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holding habanero teriyaki jerky in hand
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Teriyaki Habanero Beef Jerky

Homemade sweet teriyaki marinade with a punchy spicy habanero heat.
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Prep Time15 minutes
Active Time3 hours
Marination Time16 hours
Total Time19 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lb London broil

Spicy Teriyaki Marinade

  • 1/3 cup Low Sodium Kikkoman Soy Sauce
  • 1/3 cup Mirin
  • 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Water
  • 4 tbsp Evaporated Cane Sugar any sugar works, like white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 tsp habanero flakes + more for dehydrating
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions

Slicing and Marinating Jerky

  • Take 1.5 lb of lean beef and cut against the grain. Slice so that the strips are 1/8-1/4" thick.
  • In a bowl combine the marinade ingredients in the specified quantities. Ensure the powders and sugars are well combined.
  • In a non-reactive container or ziplock bag, add your marinade and sliced jerky. 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

  • If you don't care about this, just dehydrate at 160F.
    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 ~130F.

Dehydrating the Beef Jerky

  • Once your jerky is done heat treating, place your beef jerky in your dehydrator. Ensure pieces aren't touching or overlapping.
  • Optional: Sprinkle on more habanero flakes to both sides of the jerky before dehydrating.
  • 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, place 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

If you don't want to make your own teriyaki sauce, use 1/2 - 1 cup of your favorite name brand.
I personally like my homemade version best but Kikkoman's low sodium is my favorite store brand.