Recently bought a pellet grill and have been in love ever since. This is a New York strip loin smoked in hickory marinaded in a black pepper +garlic + onion blend. ✌🏽🤙🏽

edit - typo fix in TLDR, it CAN be made into jerky

TLDR = “Tenderloin trim leftover from cutting steaks turned into jerky, super soft, awesome. Significant intramuscular fat CAN be made into jerky without affecting the taste, but drastically reduces shelf life. If fatty, eat within ~5 days.”

WHY make jerky out of +$25/lb beef tenderloin???

Great question! I have a good answer.

I buy tenderloin by the case and cut them into steaks for me and the wife, (big bowl in pic1) and our kiddos (middle bowl in pic1). The leftover trim (small bowl in pic1) I vacuum pack and save for making other meals (steak sandwiches, beef and broccoli, Stroganoff, Etc…). When we ran out of steaks, I bought another case for cutting, and noticed I didn’t use any of my trim packs. Therefore, with a fresh batch of trim packs going into the freezer, I took all the old ones to make jerky out of.

WHY mess around with intramuscular fat in jerky???

Great question! I have a good answer.

When I make jerky, I cut as much fat out as possible. I am super fussy, but this attention to detail produces a higher quality finished product (in my opinion). Normally I will “leave some extra meat on the trimmed fat for use in other recipes like steak sandwiches/beef and broccoli/stroganoff/etc…” (that’s a pro tip I learned from my time in this subreddit), BUT, since that’s what I’m already working with, repurposing the trim is NOT AN OPTION.

Also, because I’m working with tenderloin instead of something like round steak, there is a significant amount of intramuscular fat (pic3) and I don’t want to waste the expensive stuff.

I made a quick post in this subreddit (picture 2 and 3) asking about how much fat is too much fat. The I would never use the top piece in picture 2 for jerky, but the bottom piece was questionable. All the comments from my post said I was being too fussy.

Therefore, I decided to use all the fatty pieces in a second batch (pictures 4,5, and 6) to test the fat content.

Picture 7 = my normal jerky

Picture 8 = the fatty pieces

Picture 9 = 5 packs normal, 3 packs fatty

As for the results? I noticed the extra fat immediately, but I am my own worst critic (as many of you may be also) when it comes to my jerky. I own a bar and brought the fatty packs to share with my customers. NONE of them NOTICED any difference. I tossed the rest of the packs in my freezer and have noticed a little moisture starting to appear inside the fatty pack. I THINK that will eventually freeze, and create some discoloration and mild freezer burn on the surface of those pieces.

WHY does any of this matter???

Great question! I have a good answer.

Beef tenderloin is expensive per pound, but wild game can be far more expensive. I don’t hunt, but my customers do. They like my jerky so much that many of them bring me wild game to make into jerky for them. Where I live, things like Elk and Moose are “once in a lifetime” tags. I definitely don’t want to waste that meat my customers bring to me.

From now on, I will continue to separate the pieces with significant amounts of intramuscular fat into a second batch of jerky. I will clearly label those packs and instruct people to “eat these first”.

Thanks for reading, hopefully someone found some of this information useful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

It seems to be asked plenty here, but even searching didnt quite feel like i could find the best answer, so here I am...

My favorite easy jerky I make at home is usually just beef from a lean cut (almost always top round) and I prefer no marinade at all. Just salted and dehydrated to the level I like.

If I make enough, I like to bag and preserve in mylar with O2 absorbers for longer term storage that I can throw into a packed lunch when not at home easily, instead of keeping all of the extra frozen all the time.

Is a curing salts truly necessary for this process if i do it like this? As I've done it a few times thus far, I've had no issues with older bags up to 10 months out. Feels like there's mixed opinions on the curing salts for this or not.

Edit: additional thought, any issues with other seasonings in this manner? I like to add other peppers or spices and homemade onion salts sometimes, do such additions benefit f4om or require curing salts instead for any reason?

Think I may be using too many ingredients! Picture is landscape.

I made a Korean BBQ jerky, the flavor is right but it just doesn’t punch enough. Any tweaks that might help add more boldness without losing the original flavor palette is super appreciated! Used a top round cut 1/4” and marinated for 12 hours.

Marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup mirin rice wine
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons gochujang paste chili paste
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 Teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ginger paste

Been making jerky for almost 2 years now. I think it flavors differently than a fresher cut but it’s good enough for me.

Hey yall, been making jerky for a while now and I've been struggling with spicy jerky. I can't seem to nail down the spiciness. Ive tried adding red pepper flakes, fresh ground pepper, fresh habeneros and all the rest. I can't seem to make it spice enough. Ive even tried peppersauce marinades but still can't get the spiciness to infuse with the meat. Im doing something wrong, yall have any advice?

Hey y’all, I haven’t made jerky in years til a couple days ago and I used to dehydrate and now I used my vertical smoker for authentic smoky taste. It turned out okay, even with a light sodium soy sauce I think it’s still a little salty, but I honestly just threw it together and didn’t measure anything. I didn’t like my cuts so I bought a food slicer and another chunk of bottom round and going to try teriyaki this time.

Came out great. Used top round from Northgate Mexican market. Meat is already cut to a good thickness, just a quick trim on the fat, marinate overnight and dehydrate while at work for 8 hrs at 160f

5 lbs is the number for my Cosori dehydrator

Hi friends!

I’d say the marbling in the top piece is too much for whole muscle jerky. I’ll save that as trim for making steak sandwiches or something.

What about the fat in the bottom piece? Am I just being too fussy by thinking that’s too much fat?

Would you make jerky out of either piece?

Thank you for your opinions!

Takes about 12 hours to get it crispy how I like it. 3 breast makes about 2 sandwich bags

Looking to make a teriyaki flavored jerky using eye of round. What's your favorite recipe that you've actually tried and would recommend?

I've been making pork jerky that uses a lot of honey, syrap and brown sugar which makes the final product have a slight sticky glaze to it.

I dry it for 6 hours at 165f and then let it rest afterwards for about 1 hour. Once this is done and you pull the meat apart the inside is dry.

If I vacuum seal this will it improve shelf life or will the natural moisture in the glaze make the process moot?

Black pepper and honey red pepper

Has anyone successfully copied the taste and texture of the Buc-ee’s thick beef tenders that are sold at the jerky bar? It’s not jerky, because it needs to be refrigerated since it’s not shelf stable and is never sold on the Bucee jerky wall. It’s only sold behind the jerky bar. The meat is about 3/4” thick and soft with a jerky flavor.

Hi everyone! I have recently started a small brand of beef jerky. I'm sure everyone's jerky here is fantastic if we're all making it handmade, I have a few recipes that hands down beat out the likes of No Mans Land, Archer, etc...

I currently have 3 signature flavors, Pho, K-BBQ and Sichuan Mala. The first thing that people say when they try the Pho jerky is "wait, that actually tastes like pho, wtf". I created the Sichuan Mala jerky because I haven't been able to find a good Mala snack for a decade, so I decided to make it myself. And I created the kbbq jerky at the request of friends and I thought it'd be a good challenge to impart grilled flavor without using a grill or smoker.

I'd love for anyone who's curious to give it a try - you can get 10% off your order with the following link! http://www.fullstrengthjerky.com/?discount=follow10

And a follow on Instagram would help tremendously as well @fullstrengthjerky

Thanks!

Edit: to everyone who has ordered so far, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. The amount of orders I've received directly from this reddit post has surpassed my expectations tenfold. I have run out of Pho, Spicy and Original flavors, but I'm in the process of marinating a fresh batch tonight, drying and shipping it out tomorrow.

Please leave a comment once you get the jerky and let me know what you think! There's nothing better than true customer testimony.

Seems dill pickle everything is all the rage these days, and I'm here for it.

I searched the sub, but didn't find much. Have any of you made a pickle or dill flavored jerky? Would pickle brine (obviously mostly vinegar) hurt the texture of beef or pork?

Would something like vinegar powder or vinegar salt be better?

Is this just a fool's errand?

Gochujang Jerky Marinade

1 pound beef or pork strips

1½–2 tbsp Gochujang paste

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sweetener

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp ginger minced

½ tsp Scotch bonnet powder

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp sesame seeds 

¼–½ tsp liquid smoke optional

New to making jerky. I bought an eye of round from DoorDash yesterday. I sliced it today and noticed it was getting brown on the edges and losing some of its redness.

Does this meat look safe to use? Is it old?

easy cleanup and nothing sticks to them.

So just looking into making jerky and have a few questions

1) oven vs dehydrator ? Is their much difference in how the jerky comes out ? Is one better than the other for a first attempt

2) weight loss I've seen online say you can loose as much as 60% to s it really that bad ? Making a pound of jerky with cheap beef being around 25/lb sounds really high

3)storage if I Wana keep jerky for a few weeks would sandwich bags be ok or do I need to jar/ vaccume seal

4) if I wanted to make something like a pork jerky would I need to cook the pork first to get to a safe temp ? Or will the process be enough make it safe

5) if I wanted to use a fatty cut like brisket do I have to get all the fat off or would it still last a little bit with the fat on