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Tequila Beef Jerky, a jerky that will get you feeling good!
So it would be pretty sweet if you could get a little buzz off this jerky too, but the tequila is more for the flavor than the side effects.
Not being a huge tequila drinker, I bought one of the small bottles you normally take on a long vacation flight to help you get through the hours of sitting next to smelly/sweaty people. It was cheap and had just enough to get this recipe where I wanted it.
I smoked this jerky in my Masterbuilt Smoker with another recipe I posted a couple weeks back, Tennessee Smoked Beef Jerky. My wife and I headed down to Corpus Christi, TX to hang out with the family and do some fishing. I marinated some jerky and threw it in the cooler so it would be ready to smoke the next day.
I started the smoker at about 2pm and had the temperature up to 160°F. The beef was drained and dried off with paper towels. Toothpicks were pierced through one end so I could hang the meat to achieve an even dry. The meat was placed in my Masterbuilt Smoker WITHOUT smoke for the first 1.5 hours. This allowed the meat to "sweat" out some marinade and water weight.
*The Tequila Beef Jerky is on the left (colored toothpicks), the Tennessee Smoked Beef Jerky is on the right with the plain toothpicks.
After that 1.5 hours, I filled the wood tray with soaked wood chips and bumped the temperature up to 200°F.
The raise in temperature was to help get the wood chips smoking. If the temperature is left too low on my smoker, the chips won't produce a good smoke. I let these burn out and did not add anymore smoke to the jerky. These chips smoked for about 45 minutes.
The temperature was lowered back down to 160°F and the jerky left to dry for another 4 hours, checking every so often. How did it turn out? Both recipes turned out Really Good! The Tequila Beef Jerky did not have an over powering tequila flavor and blended great with the smoke. I was very impressed with how both of these recipes turned out in the Smoker.
For more in depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods
Ingredients
Lean Meat
Marinade
- 2 tbsp Tequila
- 1 tbsp lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup cold water
Optional
- 1/4 tsp Curing Salt (Prague Powder #1)
Equipment
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 tequila, lime juice, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cold water 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 beef strips with paper towels.
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my smoker to make this batch of jerky.
- 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