Best Meat for Beef Jerky [Ultimate Guide] (2023)

FAQs

What is the most tender meat for beef jerky? ›

There are a variety of cuts of beef that you can use to make tender, delicious beef jerky. While top round, bottom round, pectoral, and lifter are typically the best cuts, others like flank and skirt steak can also make great jerky.

When you're slicing meat for jerky, you're walking a very fine line. "If it is too thick it will be chewy, and if it is too thin, it will become very tough," Thomas explains. So what's the right size? He says you should aim for your slices to be about one-quarter-inch thick.

Essentially, any meat source can be used to make jerky, but typically, lean cuts such as beef round roasts or pork loin are used. Lean cuts are more desirable because fat can become rancid during storage, resulting in off flavors.

Place the whole bag into the fridge to thoroughly marinate for up to 24 hours, but no fewer than 4 hours. The longer you marinate, the deeper your flavor and tenderizing action. The most convenient process is to simply refrigerate overnight and start your next step, the drying process, on the following day.

Are you wondering, “Do I need to tenderize meat before making beef jerky?” Yes, you do — and the best way to do it is with a marinade. Marinating meat tenderizes it and adds flavor before you make that tasty jerky. Your marinade needs to contain at least one acidic ingredient, like vinegar, wine or soy sauce.

Bottom Line

The best meat for jerky are Top Round, Bottom Round, Lifter and Pectoral, but a variety of cuts can be used such as Flank Steak and Skirt Steak. These cuts of beef check all the boxes for beef jerky—economical, lean, and full of flavor.

If the jerky just crumbles away in your mouth then it is definitely overcooked. We also don't want it so tough that it's almost impossible to chew down. We need it to retain a degree of softness. It can be a fine line, but that's what jerky is all about.

Run the meat through the grinder twice for proper texture. There are two tip options for the jerky gun, stick and flat strip, so I divided the mixture in half and did some of both. Flat jerky strips through the Weston Jerky gun.

Cowboys made their beef jerky by cutting cow meat into thin strips. While flank steak is the primary cut of beef used today for commercially made jerky, in the 1800s cowboys were far less discriminatory about the cut of beef they used. If it was edible, they used it.

If using a jerky cure and seasoning, it's very important that you marinate your meat for at least 8 hours.

What is the white stringy stuff in beef jerky? ›

Tyrosine crystals — Tyrosine, an amino acid, may be the problem. Just as tyrosine crystals form in cheese as it is dried, they can form on the surface of meat also. Usually this occurs more on the sliced surfaces of country-style hams and a solid white film that looks like slime or mold, but is actually tyrosine.

Don't leave the jerky too long as it can turn mushy. To prevent excessive moisture transfer and possible mold, we recommend keeping the jerky in the refrigerator for both options.

It is not recommended to leave jerky in the dehydrator for longer than 5 hours. If you follow the instructions above, the sweet spot for dehydrating beef jerky in the dehydrator should be 4 hours or 5 hours if your raw meat was exceptionally succulent.

What's important to note is that there really isn't a problem with letting your beef soak in your marinade for longer than 18 hours, and there honestly isn't any worry about allowing the marination process to go on for “too long.” Quite the contrary, what people need to be concerned about is not letting their jerky ...

Today, using dehydrators or ovens are recommended safe drying methods and are ideal to sufficiently heat and dry the meat strips without overcooking them.

Prague Powder #1, also referred to as Tinted Cure or Pink Curing Salt, is an essential component in the preserving and curing of meat, sausage, fish, and jerky. It serves to help maintain meat flavor and appearance. Use for curing bacon, ham, corned beef, and a variety of fish.

Homemade beef jerky, on the other hand, should last one to two months if you store it in an airtight container after making it. If you store beef jerky in a Ziplock bag in your pantry, it'll last about a week. And, if you store your beef jerky in the fridge, you can expect it to last one to two weeks.

For nonheated jerky, the estimated dehydrating time is 10 to 24 hours. When the dehydrating process is complete, remove strips from racks and allow to cool before packaging in glass jars, plastic food storage bags, or vacuum-sealed packages.

Using curing salt when making jerky is not essential, however it does have a lot of great benefits. Using curing salt correctly helps to reduce the chance of harmful bacteria growing on meat and ensures a safer curing process. It also improves flavour, colour and extends the shelf life.

Is brisket good for jerky? ›

Brisket is a premium, lean cut that gives off a good beefy flavor, and tough texture that's ideal for making beef jerky. It often chews like a succulent steak, making it a popular choice with many small-batch beef jerky makers.

Specifically, jerky is meat that has been preserved by dehydrating, or removing moisture, at a low temperature for a long time. Once dried, a pound of meat is typically reduced to about 4 ounces.

When heating meat before drying, the estimated drying time is 4-5 hours. Begin checking jerky at 3 hours, and remove pieces which are dried. Jerky pieces are done when they are firm throughout, with no sponginess, and will not break when you bend them.

Dry Out The Meat

Arrange the marinated meat on the wire racks in a single layer. Bake, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom midway through, until the meat is dried out, 3 to 4 hours. To determine if the jerky is thoroughly dried out, take a piece out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature.

Yet, most people don't realize that there is a better way to make jerky than your typical dehydrated meat: the best beef jerky is smoked to perfection.

YIELD OF DRIED MEAT

Four pounds of fresh, trimmed meat will yield 1 pound of jerky, a lightweight dried meat product. Suggested cuts include lean beef round, flank, chuck, rump, or brisket.

Making your own beef jerky at home is not only incredibly simple, but it is also much much cheaper than buying store-bought jerky. Plus, you'll be able to control all the ingredients that go into making it; no weird stabilizers or unpronounceable additives.

Depending on the device and meat thickness, the process takes between 4-8 hours. Check the consistency at least every hour. This accuracy is necessary. If the Jerky no longer feels moist and soft, it's ready.

Cowboys never had a reputation for being very sophisticated connoisseurs. The whiskey they drank was simply fuel for the saloons' many other pastimes, whatever those happened to be. Quality and flavor among whiskies in the late 1800s varied widely.

Natives would create a rack from sticks and thin strips of leather. From this they would hang pieces of meat and allow the wind to dry it and they would use some of the fat to coat the jerky to preserve the meat from mold and moisture.

What is a Texas cowboy steak? ›

It is essentially a bone-in ribeye*.

It is any of the steaks taken from the short loin primal - like the t-bone or porter house. It is any thick steak cooked over an open fire grill fueled by either wood or charcoal.

If you do happen to like sweeter beef jerky, just add 1/4 cup of maple syrup to the marinade. And if you like a spicier beef jerky, I recommend sprinkling some crushed red pepper flakes on top of the jerky as it cooks.

Jerky will mold if not enough moisture has been removed from the meat during the drying process; therefore, it should have around 90% to 95% of the moisture in the meat removed during drying. If it doesn't, the moisture still in the meat will cause mold spores to grow.

The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline's current recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F before the dehydrating process. This step assures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat.

Once a package has been opened, however, the moisture level of the jerky determines if refrigeration is required. Jerky with a high moisture level is not shelf-stable when exposed to oxygen and requires refrigeration. This jerky will have a “Refrigerate After Opening” statement on the package.

Recommended curing time is 24 hours for stripped meat and 12 hours for ground meat. Letting it cure too long will make it too salty as well. If done correctly, you can cut the cure down by ½ tsp per pound of meat.

A better way to store jerky that you don't plan on eating in one week or less is to use a vacuum sealer. When you use a vacuum-sealed bag, you are removing nearly all of the air from around the jerky, which will ensure that it lasts longer. Jerky in a vacuum bag will last at least one month.

Storing the Jerky

Properly dried jerky will keep at room temperature two weeks in a sealed container. For best results, to increase shelf life and maintain best flavor and quality, refrigerate or freeze jerky.

The best cuts of meat for beef jerky are Top Round, Bottom Round, Lifter and Pectoral, but a variety of cuts can be used such as Flank Steak and Skirt Steak. These cuts of beef check all the boxes for beef jerky—economical, lean, and full of flavor.

When you're slicing meat for jerky, you're walking a very fine line. "If it is too thick it will be chewy, and if it is too thin, it will become very tough," Thomas explains. So what's the right size? He says you should aim for your slices to be about one-quarter-inch thick.

Should you pre Cook jerky before dehydrating? ›

At the beginning of dehydrating, heat the jerky to 160°F (71°C) to kill dangerous bacteria. For jerky to be safe, it should be heated to 160°F for beef and 165°F for turkey or chicken jerky BEFORE you dry your strips.

Bathe That Jerky

Place the whole bag into the fridge to thoroughly marinate for up to 24 hours, but no fewer than 4 hours. The longer you marinate, the deeper your flavor and tenderizing action.

The best beef jerky marinade!

You need: Soy sauce. Olive oil. Liquid smoke - this adds the perfect slightly smoky flavor to the jerky!

Lightly brush the jerky with a liquid and let it sit for a few hours and up to 24 hours in a sealed environment. You can use any liquid. Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vegetable, beef, or chicken broth, liquid smoke, and water all work wonders. We recommend matching whatever liquid was used in the original recipe.

Jerky made from the Tibetan yak meat is the finest available. This jerky is higher in protein and lower in calories and fat than beef, to which many compare its flavor. Yak is lower in calories when compared with bison, elk and even skinless chicken breast! It is an extremely lean meat.

Its a way of preserving it by removing moisture. Factory made jerky is mechanically tenderised. You too could beat your meat, pardon the pun, tenderised it, or you can even use burger which should be more tender. If you are making homemade jerky and it isn't dry, it's not done.

When making beef jerky, it's important to start with a well-trimmed, lean cut of meat, as fat does not dry out and accelerates spoilage. An eye of round roast is ideal; it's affordable, accessible, lean, and easy to trim.

If the jerky just crumbles away in your mouth then it is definitely overcooked. We also don't want it so tough that it's almost impossible to chew down. We need it to retain a degree of softness. It can be a fine line, but that's what jerky is all about.

You cannot overdry foods you plan on putting into storage. The drier it is, the better it will store. You might over dry fruit leather or jerky a little more than your taste preference is, but you cannot overdry food meant for food storage.