Sweet and Spicy Beef jerky Recipe: How-to Guide (with Pictures!)

Last Updated:
October 19, 2023

This sweet and spicy beef jerky recipe starts with sweet and finishes with a kick of heat courtesy of the red pepper flakes.

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Which Cuts of Beef to Use for Jerky?

The best cuts to use for jerky are lean and cheap.

brisket flat for beef jerky

Cuts that have these qualities typically come from the rear of the cow.

For this article, I used brisket flat (pictured above). However, in your grocery store good substitutes include:

  • Top round
  • Bottom round
  • Eye of round
  • Flank steak

Slicing and Trimming the Meat for Beef Jerky

To start, the goal with jerky is to remove the exterior fat and silverskin.

The reason for removing the fat is because it won’t render and it can lead to rancidity. The reason for removing the silverskin is because it’s a protein elastin and won’t render, rather like the meat, it will shrink.

Since I’m working with brisket flat, I know there is usually one side with a fat cap and silverskin.

Simply use a sharp knife and slice this fat/silverskin off:

trimmed brisket flat

If there’s some silverskin on the meat, it’s not a huge deal. However it’s up to you – it’s still totally edible, it will just leave a slight “snap” on the pieces that have it on.

This brisket flat weighed roughly 4.5 lbs – which is A LOT of meat. Rather, I cut these up into roughly 1 lb pieces to use at a later date.

portioning brisket for smaller strips

The second step is to then determine how you like your jerky – ie. do you prefer jerky with a bit of tug or do you like “softer” jerky?

  • If the former – with a bit of tug – slice with the grain.
  • If the latter – softer/tender – slice against the grain.

Personally, I prefer soft/tender jerky so I slice against the grain.

To demonstrate what that means, say I wanted to slice this brisket flat with the grain, that would look like this:

example of slicing brisket flat with the grain

Here’s an example of slicing against the grain:

example of slicing brisket flat against the grain for jerky

In general though, find the “lines” or muscle fibers of the meat. Then based on your preference above, slice either with these fibers or against them.

In terms of the thickness of the meat, the goal should be somewhere between 1/8″ – 1/4″ thick.

The main reason for this is dehydration times as thicker meat will take longer to dehydrate; Aside from that, thinner meat will take on the marinade far better.

Sweet and Spicy Marinade Ingredients

The ingredient quantities below are based on ~0.75-1 lb of jerky meat. I’d suggest sticking with these ratios and using 1 lb of meat as apposed to scaling them for say 2 lbs of meat.

sweet and spicy jerky ingredients

Sweet and Spicy Marinade Ingredients:

  • 3 Tablespoons Teriyaki Sauce
  • 11/2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tbsp ginger powder
  • 1/2 tbsp 16 mesh black pepper
  • 1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
  • 11/2 Tbsp Diamond Crystal Kosher
  • 1/3 cup water

Combine these ingredients in the specified quantities into a bowl. Ensure that the molasses and kosher salt have completely combined.

sweet and spicy beef jerky marinade combined

Marinating the Meat

The next thing to do is to marinate the meat.

You want to marinate the meat for at least 2 hours – typically what I do is just marinate overnight to ensure saturation of the meat.

Simply add your sliced beef to the container – if you have ziplock bags, those work fine too.

beef jerky sliced into container

Then add your liquid/marinade and massage the meat into the liquid:

beef jerky in sweet and spicy marinade

If you’re using ziplock bags, roll the bag on top of itself to force out air.

I’m using a washable steel pan with a lid because I make jerky a lot – if you intend to make a lot of jerky, I’d invest in reusable marinade bags or something like these pans.

Put the bag or container in your refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Something I like to do is agitate/massage the meat throughout the day just to ensure all the meat is taking on marinade. This is especially useful for something like the container above or similar non-reactive containers.

Here’s the beef jerky after marinating 16 hours:

sweet and spicy beef jerky after marinating 16 hours

Heat Treating the Beef Jerky

While a lot of jerky articles don’t really mention lethality treatments, they take about 10 minutes to do and help to kill off bacteria and microbes; Doing so also has no perceivable downsides and tastes the exact same.

To start, you will need:

  • Probe thermometer – I use the Thermoworks X4
  • Baking sheets with oven safe cooling racks
  • Aluminum foil (to make clean-up easier).

Start by preheating your oven to 350F.

Then line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Then place a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet.

cooling racks on baking sheet

Take your marinated beef jerky out of the refrigerator and start placing the strips on the cooling racks – ensuring that none are overlapping.

heat treating beef jerky

Note: The reason for these cooling racks is because it elevates the meat off the baking sheet. If you were to put the meat on the baking sheet directly, you’ll case-harden the jerky.

You also DO NOT need to pat dry the meat.

Once all the meat is on the cooling racks, find a piece that you sliced thicker; With your probe thermometer you then probe this thick piece.

probing thick piece of jerky

Once the oven is pre-heated, place the baking pan into the oven and monitor the internal temperature. The goal is to achieve 158F in the thickest piece; Once this thick piece is 158F, the rest of the thin meat is also 158F.

Here’s the jerky after heat treating:

jerky after heat treating

This process takes ~10 minutes.

Dehydrating the Beef Jerky

If you followed the above section, program your dehydrator to somewhere between 130-165F.

The reason you can dehydrate at a lower temperature now is because you’ve already heat treated the meat and now all you’re doing is removing moisture content (dehydrating).

On my dehydrator, I have a pre-programmed setting for 131F.

Lay the jerky strips on the trays of the device and again, ensure none of it is overlapping.

putting beef jerky in dehydrator

Then allow the jerky to dehydrate.

Checking on the Beef Jerky

Typically it takes around ~3-5 hours to fully dehydrate beef jerky – depending on how thick you sliced it and the temperature you use to dehydrate at.

What I do is set a timer for 3 hours and then start checking. Here’s this jerky after 3 hours:

jerky after dehydrating 3 hours

What you’re looking for is what I call “spider webbing.”

Essentially you’re going to bend the jerky in half and check the cross section of the tear; The tear shouldn’t feel rubbery and it shouldn’t appear wet.

Before bending the jerky, allow it to cool for around 5 minutes as it will be behave differently when allowed to cool vs bending right out of the dehydrator.

For a more in-depth breakdown of these “checks” be sure to read this article.

Likely some of your beef jerky will be done in 3 hours and you can take it out of the dehydrator and put it in a ziplock baggy; If some pieces need more time, allow it to continue dehydrating.

This beef jerky was done dehydrating to my liking after 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Bagging the Jerky

When you initially go to take the beef jerky out of the dehydrator and place it in a ziplock bag, leave the bag open to allow moisture out of the bag.

beef jerky bag open

This also allows some of this moisture to return to the surface.

If you were to take the hot beef jerky out of the dehydrator and then place it into the baggy and then zip the bag, you’re essentially introducing the meat to humidity which may cause mold.

Simply leave the top open for 10-20 minutes and then zip close the bag after; Store in a cool, dark place.

Here’s the sweet and spicy beef jerky the next day:

sweet and spicy beef jerky recipe
sweet and spicy beef jerky recipe
Print Pin Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Sweet and Spicy Beef Jerky

Starts with sweet and savory and ends with a kick of heat
Prep Time20 minutes
Active Time3 hours 30 minutes
Marinating Time16 hours
Total Time19 hours 50 minutes
Course: Snack
Cuisine: American

Equipment

  • Kitchen Oven
  • Dehydrator
  • Baking Pan
  • Oven-safe Cooling Racks
  • Aluminum foil
  • Sharp knife
  • Cutting board
  • Measuring Instruments
  • Gallon Ziplock bags Or non-reactive container for marinating

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Brisket flat or similar lean meat

Marinade

  • 1.5 tbsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
  • 1/3 cup Water
  • 1/3 cup Molasses
  • 3 tbsp Teriyaki Sauce
  • 1.5 tbsp Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 tbsp Crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tbsp Ginger Powder
  • 1/2 tbsp 16 Mesh Black Pepper
  • 1/2 tbsp Granulated Garlic

Instructions

Slicing the Jerky Meat

  • If your meat is thawed, put in freezer for 30-60 minutes. If your meat is frozen, defrost in refrigerator until the meat is somewhat frozen/malleable.
    1 lb Brisket flat
  • Trim the meat, removing any exterior fat/silver skin.
  • Slice the jerky between 1/8 – 1/4" thick.
    Identify the grain direction of the meat and slice either with or against it. If you prefer soft jerky, slice against the grain. If you like jerky with a bit of "tug" slice with the grain.

Create Sweet and Spicy Jerky Marinade

  • Combine the ingredients in the specified quantities in a bowl. Ensure the molasses and the kosher salt are well combined.
    1/3 cup Water
  • Put your sliced jerky meat in a ziplock bag or non-reactive container. Then put your marinade into the bag with the jerky.
  • Roll the bag on top of itself to force out air, then close the bag. Leave the bag in your refrigerator overnight.
    My jerky marinated for 16 hours.

Pre-heating Jerky for Lethality

  • Pre-heat your oven to 350F.
  • Take out baking pans and line it with aluminum foil. Then put oven safe cooling racks on top of the pan so that the jerky is elevated.
  • Arrange the jerky on the cooling racks so that they don't overlap.
  • Place temperature probe in the thick piece you sliced. You want the probe to reach the thermal center of the meat.
  • Once the oven is pre-heated, put the baking pan on the middle rack and wait for the thick piece to reach 158F internal. When the thick piece is 158F, the thin pieces are also 158.
  • While waiting for the jerky to reach 158F, get your dehydrator to 130-140F. My dehydrator has a preset for 131F so that's what I used.

Dehydrating the Jerky

  • Once the jerky reaches 158F, take the jerky out and start placing them on the dehydrator trays. You want the jerky so that it's not overlapping and so that they aren't touching.
  • Simply wait for the jerky to be done.
    As you might expect, thin jerky finishes faster than thick jerky. If you sliced thin, check after 3 hours of dehydrating and then every 30 minutes to an hour after that.

Checking for Doneness

  • When checking for doneness, bend the jerky to expose the muscle fibers. If you see hues of red/pink, the meat is visibly moist, or it's rubbery, it needs to dehydrate longer.
  • If the bend is dry and has white spider-webbing, it's considered done.
  • As the jerky finishes, put into a sandwich baggy with the top open. This way you prevent condensation from happening inside the bag and you allow heat/moisture to escape. Once it's cool, close the bag and store in a cool/dry/dark place.
  • For longer storage, use a freezer bag/vacuum sealer with food-grade desiccant bags.
dylan bio profile picture
Dylan Clay
Dylan Clay is a pitmaster based in New Hampshire, with over 17 years of experience in grilling, smoking, and dehydrating meat. Throughout this time, he has worked with nearly every cut of meat. In 2019, he launched the Barbecue FAQ website to share his extensive knowledge about all things meat, aiming to assist others in making better barbecue at home.

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  1. 5 stars
    Incredibly useful guide and your recipe is great. I’m a big fan heat so I added another tablespoon and it was perfect.

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