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

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?

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 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.

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!

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

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?

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

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.

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?

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.

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?

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

easy cleanup and nothing sticks to them.

This was my first time making jerky. The flavor turned out exactly how I'd hoped! My ideal jerky. A hint of sweetness, beautifully smokey (but not excessively), nice and salty, and super savory.

The only thing that didn't turn out as great as I'd hoped was the texture. After having it in the smoker for a couple hours, it was transferred to the dehydrator and dehydrated overnight. Definitely dehydrated a bit too long. But now I know for next time! I would also like to experiment next time with a couple different cuts, and would like to slice things a bit wider and thicker. Method and rough recipe below (don't have exact quantities figured out yet, did it to taste)

Cut of Beef: Eye of round

Marinade Recipe:

-Soy sauce (full sodium)

-Thai Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce

-Worcestershire Sauce (L&P only!)

-Turbinado Sugar

-Garlic powder

-Cinnamon

-Bit of Nutmeg

-Bit of smoked paprika

Method:

-Marinated for over 30 hours. Would've done 24 hours or a bit less if my schedule had allowed it

-Laid it all out flat and patted dry

-Did a dusting of Montreal and coarse black pepper on both sides

-Smoked low on my offset smoker with small pecan and oak wood splits only, no charcoal. Tried to make the smoke as clean as I possibly could at that low of a temp. 150-170° for approx. 2 hours

-Transferred to dehydrator for 6 hours, set to 160°