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This simply sweet jerky recipe will have you munching ALL DAY LONG!
Even though sugar is not healthy and my wife always tells me to not eat it, I can't stop when it comes to jerky. I love using sugar in beef jerky recipes, it just gives them that savory flavor that I yearn for.
This simply sweet jerky recipe is tastefully basic when it comes to ingredients. With only 5 ingredients, not counting the beef, you will be surprised by the flavor it puts out.
A beef eye of round roast was used when making this recipe, as it does most of my recipes. If you have been following, you will notice that I use the eye of round for MOST recipes. Why? Because I think it's the best!
After marinating in soy sauce, worcestershire, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, and salt for 20 hours, these delicious looking cuts of beef made their way to my dehydrator. I did pat them dry with a paper towel before placing on the dehydrator trays to quicken the drying process.
Is your mouth watering yet?! It should be.... This recipe turned out pretty damn good. After drying for 5 hours at 160 degrees, the eating commenced and these little bad boys didn't last too long. So get your jerky making tools and gadgets out and get to work! You won't regret giving this recipe a go!
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods.
Ingredients
Lean Meat
Marinade
- ¼ cup worcestershire
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Optional
- ¼ teaspoon Curing Salt (Prague Powder #1)
Equipment
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 worcestershire, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and salt in a medium size bowl or ziplock bag. Mix well.
- Remove the meat from the freezer and slice ¼" strips against the grain. Slice with the grain if you want a chewier jerky. 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.
David says
What can I replace worcestershire with?
Thanks!
Will says
I would add 2tbsp more of soy sauce and add 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar to substitute the worcestershire.
Dave Foreman says
if your making a sweet jerky never ever remove the fat as suggested here. the fat absorbs the sweetness and makes the jerky that much more flavorable, do however trim the fat off once cooked.
Dave Foreman says
im an avid jerky maker, i smoke all my jerky and have had great succes with the flavors i have made but this recipe for me csme out with a very vimegar theirfore not the best taste i even uped the brown sugar and added some.maple syrup knowing that with 1/4 cup of vinegar it would be really strong its a good thing im only out a pound of eye of round instead of the 4 lbs of meat that i had
Joe says
Can you use table salt instead of sea salt? Would it be the same amount?
Will says
You can totally use table salt instead of sea salt. Since table salt is much smaller, it would take a little less than what the recipe calls for. I would use just shy of 1 tsp of table salt with this recipe.
Troy says
New to this site and making jerky. Great advice and tips. Thank you very much Will.
Troy
Will says
No problem Troy. Enjoy!
Daniele says
Question: could you use a sugar alternative (erythritol, etc)? Also, would this work with ground meats?
Will says
You can use a sugar alternative. If you want to make this recipe with ground meat I would cut the liquid ingredients in half, but leave the sugar and salt the same.
Crystal Hoffman says
Hi I am just starting to make jerky I have seen some very good reviews on this page was wondering if you could send me some of your recipes so I could print them out for myself
Will says
You can print them straight from the posts you find them on. Check out my Recipe Page for more recipes.
steven says
have you ever tried to sell your jerky?
Will says
I have not. There are soooooo many people selling jerky out there, not sure if that is something I want to get in the middle of right now. Maybe one day though...
AC says
Hello!
My husband and I have made this recipe about 5 times now. It is so good, we are reluctant to try something else! We are finally trying a new one of your recipes tonight. I'm sure it will be just as good as this one.
Cheers!
Will says
Nice! I hope you find some other ones that are good!
Roger says
I'm using a 4 tray excalibur dehydrator do you recommend precooking the meat or are they good to go in right away? This will be the first time trying this out.
Will says
I have found that with the 9 tray on the highest temperature setting the jerky was heated to 160F in about 2 hours. I do NOT pre-cook with the Excalibur 9-tray. The 4 tray has a different motor and wattage so I would recommend using a thermometer to make sure the 4 tray heats the jerky to 160F.
Stephen Thomas says
Ill say this much
My coworker throws his in without cooking it.. And its freaking delicious!!
Dave Vernon says
Hi Will, as a newbie to making Jerky after getting a dehydrator for Father's Day, this was my first recipe. I loved it,Poor me, my friends loved it even more. Pushed it out a couple of more times, same result! Changed it up the 4th time, I swapped 1/2 the Red wine vinegar for Caramelized balsamic vinegar, and added 1*tbs of Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce). It gave the jerky a v-nice thin film of sweet sticky coating. And since I'm in Australia I used Roo, crosscut, 20-30hrs marinade, pat dry, Awesome result. Poor,Poor Me !!! It was even better/and worse than before, I had to use a stick to keep my friends back enough to get a taste of this awesome piece of meat Keep up the good work, all the recipes are simple and appear ultimately adaptable to change .Dave.
Will says
Haha. That tends to happen Dave. You become a very popular guy when you start making jerky, everyone wants some! Glad you are enjoying the site and playing around with the recipes. It's all about changing and experimenting! Cheers!
tom brady says
Hi Will, this is going to be my first time trying to make jerky and this is the recipe I am going to use. The only question I have is, do you have to precook the beef at all? I read in the pamphlet that came with my dehydrator it says to either boil in the marinade (or if there isn't enough liquid to add water to cover the meat) for 5 minutes prior to dehydrating or to bake for 10 minutes in oven after, but haven't seen you mention that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Will says
You always want to heat the jerky to an internal temp of 160F towards the beginning of the drying process. The right dehydrators will get the jerky to 160F quite quickly, you can read more about it here. I would check out any of my how to make jerky pages, they will give you more in depth info on heating jerky. Also check out jerky safety tips. Hope that helps.
MD says
Hi Will...thanks for all your posts here. Can u reccomend a sweet and sour recipe that you like.
Thanks
MD
mdhonze@gmail.com
Will says
Thanks for stopping by MD! I think that you have stumbled upon the best sweet and sour recipe I have on the site right here with my Simply Sweet Jerky. The brown sugar gives it that sweet flavor and the red wine vinegar provides the sourness you are craving. Make the marinade and take a taste test with your finger before adding the beef. Add more of each if needed to suit your taste. I hope you enjoy it!