Update 9/23/2020 - I've learned a lot about jerky since I wrote this post oh so many years ago and I've updated the original recipe to include some safety information.
This post has been one of the most popular over the years... even now.. still I get pingbacks.
I am a sucker for jerky. It used to be that I was the only one who understood the allure of jerky but evidently that's changed. I'm seeing so much love for jerky lately that it just warms my heart.
Jerky is the perfect food, in my book. It's portable, it's shelf stable it will keep for a long time stashed in the freezer or fridge, and it's loaded full of protein. Awesome for after a work out.
See? Perfect food.
I actually had it for breakfast this morning. Don't judge.. you just jealous.
I usually get an eye round roast when I see it on sale and clean it up myself with my knife.
Big eye round roast
My idea of perfect jerky is toothsome.. meaning, I have to really rip into it and CHEW. So for that I cut long strips with the grain of the meat.
I usually brine my jerky meat in a apple jalapeno mixture, but this time I wanted to try something a bit sweeter.
So I chopped up some fresh garlic and ginger and poached it in some honey and water until it was soft.
And then I added these:
Then I pureed the crap out of it with my boat motor
And let that cool.. then I smooshed it all over the meat.
Popped that into the fridge overnight and in the morning, I spread it out over my dehydrator trays and let it run at 160 degrees for about 9 hours
You want some? Lemme give you the recipe:
Honey Garlic Ginger Beef Jerky
Course: SnacksCuisine: Asian InspiredDifficulty: Medium10
servings20
minutes8
minutes8
hoursHoney, ginger and garlic combine for a savory sweet, Asian inspired beef jerky
Ingredients
4-5 pounds of lean beef, cut into strips
½ cup of honey
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
¼ cup canning or Kosher salt
½ cup water
½ tsp ground cardamom
⅛ tsp ground cloves
Directions
- Put the honey, garlic and ginger is a small sauce pot and heat until just boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer.
- Add salt and water to the pot, stirring to dissolve the salt.
- Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the ginger and garlic are soft.
- Add the cardamom and cloves and immediately remove from heat. Stir
- Puree with immersion blender, regular blender or food processor.
- Allow marinade to cool.
- Add the marinade to the meat and smoosh it with your hands to get every piece covered.
- Put the meat mixture in a plastic bag and allow to marinate over night.
- Put the strips of meat on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 160 degrees until dry but still bendy. About 8-9 hours.
- Place the jerky in an oven preheated to 275 degrees and heat it for 10 minutes.
Notes
- Important: if your dehydrator will not maintain a temperature of 160 degrees, you do risk food borne illness. Make jerky at your own risk.
- As of September 2020, the USDA now recommends that raw, marinated meat be heated to 160 BEFORE dehydrating to kill off any food borne pathogens. I have my personal opinions on this, however, I would be remiss if I didn't provide the information here: https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/How-do-I-dry-jerky
I have never made my own jerky. This is going on my list. How is that I am just discovering your wonderful blog!?!
Hi there! I only just discovered your wonderful blog.. The blogosphere is HUGE.. I say we just give the Hat Tip to Food in Jars for “introducing” us!
This looks delicious! But what if I am without a food dehydrator? Is there any way I could get away with doing this in my electric oven? O_O
Supposedly it can be done in a very low oven .. I’ve not tried it personally.. but I hear it can be done.
I’ve done it in the oven in the past but could never seem to get it bendy/chewy, it always ended up overly hard and dry. Might have been the oven, it was electric and never held temperature very well. The temp might have averaged out at 170 (the setpoint) but the high and low extremes were probably at least 30 degrees in both directions…but in theory I don’t see why it wouldnt work in a gas oven or a better electric that can hold temp.
Thanks for the input!
Cool! Thanks much! I just might give this a try in the oven…or maybe use it as an excuse to get myself a dehydrator. 😉
My dehydrator was only about $50.00 or so.. It’s been worth it for me for jerky and dog treats and peppers alone!
This recipe looks delicious AND it fits the paleo autoimmune protocol. So, thank you! I just started a weekly Paleo AIP Recipe Roundtable through my blog, and I would love it if you linked up this recipe. I’m trying to expand resources for the AIP community. Here’s the link: http://www.phoenixhelix.com/2013/12/11/paleo-aip-recipe-roundtable-6/
Just a quick note, to let you know that out of all of the jerky recipes that I have tried this one has been voted #1 in our house! Amazing!
I’m so pleased that you’ve made it an enjoyed it! Sometimes I wonder if anyone is actually out there.. 🙂
Yes, somebody is out here! Just revisiting as I have another 5 lbs of top round and the marinade is currently simmering! I have this page bookmarked-never take this down!!!
We got a quarter grass-fed hamburger cow last year so I’m marinating ground beef with your marinade right now and the house smells amazing! I can’t wait to taste the finished product. Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
I’ve never tried this with ground beef.. I’d be interested to know how it came out!
Got my eye of round marinating now. Cannot WAIT to try it tomorrow evening. I didn’t have cardamom though, so I used a Jamaican Allspice instead and halved the amount. I also added half a jalapeño to the marinade cause I thought sweet and spicy might work well. With all the changes I’m a bit nervous, but it sure smelled yummy!
I have actually made jerky with jalapeno and sweet flavors. My apple jalapeno jerky recipe is here if you’d like to give it a try.
I’d love to know how yours came out. Jerky is amazingly flexible. 🙂
It is marinating in the fridge now. Keep your fingers crossed. My husband is a jerky purist!
Let me know how you like it!
Hello! I’m excited to try this and wanted to know how long it keeps without refrigeration once done? I’ve been reading on jerky and many other sites seem to state that heavy salt/soy is needed to preserve? (I want to take your jerky camping and won’t have a cool box)
1/4 cup of canning salt is a fair amount since the grains are so small.
I am not sure how long it will keep as I usually eat it pretty quickly. However, I recently purchased “Batch” by Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison of WellPreserved.ca and he says your dehydrator needs to maintain a temp of at least 145° F. But he also says to put it in the oven at 265°F for 10 minutes and store in the fridge for maximum shelf life. Basically, use your judgement because I’m really not sure.
Thank you!