Prep Time: 30 minutes
Marinating Time: 8 hours
Cook Time: 4-5 hours
Rest Time: 30 minutes
Total Servings: 12-14 servings
Beef jerky is one of those snacks that work well for many occasions because of how good and convenient it is!
Although, store bought jerky can get expensive, and may not be as healthy for you.
That's why we are providing you with our best pellet grilled beef jerky recipe!
Continue reading, because you won't want to miss this awesome and simple recipe!
Pellet Grill Jerky Ingredients:
- Three pound round steak
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- Two tablespoons brown sugar
- Two teaspoons paprika
- Two teaspoons curing salt (optional)
- One teaspoon garlic powder
- One teaspoon black pepper
Pellet Grill Jerky Equipment:
- Pellet Grill
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Small Saucepan
- Large Ziploc Bag
- Baking Sheet
- Cooling Rack
Jerky Cooking Instructions:
How To Choose Your Beef:
While there are many viable cuts of beef that you can use to make beef jerky, we picked out a 3 pound beef round steak.
This cut, sourced from the rear leg region of the cow, is known for its muscular composition.
Packed with lean protein, this cut offers a flavorful and chewy texture that is perfect for smoking.
A few other beef cuts that are good for smoked jerky are shank, sirloin, and flank steak.
Make The Marinade:
Using a marinade is the key to achieve perfect smoked jerky!
The round steak is going to have a lot of flavor on its own, but the marinade will intensify it.
Marinating also helps with the texture and shelf life of your jerky!
To make your jerky marinade you'll want to start by taking a small saucepan and adding in a 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of paprika, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon black pepper into your pot.
With a fork mix everything together over low heat.
The marinade only needs about 5 minutes on low heat until ready.
Prepare Your Beef:
To prepare your beef to be made into jerky strips, you'll want to start by trimming any excess fat or any pieces of cartilage from your steak.
With a sharp knife, cut your steak into ⅛ inch strips, cutting along the grain.
Once you've got your sliced beef to the ideal thickness and any excess fats are removed from your steak, you can marinade your jerky strips!
Marinade Your Beef Strips:
Transfer the marinade from the saucepan into a large Ziploc bag.
Add in the beef slices, ensuring that each piece is fully submerged!
Seal your beef in the marinade bag, and put it into the refrigerator for 8 hours.
This means that you can prepare your jerky and let marinade overnight!
Keep in mind that you can let your steak marinade for longer, but its not recommended to marinade for 24 hours or more!
Preheat Your Pellet Grill:
After the marinade process, you can fire up your pellet grill!
Preheat your grill to 180℉.
It usually takes 30 minutes to an hour to preheat, depending on your grills heat output.
It is important that your grill is not too hot, so your jerky doesn't get too dry when you go to smoke it.
While your grill is preheating, move your beef from the marinade, onto a baking sheet covered with paper towels.
Lightly pat your beef with a paper towel, so the pieces of beef are not dripping marinade when you go to cook them.
(You can discard the excess marinade)
Smoke Your Jerky:
Now that your grill is ready to rock, you can transfer the beef strips from the baking sheet onto the center of the grill grates in a uniform order.
Once positioned properly, you can close your grill lid and start smoking jerky for 2 hours undisturbed.
After the first couple hours, take a look and see how your jerky is doing.
Flip each piece, then close the lid and continue smoking for another 2-3 hours.
A good way to tell if your jerky is done, is by up picking a piece, if it flops over it needs more time, and if it snaps when bending it is overcooked.
The goal is to be able to bend your jerky without it breaking in half, but still has some resistance.
Let Your Smoked Jerky Rest:
Once your smoked beef jerky is done on the grill, turn off your grill and transfer the jerky onto a cooling rack.
The jerky needs about 30 minutes to rest before its ready to eat!
Once cooled off, your homemade jerky can be passed around for everyone to enjoy!
All that's left is to store the beef jerky.
How To Store Homemade Beef Jerky:
The easiest and most common way of storing beef jerky, is in sealable Ziploc bags, or other airtight containers.
It is important that you don't leave any moisture or air in the bags because it can cause the jerky to go bad quicker that normal.
If you want, you can always add some curing salt into your bag of jerky to help keep it fresh.
We eat our jerky within a week usually so we don't add any curing salt.
You can refrigerate the jerky or freeze if needed.
Just make sure that you vacuum seal your jerky before you freeze it!
Beef Jerky Nutritional Facts
(Per Serving)
Calories: 350
Carbs: 9g
Fat: 18g
Protein: 30g
Disclaimer: The data listed above is an estimate and not a guarantee.
The Best Pellet Grill Jerky Recipe!
Now that you have the instructions to create one of our best mouth watering beef jerky recipes from home, make sure to go put it to the test!
We hope that you've found all of the information needed here, as well as enjoyed this content.
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Have fun with this recipe, and feel free to add your own creativity into the mix!
Happy smoking.
