Ground Beef Jerky
On November 07, 2024
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This ground beef jerky recipe is that perfect jerky when you want a classic beef jerky flavor with a soft texture. Classic ingredients come together for the perfect jerky when you have a hankering for some BBQ on the go.
Ground Beef Jerky
This beef jerky is the perfect ground beef jerky. It has the most amazing, soft texture, making it a perfect alternative to classic jerky. It does have the whole muscle you get with traditional jerky, so it’s extra soft. This jerky has a classic, “original” jerky flavor with a hint of sweet, a hint of spice, and great savory flavor.
While this recipe is written for extremely lean ground beef, it works great with other ground meats. You can easily substitute the beef for venison, elk, pork, or turkey. Just make sure the ground meat you’re using is lean. If the meat is too fatty, it will likely crumble apart instead of binding together.
Dehydrating Ground Beef Jerky
This ground beef jerky recipe is written for the smoker. This process takes approximately 3 hours for dry jerky which bends without breaking.
This jerky also works in a dehydrator or oven, if you don’t have a smoker. If making in a dehydrator – make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions as each dehydrator is a bit different. You may want to add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke if you cook in a dehydrator.
You can also dehydrate this jerky in an oven. To make in an oven – follow the instructions as written, but leave the door of your oven open slightly to allow any moisture to escape. This is important and crucial for the jerky to dry properly.
How to Make Ground Beef Jerky
This ground beef jerky recipe is fairly easy, but you will find it varies slightly from the traditional way of making most beef jerky. Scroll below to view the printable recipe card for full ingredient amounts and more detailed instructions.
- Season the jerky. Unlike other jerky recipes that require you to marinate the sliced beef before dehydrating, this recipe has you combine all the flavor in with the beef jerky. Combine everything in a mixing bowl and use your hands to evenly distribute all ingredients.
- Form the jerky into sticks. Here’s where the fun part comes in! Once you have your beef seasoned, you gotta form that meat into a nice stick so it’ll hold its shape while cooking. I recommend using a jerky cannon for this step to make nice round or stick-shaped jerky. You can also do this by hand, but it will take a bit more patience and time.
- Cook the ground beef jerky. With your favorite smoker preheated to 160-170 degrees F, place the formed sticks on jerky racks and smoke for around 2.5-3 hours or until the jerky reaches 165 degrees F and the jerky bends without breaking.
- Cool and enjoy. Make sure to allow the jerky to cool fully while still on the jerky racks before eating.
Important Note: This recipe does not use any curing salts. It needs to be stored in the fridge and consumed within 1 week.
How Long to Dehydrate Jerky
This ground beef jerky is dehydrated in a smoker, and the total time to fully cook and dry out the meat will take approximately 2.5-3 hours. I recommend you plan for additional time in case your smoker’s temps are not consistent or if your jerky requires more time to fully dehydrate.
Time may vary slightly from smoker to smoker, so make sure to go off final temp (goal of 165 degrees F for ground meat), texture (the meat should bend without breaking or falling apart), and the jerky should be a rich red in color.
More Jerky Recipes
Looking for that perfect BBQ snack to take with you anywhere? Jerky to the rescue! My family loves jerky, so I have several awesome different recipes for you. Check them in the Hey Grill Hey App, or try some of my favorites:
Ground Beef Jerky Recipe
Follow the video in the recipe card for soft, tender Ground Beef Jerky, and leave a comment telling me all about your experience. Feel free to give it a 5-star rating if you loved making it. Make sure to follow Hey Grill Hey on Facebook and Instagram, so you can share some photos of your jerky turnout.
Ground Beef Jerky
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef 97/3
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper freshly ground
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Preheat the smoker. Preheat your smoker to 160-170 degrees F using your favorite hardwood. Strong woods like hickory or oak will give you a robust smoke flavor, mild woods like apple or maple will be more subtle.
- Make the ground beef mixture. Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and combine with hands to distribute the seasonings evenly through the meat.2 pounds lean ground beef, 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons soy sauce, 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons Kosher salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Form the jerky sticks. Fill a jerky cannon and extrude the jerky onto flat racks at your desired length. Be sure the jerky isn't overlapping or touching other pieces. If you don't have a cannon, place the seasoned beef between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll the meat to an even 1/8th inch thickness using a rolling pin. Cut the flattened beef into strips using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Remove the top sheet of parchment, place your flat rack on top of the meat, and carefully flip the whole thing over. Remove the remaining sheet of parchment paper and gently separate the jerky strips on the rack.
- Dehydrate the ground beef jerky. Place the jerky topped flat racks on the grill grates, close the lid, and smoke for 2.5-3 hours total. The jerky will have shrunk in size, picked up a dark red color, and bend without breaking when it is finished. If you have an instant read thermometer, you can check to make sure the strips have cooked above 165 degrees F.
- Cool, store, and enjoy! Allow your jerky strips to cool completely on the rack before transferring to a zip top bag. This jerky will last for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**I originally published this post in March 2021, but recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. However, the recipe remains the same.
I follow this recipe for my jerky with a little modification. I add 1 TBLS of steak seasoning. I roll out flat between wax paper and put in my Pitboss for 2 hrs on smoke setting. After 2 hrs I cut into strips and flip over then smoke for another hour.
I have a Pit Boss Pellet Smoker Series 4 and between 160 to 170 for 3 hours didnt do it its gonna probably take 6 to 8 hours to smoke this at 180 – 200 now. Not a good idea to post a recipe that has inaccurate timelines and inaccurate descriptions of what the finished product is going to be like. I should of started this earlier in the day if I would of known it was going to take this long not to happy with the misinformation.
I didn’t have a problem at all ! Try the flat tip if you didn’t use it the first time .
Any modifications if I use ground turkey instead of the ground beef?
Well done recipe and video
Cook time is wildly optimistic. I’m 7 hours into 3 hou4 cook time and only up to 150. Clearly I should uave saved this recipe for a weekend and not a Monday evening.
I have 45 pounds of 85/15 in the freezer, the recipe says 93/7, will 85/15 work?
Sure!
Anyone try this in an air frier?
I see that you add two pounds of beef ground for this recipe? Will those enough taste?
I never thought I could make something so good with simple ground beef. I do not have a jerky gun, so I used the flatten method with a rolling pin. I used 90/10 beef. I ran it for 6 hours because of this, Is was hard to sit and wonder if it would ever finish. But it did, and I tell you, spectacular. I made this for Deer camp, and I don’t want to bring it, I want to keep it for myself.
Hi Shannon, when you add fat, it makes the meat feel “moist” when it is actually quite dry. At 170 for 3 hours, the product is essentially sanitized and safe. Do keep it in the fridge as it is not sterile, and molds can grow once their spores sprout.
My go-to jerky recipe! Love it.. It barely makes it to the fridge…