Honey Habanero Beef Jerky Recipe: A Wave of Fiery Heat

Beef to Use for Jerky

This recipe uses 1 lb of top round (london broil).

If you don’t have top round, use:

• Round tip
• Bottom round
• Eye of round
• Brisket flat
• Flank steak

Slicing the Meat for Jerky

If you bought the meat in a grocery store, pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes – 1 hour; This makes slicing far easier.

• If you prefer soft beef jerky = Slice against the grain.
• If you prefer jerky with a tug = Slice with the grain.

If you’re unsure of what grain is, read this article.

Slice the meat roughly 1/8″ – 1/4″ thick.

My preference is against the grain and roughly 1/8″ thick.

Dylan’s Honey Habanero Jerky Marinade Ingredients

The marinade below is for 1 lb of meat.

If you have more than 1 lb, work in 1 lb batches rather than scaling this recipe.

• 1/4 Cup Kikkoman Tamari Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Teriyaki Sauce Low sodium
• 1/4 Cup Honey Granules*
• 2 Tablespoons Distilled White Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup Honey
• 1 Tbsp Molasses
• 1/2 Tsp Granulated Garlic
• 1/2 Tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 Tsp Granulated Onion
• 1 Tsp Habanero pepper Flakes**
• 1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 Tbsp Cloves – whole with nail (remove these from marinade before dehydrating)
• 1/4 Tsp Citric Acid***

*If you don’t have honey granules, use dark brown sugar.

**The amount of habanero flakes to use is personal preference. The amount listed is a good middle-ground, but if you prefer more or less spice use 2 or 1/2 tsp respectively.

**If you don’t have citric acid, use 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice.

Marinating the Meat

Take your marinade and sliced beef and add it to a ziplock bag.

Roll the air out and massage the marinade into the meat – then place in your refrigerator.

At a minimum you want to marinate for 2 hours, but overnight is ideal.

Heat Treating the Jerky Before Dehydrating

I like to heat treat my beef jerky so that I can dehydrate at a lower temperature – I find the jerky is much softer this way.

If you don’t care about this, skip it – dehydrate at 160F.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and then top with oven-safe cooling racks.

Place the marinated jerky on top ensuring none overlap.

Once preheated, place the baking pan on the middle rack and heat treat for 10 minutes.

While heat treating, set your dehydrator to 130F.

Dehydrating the Beef Jerky

Once the jerky is heat treated, transfer to your dehydrator, ensure none of the strips are overlapping.

Allow the jerky to dehydrate for at least 3 hours before checking for doneness.

Checking the Jerky for Doneness

Jerky that is sliced rather thin – 1/8″ – 1/4″ – will take 3-5 hours to fully dehydrate.

At 3 hours take a few strips out that you suspect are done and allow them to cool for 5 minutes.

Once cooled, take a piece and bend/tear it and check for spider webbing. If it has this spider webbing, it’s done.

If the jerky still feels like a rubber band and has hues of red/pink at the tear, it’s not done.

Storing the Jerky

Once the jerky starts finishing, transfer to a Ziplock bag with the top open – this allows the jerky to aerate.

Once cooled, zip the top and store in a cool, dry, dark place.