Can you make jerky out of Pork? YES!!! It tastes great too! This sweet recipe worked very well with pork, you will definitely love it…
As you can see from the picture above, there aren’t many ingredients when making this recipe. First off, you have to start with a piece of pork.
Making the Jerky
I used a pork tenderloin from my local grocery store. Tenderloin is a pretty inexpensive cut but does have a decent amount of fat on it. Make sure to trim as much fat as possible before slicing into strips and marinating.
After mixing the ingredients and marinating for 20 hours, the pork was strained in a colander and patted dry with paper towels. The maple syrup in the marinade made the strips very slick and hard to pick up. When it was done dehydrating though, it had that sticky shiny appearance a lot of sweet pork jerky recipes have. Delicious!!!
I used my Excalibur Dehydrator when making this recipe. I love this dehydrator, it really turned out some great pork jerky with this recipe. It took a little more than 4 hours at 165°F to finish this jerky to perfection.
I made three different pork recipes with this one tenderloin and this Sweet Maple Pork Jerky was my wife’s favorite. There is good reason for that, it tastes great! There isn’t any spice at all, just sweetness from the sugar and maple syrup. For such a simple recipe, the jerky really turns out fantastic!
Cooks Tips:
- Trim as much fat as possible before slicing and marinating to extend the life of the jerky after it has finished drying.
- Pork tenderloin is a great cut to make pork jerky
- Marinate for 24 hours for full flavor
This recipe doesn’t have to be used on Pork only. Make this with beef or venison and it will also turn out really good! Enjoy!!!
For more in depth directions on how to dry your jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the pictures below.
Sweet Maple Pork Jerky
Ingredients
Lean Meat
- 1 lb Pork Tenderloin can also use beef or venison
Marinade
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1/4 tsp curing salt optional
Instructions
- Trim all visible fat from the meat and place in freezer for an hour or two to partially freeze.
- While the meat is in the freezer, combine marinade ingredients in a bowl or ziplock bag.
- 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. I cut some with and some against since I like both! You can also skip the freezing and use a Jerky Slicer.
- Add sliced meat to the mixture in the ziplock bag or bowl and marinate for 8-24 hours in the refrigerator.
- After the meat has finished marinating, remove from refrigerator and strain excess marinade in a colander and pat dry with paper towels.
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my Excalibur Dehydrator and dried for 4 hours at 165F.
- The jerky is finished when it bends and cracks, but does not break in half.
Recipe Notes
Cooks Tips:
- Trim as much fat as possible before slicing and marinating to extend the life of the jerky after it has finished drying.
- Pork tenderloin is a great cut to make pork jerky
- Marinate for 24 hours for full flavor
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