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This East Coast Jerky recipe has a sweet taste that also gives you a little kick from the cayenne pepper.
I grew up on the East Coast, and it wasn’t half bad. So when I stumbled upon this recipe in one of my many jerky books, I decided to give it a go. I did however leave out the 1/3 cup of ketchup that it called for. I have never been a big fan of ketchup in beef jerky, it just doesn’t do it for me.
Even though the ketchup wasn’t up my alley, the cayenne pepper and ground mustard caught my attention. When beef jerky has a little bit of a kick to it, I can’t resist. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for a sweet southern piece of jerky, but when you taste some spice and your eyes widen with the intense flavor…. That’s when you have made a great piece of jerky! *Add a little more cayenne pepper if you want a spicier flavor.
After marinating for a good 16 hours, these light colored pieces of beef were placed in my dehydrator and dried for 5 hours at 160° F.
The lighter color this marinade gives to your beef is because of the red wine vinegar and the absence of any kind of soy sauce or worcestershire sauce. After drying however, this jerky had that dark jerky look that catches your eye and screams EAT ME!
So get going… Fire up that oven, dehydrator, or smoker and give the East Coast a try; with or without ketchup…
***For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods***
East Coast Jerky
Ingredients
Lean Meat
Marinade
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Trim all visible fat from the beef and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
- While the meat is in the freezer, combine the salt, pepper, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, cayenne pepper, ground mustard, and onion powder in a medium size bowl or ziplock bag. Mix well.
- Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain for a softer chew or with the grain for a chewier bite. Or skip the freezing phase and use a Jerky Slicer for evenly sliced strips.
- Add sliced beef to the mixture and marinate for 6-24 hours in the refrigerator.
- After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels.
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. A dehydrator was used with this recipe and dried for 5 hours at 160 degrees.
***For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods.***
You left out the ketchup? Well at least you’ve tried it before and said you didn’t like it. I love adding ketchup to my marinades. Remember that ketchup is the base for all kinds of awesome home made BBQ sauces. I know lots of people think of ketchup as a very boring, and generic sauce, but when used in conjunction with other sauces and flavors, it helps give a really nice twang that I love.
AWESOME…..have you noticed store bought jerky is supple and seems to have a glaze…well, i do not eat that stuff….But, i use a pastry brush and slather on a marinade heavy with steak sauce and KETCHUP and then grind fresh 3-color pepper on it and it sticks….also, a good recovery when you get it too dry and brittle…it still get crisp when stored, but it reconverts easily when you eat it…also, tomato is a good anti-oxident and seems to help preserve it…..also, long MARINATION makes jerky way too intense, i just dip it and dehydrate, the heat and dryness does the rest to preserve it……