this jerky!

Course Beef Jerky, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword beef jerky, Habaneros

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Servings 5

Calories 181 kcal

Author Jerkyholic

Ingredients

Lean Beef

• 1 lb Eye of Round

Marinade

• 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp Tabasco Habanero Sauce

Optional

• 1/4 tsp Curing Salt Prague Powder #1

Instructions

1. Pick a lean cut of beef and trim all visible fat. After trimming the fat, place the meat in the freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze. If purchasing already sliced beef, skip steps 1 & 3.
2. While the meat is in the freezer, combine and mix the worcestershire sauce, water, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and tabasco in a medium size bowl or ziplock bag.

3. Remove meat from the freezer and slice against the grain between ⅛" - ¼" in thickness.

4. Add sliced beef to the mixture and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.
5. After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels.
6. Dry with your favorite jerky making method. A dehydrator was used when making this recipe. The slices were placed on dehydrator racks so they were not overlapping or touching. Dried for 3 hours at 160 degrees and 1 hour at 140 degrees.
7. Jerky will be finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half. Allow to cool for several hours before storing in air tight containers.

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
• Using smoked paprika instead of regular paprika really gives this jerky a smokey flavor

Nutrition Facts

Habanero Tabasco Jerky

Amount Per Serving (70 g)

Calories 181 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Fat 7g11%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 668mg29%

Potassium 308mg9%

Carbohydrates 3g1%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 24g48%

Vitamin A 395IU8%

Vitamin C 3.3mg4%

Calcium 16mg2%

Iron 2.9mg16%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

You Might Also Like:

Best Cuts of Beef for Jerky

How to Make Beef Jerky with a Dehydrator

The Best Dehydrator for Making Beef Jerky

Slicing Meat for Beef Jerky