The Best Meat for Making Jerky in a Smoker

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Anyone looking for the best beef jerky recipe will love this one; it’s the perfect combination for your Traeger grill and smoker that the whole family will love! We also share a quick and easy jerky marinade that will burst with flavor that will make you want to cook it for every occasion. Read on below to find the secret to making jerky in a smoker; all you have to do is find the best meat and cook it just right which we share here.

Table of Contents

Why You Need this Beef Jerky Recipe

Everyone knows that making beef jerky using a smoker is a great way of cooking compared to using an oven or dehydrator since we can add as much flavor as we want. While curing meat and drying it out with salt over a low heat source can taste good this process can yield even better results using a pellet grill or electric smoker. These options are perfect for making jerky because they’re able to maintain a consistently low temperature, making them great for cooking batches of jerky.

You can expect a finished product that comes with a good chew but is tender enough to eat with ease. Apart from this, there are great reasons why you should make homemade beef jerky rather than buying them in packets from your local food mart. The first reason is that you won’t have to compromise on flavors because you’ll get to choose the ingredients.

Furthermore, you can ensure the quality of your meat — while buying beef jerky from grocery stores can be expensive, you can get fresh meat from your local butcher for less without losing quality. Finally, making your own beef jerky can be a fun and filling task; yes, cooking can be labor intensive but this isn’t the case with beef jerky. All you need to do is slice the meat, marinade it, and smoke it for a few hours the next day.

What’s the Best Cut of Beef for Making Jerky?

To be honest, there are a few cuts of beef that you can use to make your own beef jerky but the best ones will be lean cuts that don’t come with excess fat. Some inexpensive cuts that will make good options include sirloin tip roast, top round, or a flank steak. A less common cut is the London broil but it’s definitely a good choice since it comes from the same area of the cow where the Round is taken from.

For this particular recipe, it’s best to use a top round or an eye-round cut. This is because the top round is a muscle that isn’t used often, making it more tender compared to other options. It can also be a great choice since the shape it gives once you slice the roast is uniform and is a very lean cut.

How to Prepare Your Jerky

If this is your first time making beef jerky from scratch, it’s best to remember that the way you slice the beef is just as important as your marinade and how you cook the jerky. The first step is to take a very sharp knife and trim excess fat from the surface of your beef. However, to get extremely thin and consistent slices of beef, you must first ensure that the meat is partially frozen.

Once you’re able to trim the outside of your beef, place it inside plastic wrap and stick it in your freezer for 2 to 3 hours; doing this will make sure you get the best results with thin slices. However, if you have special equipment like a meat slicer, you can get even better slices but there’s no need to invest in these if you don’t want to. Either way, you’ll be sure to enjoy delicious jerky that comes packed with flavor and a nice texture.

How To Slice Your Beef

After trimming and cooling your meat inside the freezer, take it out and remove the plastic wrap. Make sure to use a sharp knife and cut thin slices around ⅛” against the grain; keep in mind that cutting them thinner will result in the meat drying evenly and quickly.

How Long to Marinade Your Beef Jerky

Once you have thinly sliced meat, it’s time to mix your marinade. Start by combining your sliced beef with your marinade inside a big ziplock bag and allow it to sit for 8 to 24 hours. It’s always a good idea to marinade your beef overnight; this will help to lock in as much flavor as possible. While you can use any kind of sealed container, we suggest using a sealable bag so can massage the marinade in and have the freedom to move the meat around.

Marinade Ingredients for Your Beef Jerky

Below is our incredibly easy marinade to create the perfect beef jerky. This is basically a meat marinade that delivers great flavor using Worcestershire and soy sauce paired with a few spices to give your homemade jerky a bit of a kick.

To create your marinade, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Worcestershire sauce
Low-sodium soy sauce
Black pepper
Brown sugar
Garlic powder
Onion powder

Our advice is to use low-sodium soy sauce at all times; unfortunately, using regular soy sauce in our first batch resulted in jerky strips that were too salty. Because these strips of meat are so thinly cut and are marinated for a significant amount of time, using less salt will be better.

Other options you can use if you want to add more flavor:

Red pepper flakes can be added for a bit more heat
Cayenne pepper can be used for people who love a kick in their jerky
Liquid Smoke is a great idea if you want to add a smoke flavor to your beef jerky. Be sure to add ½ a teaspoon of liquid smoke to your jerky.

The Beef Jerky Smoking Process

Now that you’ve made it this far, it’s time to get your smoker fired up to 175˚F. While this gets started, you can get your beef slices ready — start by draining any excess marinade from your meat. Next, lay down a few paper towels and blot your strips of meat to absorb some liquid so they aren’t drenched once you smoke them. Keep in mind that the wetter your meat, the longer its drying time, so try to get rid of as much liquid as you can.

When your smoker is up to temperature, you’ll have two options; you can either lay your sliced beef in a single layer over the smoker racks or grill grates or you can lay them on wire racks using baking sheets before placing them inside your smoker. The good thing about using a wire rack is that you won’t have to open your smoker for long when you place your jerky inside.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the whole cooking process will take a long time since we’re cooking beef jerky at such low temperatures. But this means that you can take your time to relax and relax; this should take around 3 to 4 hours. You can then flip your beef jerky halfway through the cooking to make sure that all of the slices cook evenly and thoroughly.

The Best Beef Jerky Recipe

Here’s a more detailed recipe of the process we explained above, complete with all the measurements you need for every ingredient.

Equipment

Pellet griller or smoker
Gallon-sized zip lock bag
Cutting board
Sharp knife

Ingredients

2-pound top round cut or see the other optimal cuts
2 tbsp.Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp granulated garlic
½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Here are the quick and easy steps you need to follow to ensure you get the best beef jerky for you to enjoy.

Preparing Your Beef for Slicing

As we explained above, there are two options for preparing your beef before slicing. If you’re working with frozen beef, bring your roast out to room temperature for 1 to 2 hours or until your beef is partially thawed.
Your other option is to partially freeze your meat and wrap it in plastic wrap before placing it inside the freezer for 2 to 3 hours.
Using your sharp knife, slice your beef into ⅛” pieces.

Mixing Your Marinade

Combine your Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and brown sugar in a medium bowl.
Place the beef inside a zip lock bag and pour your marinade all over it. Thoroughly mix and rub in the marinade before placing it inside your fridge for the next 12 to 24 hours.

Smoking Your Beef Jerky

Once you’re ready to smoke your beef jerky, preheat your smoker to 175°F.
Take your marinated beef out of the fridge and blot each piece using paper towels to get rid of any excess liquid.
When your smoker reaches 175°F, lay out your beef slices in a single layer over your grill grates then cook your jerky while the lid is closed for 2 to 3 hours.
Check your jerky for doneness by taking a piece from your smoker then pull it apart. If you think it’s reached your desired consistency, then turn off the smoker and take out your beef jerky.
Put your beef jerky inside another zip lock bag or a food-grade storage container and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Store your beef jerky inside the fridge for as long as 2 weeks.

Conclusion

Now that you know about this great snack, don’t forget about the right way to store it; be sure to keep it inside an airtight container where it will sit perfectly tasty for the next 2 weeks. You’ll be happy to know that everyone in the family — even the kids — will enjoy this fantastic beef jerky recipe. Moreover, you’ll get to enjoy a little extra protein to keep you going even through extra long days.

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