Honey Pepper Beef Jerky Recipe: An Umami Bomb of Flavor

Beef to Use for This Jerky

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

If you don’t have Top round/London broil, use:

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

Cutting the Beef into Jerky Strips

If the meat is thawed, 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 to roughly 1/8″ – 1/4″ thickness.

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

Dylan’s Honey Pepper Beef Jerky Marinade

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.

• 1/2 Cup Kikkoman, Low-sodium Teriyaki Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Kikkoman Tamari Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Honey Granules*
• 1/3 Cup Honey
• 1/2 Tsp Granulated Garlic
• 2 Tbsp 30 Mesh Cracked Black Pepper (Medium Grind)
• 1 Tsp Ginger powder
• 1/4 Tsp Citric Acid**

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

**If you don’t have citric acid, use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

Marinating the Beef Jerky

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

Roll the bag on top of itself to push air out.

Marinate for at least 2 hours – ideally overnight for 16+ hours.

Heat Treating the Beef 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 step, skip it – dehydrate at 160F instead.

Set your oven to preheat at 350F.

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

Place the marinated jerky on top of the cooling racks ensuring that none overlap.

Once preheated, place the jerky pan on the middle rack for 10 minutes.

While heat treating, set your dehydrator to 130F.

Dehydrating the Beef Jerky

Once heat treated, transfer to your dehydrator trays, ensuring none of the strips overlap.

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

Checking the Jerky for Doneness

Jerky that is sliced thin will take 3-5 hours to finish.

At the 3 hour mark, take a few strips out that you suspect are finished 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 spider webbing, it’s done.

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

Storing the Jerky

As the jerky starts finishing, put into a Ziplock bag with the top open; This will allow the jerky to cool and aerate.

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