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Shot from the Hip Beef Jerky is made with common household ingredients that will make you never go back to store bought jerky again!
I was standing in the kitchen with my wife knowing that I wanted to make some jerky, but didn't have a new recipe planned out. This is when I just started grabbing some common ingredients and put together a quick recipe. Not really sure what to call it, 'Shot from the Hip' seemed to fit this recipe perfect. It was put together very quickly without much thought... Turned out great too!
Starting with a beef eye of round, it was sliced against the grain for an easier chew. The eye of round is my favorite cut of beef for jerky. Marinated for 20 hours in a little bit of everything; this jerky had a rich taste from the soy sauce and worcestershire. I love the combination of these two ingredients, but don't get carried away. I see a lot of recipes that call for several cups of soy sauce. Too much and the taste will be overpowering and will be sure to ruin your jerky fast!
This jerky turned out having a great texture after drying in the oven for 5 hours on the lowest setting, 170° F. Normally I hang the strips of jerky from toothpicks when using the oven, but decided to lay these on top of cooling racks to show a different technique of drying. Either method will work, you just need to pick one that works for you.
After placing the cooling rack on an aluminum foil topped baking pan, these went into the oven. The waiting began.... (and it was worth it!)
The soy sauce and worcestershire sauce gives the meat that dark coloring and the saltiness when you take a bite. Smoked paprika also adds to the look and taste of the jerky with the red tint and specks throughout each strip of beef.
Enjoy the recipe and let me know how it tastes!
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the picture below.
Ingredients
Lean Meat
Marinade
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp liquid smoke (hickory)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
Optional
- 1/4 tsp Curing Salt (Prague Powder #1)
Instructions
- Trim all visible fat from the beef, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
- While the meat is in the freezer, combine the soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, & celery seed in a bowl or ziplock bag and mix well.
- Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain. Slice with the grain for a chewier jerky. Or skip the freezing phase and use a Jerky Slicer for even sliced strips.
- Add sliced beef to the mixture and marinate for 8-24 hours in the refrigerator.
- After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade.
- Pat dry the strips with paper towels.
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my oven at 170F degrees for 5 hours.
- The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.
Nutrition
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods
I made my first batch ever of jerky using my Nesco dehydrator and stumbled upon your site by accident looking for advice etc. I used your Fireball recipe and amended it a bit and the Teriyaki II recipe using a top round cut from my butcher.
The results are in... Fireball wins by a long shot. I was curious, however, how do you get your nutritional facts per each recipe? Do you use/have a formula?
Awesome! I have a plugin that takes all the ingredients and meat and calculates it. The only thing I don't like about it is it takes in account ALL of the ingredients when half of it is drained off the meat before drying. So it is definitely not 100% accurate.
Do you prefer the Colgin liquid smoke to the Wright?
I think its bland compared to the Wright Hickory. They came out with apple wood and mesquite last year that I found. Give it a shot
I definitely prefer Wright's liquid smoke over Colgin. My supermarket doesn't always have Wrights and have had to buy the Colgin. I have found that you have to use a lot more of the Colgin than what it recommends on the bottle. Wrights doesn't have all the filler ingredients. I haven't tried or even seen the apple wood, I'll look for it online and order some. Wrights all the way baby!
Thank you Will for the recipe ! Have you ever made jerky with beef liver before? If so, would this combo work for covering the metallic taste ?
I have never made jerky with liver before. I would definitely use a marinade, and this would be a good one. I am not sure if it will cover the metallic taste fully, but would definitely help out. Let me know how it turns out!
My favorite jerky recipe of all time, but I at least triple the celery seed.
Nice! It's always great when you find the one you like the best...
Some of these ewcipes make no sense. 2 tbsp of WS, 3 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp smoke cannot possibly be enough marinade for 1 pound of meat.
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp liquid smoke (hickory)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp celery seed
I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'm not a fan of drowning jerky in wet ingredients. I like using small amounts just to coat the meat. I believe this allows the other dried ingredients such as pepper or garlic powder to stick better and provide a stronger flavor. I always use a gallon ziplock bag to marinate my meat in. If you use a big bowl, it won't be enough marinade. Give it a shot though, you might be surprised.
I agree, don't drown the jerky. I followed your ingredient measures, except I used a little extra liquid smoke the first time, and it wasn't balanced well. I only had mine in the marinade for a few hours, and it was well seasoned. I've only made jerky a few times, once in the oven (hanging off racks with toothpicks), and a couple times in a dehydrator, and so far this is my favorite recipe. Most of the jerky for sale isn't really jerky; it's not dried, it's cured, so now I'm making my own. One suggestion, my local store (national chain) sells thin cut raw beef, labeled as "Angus beef for sandwich steak". It's the perfect thickness for making jerky and it's mostly lean meat. 6.49/lb yesterday.
Glad you found a recipe you like! If the Angus Beef for sandwich steak is lean and sliced perfect, I would try making jerky out of it. That's a pretty good price for jerky meat.
So your telling me that 2 tbspn soy sauce and 3 tbspn worchestsire sauce is going to give you enough liquid to cover 1 lb of beef? The picture above looks like more...
Doesn't seem like much, but that's all the liquid ingredients. You will see a lot of recipes online that have cups of soy sauce and the meat is totally covered and drowning; I do not like that jerky. I feel like the meat soaks up too much and really dominates the flavor of the jerky. I Like to use just enough to coat each piece and has enough liquid to lightly marinate in a ziplock bag. Mix the pieces in the bag every couple hours as well to get an even marinade on the meat. You can see the pieces in the colander above, they are fully covered and marinated. Remember, this recipe is only for 1lb of meat, so if you are making more jerky make sure to compensate for the extra meat. Give the recipe a shot as is, I really liked this jerky. Thanks for stopping by Don!
Can you dehydrate your jerky in a Treager smoker set at 160 degrees.
Yep, sure can.