Smoky Beef Jerky
While a lot of children awoke on Christmas morning to stockings full of toys (or socks and underwear!), my Grandma always stuffed ours with little homemade treats. We of course got the toys and practical items like clothes when we opened the packages, but my favorite thing to find in my stocking was her homemade beef jerky. To be honest, I actually have no idea what she used to marinate it in and really should ask her! Grandma I know you’re reading this, so let’s swap recipes soon!
I’ve loved jerky of any kind ever since, be-it turkey, beef, or even the bear jerky that a friend let us try one time in Colorado when I was growing up. I had never made it though until last year when I actually started scrutinizing the labels of the packages I was buying. There’s quite a few brands out there now that use healthy ingredients; but I find it is still easier, cheaper, and more flavorful to just make own at home. There will be a couple of different flavors in my new cookbook next Fall, but for now, here is our go-to Smoky Beef Jerky. I keep it in the pantry for those days when I need a salty snack or am on the run and don’t have time to fix lunch.
| Ingredients
1 pound london broil steak or flank steak (ask the butcher for a very lean piece) ** I buy All Natural Wright’s brand liquid smoke. Ingredients should just be Natural Hickory Smoke Concentrate and Water) |
Directions
Place the steak in the freezer for 2 hours to firm it up and make it easier to slice thinly.
Remove it from the freezer and trim any visible white fat. Any fat left on the meat will spoil after drying.
Slice the steak into 1/8 inch pieces. For London broil slice it with the grain, for flank steak slice it against the grain.
Whisk together the ingredients for the marinade and combine the marinade with the beef slices in a shallow dish or a ziploc bag. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours turning occasionally to evenly coat.
Remove the meat from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towels.
Dehydrator Method
Evenly place the strips on dehydrator sheets lined with parchment paper, careful not to let them overlap.
Dehydrate the beef for 3-4 hours at 145 degrees F, flipping once half way through.
Oven Method
Preheat oven to the lowest setting, usually 150-170 degrees F.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and place a heavy wire rack over both (an oven safe cookie cooling rack will do).
Place the strips of beef on the racks leaving space between each piece so they’re not touching. Place the trays in the oven, leaving it open a crack to allow air to circulate.
Dehydrate for 8-10 hours, depending on the thickness of the meat, turning 1 time half way through.
*If you have a convection setting this process will probably take about half the time. Check for dryness around 5 hours and continue dehydrating if the strips are still moist.
Store the beef jerky in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. *The research I’ve done shows that this method results in jerky that can last on the shelf in a well sealed container for as long as 2 months. It never lasts long enough in our house to test that out though!
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[...] this quest for snacks that would be practical on the go, I found this recipe and modified it to fit what I had on hand and to a larger batch. (It’s so darn [...]
I picked up a package of some “beef” jerky once and the second ingredient was soy protein! I couldn’t understand why they needed to add soy protein to something that was already protein. Most commercial jerky also has corn syrup and gluten. Glad to see a recipe I can make and know exactly what is in it. Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to making this as soon as I have a free afternoon.
I look forward to trying your recipe. I love making homemade jerky without all the preservatives, sugar, “natural flavors”, and other junk. I’ve used Braggs liquid amino acids for soy flavor and combined with liquid stevia for a teriyaki flavor. For storing, I vacuum seal small amounts using my foodsaver, then freeze. Just pull out what you need!
This might be what I have been looking for all my life. There is pretty much no way to find beef jerky that isn’t full of sugar even if it’s organic at the store, and it looks like this is my savior. I am trying this as soon as I possibly can because this looks amazing. Thank you for making life about 1000 times better because I get to have my jerky again. Also you really should check and see what your grandmothers recipe is, grandmothers tend to be evil recipe geniuses.
Do you refrigerate while marinating?
yes thank you just correct that!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. We have a freezer full of venison, so I may try that first. Thanks for sharing.
if i ever get to the point where i can hike again, this is coming with. thanks danielle.
Good post! I would not recommend keeping it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks as it will grow mold in cold conditions. Unless it is sealed in a bag with oxygen removed from it, it will go bad rather quickly (2-3 days) without any preservatives to prolong the jerky’s shelf life.
Thanks Steve. The liquid smoke acts as a preservative and as long as you trim all of the visible fat as I mentioned in the instructions, the beef will not spoil. Keeping it in a jar or food storage container works best and you could probably even keep it on the shelf for a couple of months according to most of the research I’ve done, but it never lasts that long in our house.
I’ve missed using liquid smoke in my cooking! I have never been able to find any sans lots of yucky/unidentifiable ingredients. Where do you find this All Natural Wrights brand?
I’ve bought it at Whole Foods but I also found it at a supermarket in Kona when we were there so I have to imagine that even the normal stores like Safeway carry it
Wow! Guesse I’ll start w/my Whole Foods and go from there. Thank you!
I made this recipe, with some slight changes. I used smoked chipotle powder rather than smoked paprika and omitted the smoke flavor. I smoked the meat in my smoker for about 7 hours. It’s really good! All my kids loved it. They gobbled it all down fast!
Oh wow, now that looks AMAZING! I wish I had the patience to make it, lol… Can you send me some? lol
This is something I make weekly. I use london broil or flank steak but I have my butcher slice it into 1/8″ strips for me so all I have to do is marinate and dehydrate. I store mine in the fridge-do you think storing in the pantry is better?
I absolutely love making jerky and have done it for some time. Thank you for the recipe. The only that I would ask about is the liquid smoke. I have never truly been a big fan of liquid smoke, all natural or not just because of how it is made. I work in a job that we are exposed to the ingredients of the liquid smoke and would just caution anyone using it to look a little more closely on how its made. But enjoy the jerky
I always ask my butcher to slice the steak for me. They are always so accommodating!
So I’m 4-5 hours into oven drying my jerky and as I flipped the meat I was surprised at how cold it was. I just realized that my oven doesn’t heat/stay on if the door is open! I closed the oven door and sure enough it heated right up… Can I continue with this batch, or is it past the point of being safe to consume? Hate to waste it, but I certainly am not willing to get sick over it…
it’s probably ok. beef is a lot more resilient than chicken