Spicy Peppered Beef Jerky Recipe

This Spicy Peppered Beef Jerky recipe is the proper mixture of spicy, salty, and candy. It’s all concerning the freshly floor peppercorns, which stage up the flavors with peppery warmth together with a delicate fruity notice. Brown sugar, garlic, and smoked paprika—plus soy and Worcestershire sauces—seal the deal!

It’s no secret that we’re enormous followers of beef jerky! It’s protein-packed, moveable, and actually simply the proper snack throughout. We’ve shared recipes for each this traditional easy jerky recipe and the sweeter teriyaki beef jerky, however for this pepper jerky recipe, we needed to crank up the warmth and make a spicy model. 

We knew early on that we needed to deliver peppercorns on board. Black pepper is perhaps a typical ingredient, however a considerable amount of freshly floor peppercorns actually brings one thing additional magical to the equation. We use a whole tablespoon of floor pepper on this one, with zero regrets. 

This peppered beef jerky recipe brings a manageable (however noticeable!) quantity of warmth together with subtly fruity and vivid notes of taste. The result’s a “wager you possibly can’t eat only one” spicy beef jerky recipe that retains you coming again for extra!

Substances

• Beef: For this pepper jerky recipe, we like to make use of an eye fixed of spherical, minimize ⅜” thick. Many different lean cuts of beef work nicely too, akin to prime spherical, prime sirloin, London broil, or flank steak. What’s vital is that it’s lean—you really wish to keep away from beef with quite a lot of fats as a result of the fats can’t dehydrate. 
• Diminished sodium soy sauce: We love the umami taste that soy sauce brings, however it could possibly change into overly salty in bigger portions. So we advocate going with reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari (tamari can also be gluten-free if that’s an element for you). 
• Worcestershire sauce: This full-of-flavor sauce provides each candy and savory notes with a contact of bitter. 
• Brown sugar: Provides some sweetness and depth of taste. We’ve used each mild and darkish brown sugar, and each work nicely.
• Peppercorns: Freshly floor! As soon as peppercorns are floor, they begin to lose their oils. So for max taste, we grind them simply earlier than utilizing them. We’re followers of the Rainbow Peppercorns grinder from Dealer Joes, which has black, pink, and inexperienced peppercorns. However simply black peppercorns will work, too. 
• Garlic paste: The type that is available in a tube is tremendous handy, and the paste actually helps the flavour get into the meat, however finely minced garlic cloves work too.
• Smoked paprika: This superhero of a seasoning brings a contact of peppery paprika taste plus delicate smoky notes. 
• Sea salt: Only a small quantity brings the answer to the correct amount of saltiness general, which is vital for shelf-stable jerky.

Step By Step

First, slice the meat. Slice the meat as thinly as attainable, chopping with the grain for chewier jerky or in opposition to the grain for tender jerky. Trim off any seen fats, then pound the slices with a meat tenderizer instrument till all the items are roughly the identical thickness, about ⅛-inch (4mm) tall (concerning the peak of two stacked nickels). Switch the meat to a zip-top storage bag. 

Now it’s time to make your marinade. Whisk collectively all the marinade elements in a small bowl, then pour it over the meat. Seal the bag and therapeutic massage it a bit to distribute the marinade round all the items of meat. Refrigerate it for 12-36 hours, shaking the bag each few hours to verify all of the items of beef keep evenly coated. 

Dehydrate the jerky! Preheat your dehydrator to 145°F (63°C), then unfold the meat in a single layer in your dehydrator trays, shaking off any extra marinade. Dehydrate your peppercorn beef jerky for 4-6 hours. Remember to verify it now and again for any fats droplets which have risen to the highest of your jerky and blot them off with a paper towel. 

Examine for doneness. Take away a bit of jerky from the dehydrator and let it cool a bit, then bend it. If it’s dry with white fibers and bends with out cracking, it’s performed! 

Bake 10 minutes for security: After the jerky has dried within the dehydrator, do a post-dry warmth within the oven (in accordance with the OSU Extension/Pacific Northwest Extension’s information to creating protected jerky). This helps to get rid of any remaining pathogens for the most secure batch of jerky. Simply preheat your oven to 275°F (135°C), lay the meat jerky on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes. 

Cool and retailer. Let it cool fully, then get pleasure from a number of items (obligatory!) whilst you prep the remaining for storage.

Suggestions for Making

• Double the pepper for extra warmth! Favor a spicier jerky? Improve the bottom pepper to 2 tablespoons.
• Freeze the meat earlier than slicing. This step isn’t required, however it makes the meat a lot simpler to slice thinly. Simply place it within the freezer for an hour or two earlier than slicing to agency it up. 
• Or higher but, see in case your butcher will slice the meat. Ask on the butcher counter in the event that they’ll slice your meat for you. Not solely will it prevent time, the slices will probably be skinny and constant, so it’s a win-win!
• For tender jerky, minimize in opposition to the grain of the meat. This cuts throughout the fibers, shortening them and creating probably the most tender pepper jerky. 
• For chewy jerky, minimize with the grain. This retains the fibers lengthy and makes for a chewier jerky. 
• Pound out the slices of beef with a mallet. This helps tenderize the meat whereas additionally providing you with persistently skinny slices of pepper jerky. Don’t go overboard, although! Should you tenderize it an excessive amount of, it could possibly change into mushy, so be sure the items of beef retain some construction. 
• Preheat the dehydrator. You’ll wish to dehydrate at 145°F (63°C). 
• Set a timer. This helps you keep in mind to tug your jerky out of the dehydrator on time; in any other case, you possibly can threat it turning into over-dehydrated.
• Bake for 10 minutes after dehydrating. This is a crucial meals security step for this pepper beef jerky recipe (or any beef jerky), in accordance with OSU’s information to creating protected beef jerky. Simply switch the dehydrated jerky to a baking sheet and bake in your oven at 275°F (135°C) for 10 minutes. 

Storage

The longer you propose to maintain jerky, the extra cautious you’ll wish to be about the way you retailer it. 

• As much as one week: Peppercorn beef jerky will probably be okay for as much as per week in a plastic bag or non-airtight container. Maintain it out of direct mild; the much less publicity to air, the higher.
• As much as two months: Place your jerky in an hermetic container and preserve it at room temperature away from direct mild. 
• Two to 6 months: Vacuum-seal your beef jerky in an hermetic container and retailer within the fridge for as much as six months. 
• Six months to a 12 months: Vacuum-seal jerky in an hermetic container and preserve it in your freezer. Including a moisture-absorbing packet will assist it last more.

• 1 lb eye of spherical, or prime spherical, prime sirloin, London broil, or flank steak
• ¼ cup lowered sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup water
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly floor peppercorns¹, combo of black, pink, and inexperienced
• 2 teaspoons garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

• Slice the meat into ~⅜ inch-thick items, eradicating as a lot seen fats as attainable. Then minimize the meat into 1” strips. Place in a big zip-top bag and put aside.

• Combine the soy sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, floor peppercorns, garlic, smoked paprika, and salt in a small bowl till the sugar dissolves. Pour into the zip-top bag with the meat, taking care to make sure that the meat is evenly coated. Place within the fridge to marinate 12-24 hours.

• After the meat has marinated, place the strips onto your dehydrator trays. Sprinkle with extra cracked pepper. Dehydrate at 145° for 4-6 hours, till the meat has dried. The final rule of thumb is if you happen to bend a bit and it bends and cracks (however doesn’t break), it’s performed.

• Use tongs to switch the jerky to a baking sheet in order that they aren’t touching or overlapping each other. Warmth them in a preheated 275°F oven for 10 minutes.

• Take away and put aside to chill fully earlier than inserting in an hermetic container.

Storage

• Jerky will final 1-2 months in a sealed container at room temperature, 3–6 months within the fridge, and as much as 1 12 months within the freezer.²

Energy: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 16g | Fats: 5g | Sugar: 6g

*Diet is an estimate primarily based on info supplied by a third-party diet calculator