Crafting mouthwatering homemade beef jerky in a dehydrator is much simpler than you think. With minimal effort, you can enjoy better than store-bought beef jerky at a fraction of the price.
At upwards of $20 a pound at grocery stores, store-bought beef jerky just doesn't make the final cut on the everyday shopping list very often. Yet, it remains one of my favorite snacks. However, I enjoy making my own beef jerky far more often, which is more affordable and tastes every bit as good!
My recipe is a great "original flavor" recipe that can easily be customized to fit your tastes. For example, if you want a spicy beef jerky recipe just add another teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
Ingredients and Substitutions
The best cut of meat for beef jerky is round roast. This includes the eye or round, top round, and bottom round roasts. These lean cuts are reasonably priced and almost fat-free! Fat adds flavor to many dishes, but in beef jerky it just gets stuck in your teeth!
An honorable mention would be a London broil. London broils are also a great lean cut of meat for jerky, although it is typically a flank steak the name is used interchangeably with a variety of cuts at times.
- Beef round roast - Wildgame, such as venison, can also be substituted, or any other lean cut of beef.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Soy sauce
- Liquid smoke
- Smoked paprika - Regular paprika works equally well.
- Brown sugar
- Ground black pepper
- Cayenne pepper - You can substitute crushed red pepper flakes.
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
How to make beef jerky in a dehydrator
There are two ways to make homemade beef jerky in your dehydrator. You can make ground beef jerky using a jerky gun, or you can use thinly sliced lean beef for traditional beef jerky. For this easy recipe, we will slice the beef into ⅛" strips with a sharp knife.
Not only does using thinly sliced beef not require specialized tools, like a jerky cannon, but it is also healthier because you aren't using fatty cuts of meat.
Next, mix together the jerky marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour it into a large storage bag with the sliced beef. Set everything in your refrigerator overnight to marinate. (or you can add the beef strips to the bowl, and cover everything with plastic wrap)
Remove the sliced beef strips from the marinade and pat dry. Discard the excess marinade and place the strips evenly on dehydrator racks in a single layer.
Set the food dehydrator at 160 degrees, or up to 175 if your model allows you go to go higher, and place the thin strips of meat on the dehydrator racks. Rotate the racks hourly during the drying process to ensure all of your jerky cooks evenly. Your jerky slices will be done in about 4 hours.
Tip: You can also make these on your oven racks if your oven has a dehydrate setting.
Beef jerky is done when it is no longer moist to the touch and does not bend without cracking. For best results, the jerky should bend slightly and then break, having an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees. If it breaks immediately, like a cracker, it is overdone. You should check the jerky throughout the cooking process to check for doneness.
How to store jerky
According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, when properly prepared homemade jerky does not need to be stored in the refrigerator. Dry jerky can be stored at room temperature, however, to preserve freshness it is best stored in an airtight container. Glass jars or a large ziploc bag work well for storage. Place the sealed container in a a cool dry place.
Homemade Beef Jerky in a Dehydrator
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef round roast (thinly sliced)
Jerky Marinade
- ⅔ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅔ cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- (Optional) Place beef in freezer for two hours. This will make it easier to slice thinly.
- Slice beef thinly against the grain. (approximately ⅛")
- Add all marinade ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine.
- Place sliced beef in ziplock plastic bag (gallon sized) and pour in marinade. Ensure it is evenly coating the meat and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- Remove beef slices from the bag and pat dry with paper towels (drying with a paper towel will speed cooking time). The excess marinade can be discarded.
- Lay the jerky strips a single layer on dehydrator trays and set your food dehydrator at 160 degrees. (this can be done on wire racks in the oven as well)
- Rotating racks each hour during the dehydration process, for 4 hours, or until the beef jerky is dry and cracks when you bend it.
Notes
Nutritional Information
This recipe was originally published on FoxValleyFoodie.com April 4, 2018.
Hays
i just bought my first dehydrator and this was what i did first attempt. it turned out so good. accidentally doubled the cayenne but my family loves spicy food so it turned out great. i filled that sucked up with a lot of meat so it ended up taking 5 hours but it was well worth the wait. didn’t use the liquid smoke either, grocery store didn’t have it, oh well, still turned out damn good
Alex
I have never made beef jerky and am never likely to. Nothing beats South African biltong. Biltong is much like jerky exept with a couple of differences. We use sirloin that is minimum 20mm thick. MUST have the fat on and most definately never dry it to the point of snapping. I am not saying what you make is not nice seeing as i have never eaten it, but i will stick with good old South African biltong.
RICHARD
BILLY----- SOME PEOPLE WILL COMPLAIN WHEN HUNG WITH A NEW ROPE, I AGREE WIT ALL OTHERS, THIS IS A SUPER RECIPE, TELL ME WHAT YOU DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE JERKY,
Diane Swaim
So good. So addictive. Love it
billy
from nh. changing my vote i will elimate the pepper
Phillip Frost
Worst recipe I have used. Too much Worcestershire. Positive ratings must be friends and family. I feel I just wasted 5 lbs of meat.
Timothy J Boucher
Cut the pepper in half double the brown sugar and I had about a cup and a half of apple juice. I’ve learned never follow recipe. I always taste it.
Steve Kinley
Made this for the first time this past weekend using venison after my co-worker brought in some that he had made with your recipe. Mine turned out fantastic and my wife loved it as well. I think the naturally lean meat helped to reduce the time to about three hours in the dehydrator at 165. I will try using beef next time to compare.
Darling
Love that this recipe is from scratch with no nitrates/nitrites. I also subbed out the brown sugar with raw honey as we are on a specific gut healing diet. It was great jerky!!
Robin
Been using this recipe ever since you first posted it. My son will not buy jerky in a store anymore. He takes it to work and they go crazy over it! We change it up sometimes but typically leave it well enough alone! We don’t worry about how long it’ll last because it’s gone before 7 days.....even when I use over 10lbs of beef.....😳😂! Thank you again, Y’all are AWESOME!
Chris
Just did this recipe and peppered it before dehydration and 2 other recipes added 2/3 cup of teriyaki to one batch to make a kind of teriyaki batch as my 2nd batch. For the 3rd batch I added another table spoon and a half of brown sugar to it and 1 tablespoon of crushed red peppers for a sweet and hot flavor. We will see if I ruined your recipe or if it turns out good. Thanks for the original!
Jack Kamoske
I just made this and had good results. I did notice that there are no stabilizers/nitrates to ward off bacteria. Should there be a concern if keeping the jerky for more than a week or so?
Darshan Murphy
Jack, I use this recipe as my flag ship! I use nitrates now, for other reasons, but I have made this nitrate free, and kept it in pantry for 1 month plus..... there is enough sugar and salt, plus the organic fluids bacteria like are gone, not much really is interested in growing on this jerky.... the rule of thumb is 1 week.... I have seen some nitrated homemade jerky (another recipe) start forming a white mold after 6 weeks. So nothing is bullet proof. hope this helps
j
One time I found beef jerky in the trunk of a car in a junk yard that was over 6 years old.
I ate it while I was there.
Melinda
I am in a time pinch , I've made may jerky it's in the refrigerator for the night . Has anyone ever froze the marinated beef , to dehydrate another day ?
Thomas
Well I vacuum seal my beef jerky and vacuum seal bags and freeze them in like 6 oz bags of jerky and they last me all year I just pulled one out when I'm ready to nibble on it I usually do 25 lb at a time
Donna
This will be our third time using this recipe. We find it delicious. We did cut the pepper to 1 tsp after the first batch. Thanks for the recipe!
Fred Shelton
Placing in referPlacing in the refrigerator overnight is a good idea. However, if you have a Food Saver system you can use the quick marinator and do it in two hours. The marinating process forces the marinade into the meat fiber. But this is a very tasty recipe.