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Simple, "Original" Beef Jerky

A basic marinade that's mainly savory and slightly sweet
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Prep Time15 minutes
Active Time4 hours
Marination Time16 hours

Ingredients

  • 1 lb London broil

"Original" Jerky Marinade

  • 1/3 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
  • 1/4 Cup Water
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 Tsp Citric Acid or 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 2 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1/2 tsp granulated onion
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Slicing and Marinating

  • Take 1 lb of lean beef and cut against the grain.
    Slice the strips to 1/8-1/4" thick.
  • In a bowl combine the marinade ingredients in the specified quantities. Ensure the powders and sugars are well combined.
    1/3 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce, 1/4 Cup Water, 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, 1/4 Tsp Citric Acid, 1 tbsp vinegar, 2 tsp granulated garlic, 1/2 tsp granulated onion, 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • Add your marinade and sliced jerky to a ziplock bag. Massage the marinade into the beef.
  • Put in your refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours; Ideally, you'd marinate overnight for 16+ hours

Optional: Heat Treating the Jerky so You Can Dehydrate at a Lower Temperature

  • Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Then place oven-safe cooling racks on top. Put your marinated beef jerky on top of the cooling racks, ensure that pieces aren't touching or overlapping.
  • Pre-heat your oven to 350F.
  • Once pre-heated put your jerky in the oven on the middle rack for 10 minutes.
  • While your jerky is heat treating, set your dehydrator to 120-130F.

Dehydrating the Beef Jerky

  • After 10 minutes place your beef jerky in your dehydrator. Ensure pieces aren't touching or overlapping.
  • Allow the jerky to dehydrate for 3 hours and then start checking for doneness.

Testing Beef Jerky for Doneness

  • After 3 hours take a few pieces of beef jerky out of the dehydrator and allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes.
  • Once cooled, bend the jerky.
  • If at the bend you notice a "spider webbing" – it's done. If at the bend you notice the jerky is rubbery and has hues of red/pink, it's not done.

Storing the Jerky

  • Once done, put in a ziplock bag with the top open and allow the jerky to aerate for 30 minutes.
    Once aerated, zip the top and store in a cool, dry, dark place.

Notes

I pre-heat my jerky because I like to dehydrate at a lower air temperature - it makes the jerky softer. 
If you don’t want to do this, just dehydrate at 160F the entire time.