What is Your Favorite Beef Jerky Recipe?

I'm looking for a few good beef jerky recipes. Nothing sweet, just good old fashioned smoked meat with an awesome favor.

Herb Brittner's Smokehouse in Zelienople is my favorite. It's a bit of a drive from Las Vegas, NV though ...

I use a base of soy sauce & Worcestershire in a 1:1 ratio, and either brown sugar or honey for a base. Season to preference (I use pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, etc., depending on my mood. I assume you know the process from here if you have made jerky before.

Please note that this jerky is not cured, so it needs to be cooked and stored appropriately; curing is a totally different process involving "pink" curing salts such as TenderQuick or High Mountain.

Herb brittners meats and radiator repair? Haha an odd combination but they make some fantastic jerky.

This: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/beef-jerky-recipe/index.html

A winner everytime. Look it up on you-tube to understand the box-fan method. It actually works and makes awesome jerky.

jbrew18 said:

Herb brittners meats and radiator repair? Haha an odd combination but they make some fantastic jerky.

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Have you had their jerky?

I have been seriously considering smoker jerky. I have heard that jerky is best cold dried. How does it work with smoke? Cold smoke? low and slow until it dries like I did the bacon to cure my smoker?

I haven't settled on a recipe yet as I enjoy experimenting. But, I definatly like the taste of cured jerky (using pink salt) better than just marinated.

My kids are from Korea so I occasionally make Korean BBQ beef, I really like using the same basic ingredients, with cure, for my jerky. Soy sauce, mabe apple juice to cut the salt, rice vineger, spices- fresh ground pepper, ground chillies...some garlic, onion, and fresh ginger...then somthing sweet like honey or brown sugar.

Smoke with apple at <200° for an hour or two, then pull from the smoker when the meat seems a little moister than you want. Don't over smoke, just light smoke and not too long. I do mine on an electric, with no water.

And for the meat, I like getting sirloin tip or, when I'm lazy I get top round " sandwich steaks". They are already thin sliced, just cut into serving sized strips!

Cure is what makes bacon bacon and puts the corned in corned beef.....like yeast, It does good things

I have had it. Their little smokies are great too. It is about half an hour from my house.

I bought a Nesco dehydrator in the spring, after borrowing a friend's a few times. Great for drying herbs and hot peppers from my garden, but I digress. I've made jerky about 8 times, but only one recipe. As a matter of fact, I'm making jerky right now. Anyway, here's the recipe.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/docs-best-beef-jerky/

I use this recipe with a few variations. I don't add the pineapple and i add crushed habanero to my marinade. I smoke at 170 for 6 hours. Usually use london broil as it tends to go on half off sale fairly regularly. Having a meat slicer or a good jerky board is the best way to ensure even smoking for all pieces. For venison however I make ground jerky and use a jerky gun and nesco dehydrator with 8 trays. Thats more of a set it and forget it. Timer for 4 hours 15 minutes, go to bed, wake up with delicious deer jerky.

What is a "jerky board"?

This is a Jerky board. But to explain it it is basically a cutting board that has a raised lip either 3/8'' or 1/2'' so you can put the meat in and just run the knife along the raised edges, ensuring an even thickness on every cut. Evenly sliced jerky means it all gets done around the same time, which cuts down on the PITA aspect of smoking jerky. I prefer a meat slicer because it is faster and the jerky boards sometimes don't work if you have a cut like a london broil and want to cut against the grain. As the thin side rests on the board and you have to hold the roast sideways. It's just awkward.

Nice - I found a video here:

+1 for Alton Brown's recipe, although use 1/3 Worcestershire and 1 cup soy sauce. I also throw in more red pepper flakes. We like it spicy.

If you have a Mexican market with a butcher shop, you can buy really thinly sliced meat there which is great for cutting into jerky strips.

Unfortunately KotC's dentist told him to quit eating regular jerky, it was jacking with his teeth/jaw, so now I make it from ground meat and a LEM jerky cannon. Dang good stuff and easier to chew!

As for what cuts, I am able to pick up either a half round or sirloin. 1.99 to 2.50 lb and they cut to order! A, I assume round will give me less trimming? B we looking for 1/4 inch? They do anything, cubed, grind, etc.

If you want one that really takes a lot less trimming, try eye of the round. Hardly ANY fat or marbling on that cut AT ALL. Not sure you're gonna get that great price on it though - but it might be worth asking!

Temptd2 said:

If you want one that really takes a lot less trimming, try eye of the round. Hardly ANY fat or marbling on that cut AT ALL. Not sure you're gonna get that great price on it though - but it might be worth asking!

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What they give has the 'eye' in it. I have been told the only way to go was with a jerky gun. They said"all" bought jerky was made this way, no matter what it looked like. Your opinion?

I don't think that's true. The jerky gun uses ground beef. I've seen plenty of beef jerky that is made from strips of real meat, not extruded. Jerky USA comes to mind. Theirs is quite good.

We use the jerky cannon made by LEM - holds quite a bit of ground beef (or bison or whatever) jerky at one time. I quit making strips from beef cuts when KOTC's dentist told him it was wearing his teeth and jaw out!

I'm excited, my neighborhood grocery store has whole eye of round for $2/lb this week, as well as apple juice for .67/litre

So it will be beef jerky and cider all around.

my jerky recipe is 1 cup soy sauce, 2 cups brown sugar, generous dashes of worchestershire, small amounts of tabasco, and a capful of liquid smoke. That is usually enough to marinade 3-4 lbs of meat for at least 8 hours. Then it's onto the dehydrator. Sorry to disappoint guys, I don't have a smoker, I just dehydrate it at 170. but it's tasty and it keeps well. It definitely keeps for longer than it takes for it all to be eaten.

These recipes are great, everyone. Thanks for posting! Today will be brisket in the slow cooker and jerky in the dehydrator!

And I'll try not to think about the electricity bill...

If you really want to try something amazing, grab some flank steak, cut it into thick strips, cure it in sodium nitrite, season it, and then smoke it for three hours at 180'F.

Eye of round, as everyone else said, is ideal for the dry stuff. I would recommend also trying to cure the thin strips using a spray bottle loaded with vinegar instead of sodium nitrite. That's how we cure it at my buisness, and it's always worked. It's also how it's traditionally cured in a lot of other parts of the world. Plus, vinegar adds another layer of flavor and can be made by you! It's pretty cool adding another homemade step.

Take lean beef, like round steak or rump roast, and slice it into thin strips, maybe 1/4" thick. Trim away any fat or gristle. Put the meat in a gallon ziplock freezer bag or a Tupperware bowl with a lid.

To each pound of meat strips, add 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp of fresh-ground black pepper. (The "fresh ground" is important) Mix it into the meat by hand and put it in the fridge overnight for the salt to start doing its magic. Next day, you can start drying it. That's it. Don't let it get too hot; you want to dry it, not cook it.

You can use either a dehydrator or a cool smoker. Smoker is better, but not that much better.

kinkothecarp said:

If you really want to try something amazing, grab some flank steak, cut it into thick strips, cure it in sodium nitrite, season it, and then smoke it for three hours at 180'F.

Eye of round, as everyone else said, is ideal for the dry stuff. I would recommend also trying to cure the thin strips using a spray bottle loaded with vinegar instead of sodium nitrite. That's how we cure it at my buisness, and it's always worked. It's also how it's traditionally cured in a lot of other parts of the world. Plus, vinegar adds another layer of flavor and can be made by you! It's pretty cool adding another homemade step.

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Can you elaborate on this process, perhaps a simple recipe?

One cup brown sugar
Half cup soy sauce
8 shakes of Tabasco
8 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
1 capful of liquid smoke

Cut eye of round into 1/4 or 1/8 inch strips with the grain perpendicular to the length of the strips. Marinade in the fridge overnight or longer.

Pat dry and place on dehydrator at 160 overnight 6-8 hours.


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I make my jerky marinade out of molasses, salt and red pepper flakes. Layer salt, molasses, pepper flakes, beef and repeat until all the beef is in. Let it marinate for two days in the refrigerator, mixing it up after the first day. Cold smoke for about 1 to 4 hours - then transfer to the food drier until it done.

I'm sensitive to soy sauce and nitrates - therefor I absolutely refuse to use them.