How to Make Beef Jerky in a Dehydrator w/ Sweet Chili Marinade

Which Cuts of Meat are Best for Jerky?

You want to use cuts of beef that are lean.

Good candidates include:

• Eye of Round
• Bottom Round
• Top Round
• Brisket Flat
• Flank steak
• Sirloin

For this article, I used “petite sirloin steaks” – while these aren’t particularly cheap, they are lean; I also had them frozen in my freezer for 3 months so that’s what I opted to use.

The reason for the lack of fat is because fat won’t preserve well nor will it render. Rather it will go rancid quicker.

If my intention is preservation, I’ll even go as far as to trim un-rendered fat with kitchen shears.

Slicing Meat for Beef Jerky

Before slicing your meat into strips, you need to determine your taste preference.

Meaning, do you prefer soft or jerky with a “tug.”

• For tender/soft jerky you’d slice against the grain structure of the beef.
• If you prefer a bit of “tug” in your bite you’d slice with the grain.

The grain directions would look like this:

Aside from that, it’s also recommended to slice around 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick.

Making a Marinade

The recipe in this article is based on around 0.5 – 1 lb of meat.

I’d suggest sticking to the quantities I list and work in batches of 1 lb rather than attempting to scale the recipe.

Dylan’s Sweet-Chili marinade:

• 1/3 Cup Molasses
• 1/2 Tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Tablespoon Black Pepper
• 1/2 Tablespoon Chili Powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon Onion Powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
• 1/2 Tablespoon Cloves
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 Tablespoon of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt

Marinate the jerky overnight – this jerky marinated for 19 hours and 27 minutes.

If you’re pressed for time, I always say that a minimum marination time is 2 hours – just purely from a salt penetration perspective.

Heat Treating the Beef Jerky in the Oven to Make it Softer

This step is because I like to dehydrate at a lower air temperature because it makes the jerky softer.

If you don’t care about that – skip this and just dehydrate at 160F for 3-5 hours.

To start, set your oven to pre-heat for 350F.

1. Take a baking sheet and cover the bottom with aluminum foil.
2. Put oven safe cooling racks on top of the pan.
3. Take your marinated beef jerky out of the refrigerator and start placing the strips on top of the cooling racks.

When putting the jerky on the cooling/baking racks, ensure they aren’t covering each other and that they interact minimally.

I DO NOT believe in patting the meat dry with paper towel.

Remember, most if not all the ingredients in a wet marinade are surface treatments and will not penetrate the meat, if at all. Where-as salt can penetrate the meat.

Meaning, if you pat dry your jerky, all you’re doing is removing any potential for flavor.

Allow the jerky to heat treat for 10 minutes.

During this time, start your dehydrator and get it to 120-130F.

Dehydrating the Beef Jerky

When putting your jerky on the trays you want to ensure that none of it overlaps.

After you get all the jerky on the trays, close the door and allow the meat to dehydrate.

Jerky will typically take 3-5 hours to dehydrate.

How to Tell When the Beef Jerky is Done

The most common test people use for this is the bend test.

Start by taking smaller pieces out that you suspect are “done” and allow them to cool, then bend the jerky.

Upon looking at the cross-section you’ll notice a few things:

• Variations of red/pink hues, visibly moist, rubbery
• Dry with white edges

Jerky that has hues of red/pink, is not done and needs to dehydrate longer. This jerky will also feel “wet” at the cross-section or in some cases “rubbery.”

Here’s an example of hues of red/pink:

Jerk that’s “done” will have a cross section that’s dry and feature what I call “Spider webbing.”

Here’s an example:

Cool Down in a Bag with the Lid Open

Leaving the top open lets the jerky aerate and prevents moisture from building up in the bag.

This process also lets the moisture re-distribute in the slices.

Once the jerky cools, I force out residual air, close the bag, and put it in a cool, dry, dark place.

Eat within 2 weeks.