Homemade Beef Jerky with bold garlic and spicy flavors
Commercial beef jerky is pretty hit-and-miss. Most of the bags sold in stores have way too much sodium and goofy flavors. I like garlic, and lots of it, especially on meat. I’ve tried numerous recipes and landed on a simple one that tastes great and is easy to do. Avoid any acidic ingredients, such as lime juice. They only make the meat mealy and mushy. Blech.
While this is a recipe geared towards dehydrators (much like my Mixed Berry Fruit Leather), it can also be attempted in your oven. The big question is how low does it go? Anything higher than 250 degrees F is probably too hot. If you go the oven route, I wouldn’t attempt letting it go overnight. Try it during the day and peek in on it every half hour or so and find the right duration for you.
To get the most garlic flavor out of the meat, mix your garlic and beer together a few hours before marinating. If you take a sip of the beer and it tastes like burning, you’re in the ballgame. Next add in the rest of your ingredients. The spice comes from Cholula hot sauce, which is pretty widely available.
For the meat, I like top round. It’s generally in the right shape too, about 3-6 inches tall and nice and long, for jerky. Stick it in the freezer for at least an hour to firm it up and make it easier to slice. (Pound it out with your knife blade if you sliced it too thick.) It doesn’t need to be luncheon-meat thin, but thin enough to take on the marinade. 2 pounds of meat yields roughly 10-12 ounces of jerky.
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I generally marinate overnight and stick everything in the dehydrator first thing in the morning. The key is anywhere from 2 to 8 hours, but no more. Then into the dehydrator set to 155 degrees. After about 6 hours, it should be safe. Run it longer depending on personal preference.
Food safety here is pretty important. Check out this summary of great information on preventing food borne illness in your home jerky
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- 2 Pounds Thinly Sliced Beef
- 1 Can Your Favorite Beer (Lager)
- 3/4 Cup Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 2 Tablespoons Liquid Smoke
- 1 Tablespoon Cholula hot sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Crushed Garlic
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Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl
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Marinate the meat for at least 2 hours, but no more than 8
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Place the meat slices in a dehydrator and set to 155 degrees for 6 hours and check the moisture level
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Dehydrators vary in effectiveness so you may need anywhere from 1 to 3 more hours to fully dry out the jerky.
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I made this over the weekend in my Bronco dehydrator and it was great. Good flavors here,will be saving this to do again as it will be great to take hiking and camping!
Hi Mike, Thanks a bunch for the feedback and great call on taking these on hikes/camping….they would definitely be perfect in that scenario.
Made these too, outstanding recipe. Kids loved them and want more. Any other good dehydrator recipes?
Hey Barry – Glad to hear they worked out! Check out the Mixed Berry Fruit Leather recipe, your kids may like them just as much.
Man! Looking at this spicy garlic beef jerky makes me hungry! I just do wonder if there are restos out there which offers a delicious recipe like this one.
Nothing beats a homemade beef jerky, I can attest to that. From the moment my mom cooked one, I always compare them to other jerkys I've tasted and my bias would still fall into my mom's cooking.
I've tried many diffrent variations and my own invention is almost exactly like yours! Will be trying the beer ingredient tonight!
i don't have a dehydrator. 🙁 is there any other source that i can use?
You could also try using your oven set to its lowest temperature, just cut back the cooking time. You'll want to watch it every half hour or so to make sure you don't end up with shoe leather.
i don't have a dehydrator. 🙁 is there any other source that i can use?
I've also uses deer and elk with this recipe and its awesome. The kids were sneeking it off the dehydrator it was so good
Can you marinate overnight?
Strongly recommended for the most tender and flavorful jerky
will be trying this recipe in my smoker this weekend. will let you know how it turns out.
That’s awesome, can’t wait to hear how it turns out when smoked
Kyle, Hey Buddy! I use the oven and cook on 175 degrees for 2 @1/2 hours..Turns out perfect evry time!
I have a deer hindquarter that I will make jerky out of today! So yummy! I have a recipe that I have been working on for over 50 years now! All of my friends rave about it!
This is a great recipe if you like your jerky tasting like …..Beer!
And your house reeking of beer when making it.
I didn’t taste nothing but the beer.
No soy, smoke or the hot sauce.
Won’t be making this again.
Sorry it didn’t turn out well! I’ve never had this issue before. Did you cook it in the beer? I could see this happening if you were simmering the beef in the beer. If it’s drained well before cooking, then this won’t be an issue, there won’t be enough beer to evaporate into the air. Very little marinating liquid actually permeates into meat, thus you won’t have this issue, unless you’re simmering the meat in beer.
No I didn’t simmer the meat in the beer,
Marinated in beer,soy,etc. 8 hours, patted dry and dehydrated till done.
I use round steak sliced by my butcher 1/3”-1/2” thick rounds and then I slice strips about 3/4” wide by 6” long. I follow the marinade recipe to the T but use Guinness Stout Lager instead of Coors. I marinade in the refrigerator overnight at least 10 hours. I dehydrate for 8-10 hours. Everyone I have shared the end product with raves about it – especially the wife. Thank you for the best jerky recipe ever! The only one I use anymore. So easy and so delicious!