Homemade Beef Jerky in the Smokin-It Smoker

Homemade beef jerky, fresh out of the smoker. There is really nothing like a batch you made yourself, where you control the cut, the seasoning, and exactly how far you take it. A little time and patience and you are rewarded with a snack that beats anything from the store.

Below you can see the strips on the rack partway through, and the finished jerky once it was done. Here is how I make a batch, start to finish.

The cut: thin-sliced round steak

I start with round steak, which is lean and just right for jerky. Top round, bottom round, or eye of round all work well. You want it sliced thin, about a quarter inch. Slicing with the grain gives you that classic chewy jerky, while slicing against the grain makes it more tender. Putting the meat in the freezer for an hour first firms it up and makes thin, even slices a lot easier. If you would rather skip that step, most grocery meat counters will slice round steak thin for you if you ask.

Curing and seasoning

There are two easy ways to go here.

A ready-made jerky cure mix. Brands like Hi Mountain and LEM come with the cure and the seasoning already balanced together, and you just follow the package for how much to use per pound of meat. It is the simplest, most consistent route, and a good place to start.

Pink curing salt and your own seasoning. If you want to build your own flavor, you can buy pink curing salt, sometimes just called pink salt. On the shelf it is usually labeled Prague Powder #1 or Insta Cure #1, but it is the same stuff. The long-standing ratio is one level teaspoon per five pounds of meat, and you never want to go over that. It is best measured by weight if you have a small scale, since measuring spoons can vary quite a bit. From there you add your own salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and a liquid like soy sauce or Worcestershire to make the marinade. Mix it all together, coat the strips, and let them cure in the refrigerator, covered, for about 12 to 24 hours.

One important note: pink curing salt is not table salt. It is dyed pink on purpose so it never gets mixed up in the kitchen. Keep it away from kids and pets, and never use more than the recommended amount.

Smoking it in the Smokin-It

I make mine in my Smokin-It electric smoker. These smokers are sealed up tight, which is wonderful for ribs and pork roasts but actually works against you for jerky. Jerky is about drying the meat, not cooking it, and in a sealed smoker all that moisture has nowhere to go.

That is where the Smokin-It jerky drying fan comes in. It is a small fan unit that sits on top of the smoker over the vent and pulls the damp air up and out. The way I run it: get a light smoke going first with just a small amount of wood, no more than a couple of ounces, for the first couple of hours, then set the jerky dryer on top and let the fan take over. With the fan pulling the moisture out, a batch dries in about five to six hours at a low temperature, somewhere around 120 degrees.

Doneness, safety, and storage

Jerky is done when a piece bends and cracks but does not snap clean in two, with no soft or wet spot left inside. For safety, the meat should reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees at some point to kill any bacteria, since the low drying temperature on its own does not get there. You can do that by precooking the strips before they go in, or, the way most home cooks handle it, by heating the finished jerky in a 275 degree oven for about ten minutes once it comes off the smoker. The USDA-backed National Center for Home Food Preservation has the full food-safety details.

Once it has cooled, store it in an airtight bag or jar. It will keep a couple of weeks at room temperature, and longer in the refrigerator or freezer. Mine never lasts that long.

More from my smoker: my first impressions of the Smokin-It, prepping pork roasts, and smoked ribs.