This Original Jerky recipe really does taste like good ol’ fashioned jerky you got from your parents when you were a kid.
A huge reason this does have that trademark taste and red look is because of the use of curing salt in this recipe. Not all, but most jerky found in your local grocery store have been made using curing salt to prevent the development of bacteria in the meat.
This recipe was made using the curing salt, Prague Powder #1. A 1/4 of a teaspoon is all it takes to make 1lb of beef jerky. I am a big fan of how this curing salt makes the jerky taste and look!
Lately I have been researching and have started making my own snack sticks; like the ones found at corner stores, only way better! So I picked up a book I have not read before which has a lot of great information on smoking and curing sausage. This book also has a section of Jerky and this is where the Original Jerky recipe came from. The book is called “Sausage and Jerky Makers’ Bible”. This is the first recipe I have tried out of the book and am very impressed!
Original Jerky has a rich meat taste brought out by the curing salt and finishes with a nice pepper taste. I used beef eye of round cut with the grain for this jerky. I normally do not cut meat with the grain, but decided to try it. Since I did cut it with the grain, I tenderized the strips before marinating to make sure that the jerky wasn’t too tough for my liking.
The results were perfect. After dehydrating for 7 hours, this jerky had just enough bite and a fantastic taste. I love finding great jerky recipes!
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.
*Leaving the curing salt out of the recipe will alter the look and flavor of this recipe.
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods.
- 1lb beef eye of round
- 1½ tsp pickling salt
- ¼ tsp Prague Powder #1 (curing salt)
- ¼ tsp coriander, ground
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp liquid smoke, mesquite
- 1½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1½ tsp granulated sugar
- ½ cup cold water
- 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 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.
- Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips with the grain.
- Tenderize the beef strips with a tenderizing mallet to prevent the jerky from being too tough.
- 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 7 hours at 160 degrees.
Hi and thank you for this website! I am new to making jerky and have made a batch using the packets that came with my dehydrator and jerky gun however to be more cost effective, I want to make my own recipes and your page is amazing. My only question is, can these recipes that call for eye of round meat be used with lean ground beef as this is what my family seems to prefer? Thanks in advanced.
Hey Tane! I have had this question several times before, and here is my answer:
Great question. I would use a recipe that does NOT have much liquid ingredients (soy sauce, worcestershire, vinegar…) Dos Pepper Jerky would be a good one to try. If the recipe calls for water, omit the water since you are using ground beef. I would also recommend using cure when making ground jerky since it will be handled more than whole muscle jerky (mixing the spices in by hand). Lastly, ground beef jerky sometimes requires more spices than whole meat jerky since you are mixing the spices into the meat instead of on the outside. If your first batch doesn’t have a really strong taste, increase the amount of spice for the second batch! Have fun! Thanks for stopping by, let me know how it turns out.
I also have more info on my How to Make Ground Beef Jerky page.
Thanks so much do the response. I will come back and let you know about the results. I will try the dos pepper recipe that I will try. I found put the hard way that I needed to use more flavor then some recipes call for.
If my dehydrator heat at 158ºF is safe for beef jerky? How long should I leave it in the dehydrator?
I would recommend first heating it in your oven for 10 minutes at 300F to bring the internal temperature to 160F and then dehydrate in your dehydrator.