Garlic Pepper Beef Jerky

A few weeks ago I tried my hand at making beef jerky. As usual I spent hours looking at recipes and finally came up with something I thought would taste pretty good. 

Working in Maryland and living in Kentucky sucks when I want to grill something because I have to rely on Sandy to go to the meat market for me, but this time I just picked up some low fat steak at Meijer and gave it a go. When picking out your steak you will want to use something with as little fat as possible (flank was recommended to me) because the fat is what will ruin jerky since you are never getting hot enough for the fat to melt like you would when normally grilling a steak, I used a couple of top sirloin's.

I let the meat marinate for about 8 hours, the results might have been better had I gone longer but I was in a time crunch. 

I used hickory wood chunks mixed in with my Big Green Egg lump charcoal, a threw in a few apple wood chips just for fun. I love using this setup of wood for most things I'm giving a first try. Hickory is about the safest smoke and the apple gives a sweet underlying flavor.

After about 3 hours (and 4 relights, keeping the temp that low is hard) the first smaller pieces were ready to come off the grill. Initial tastes were a little strong on the soy sauce side. After the jerky rested in the fridge for a few hours the smoke flavor really came out.

It tasted amazing for my first try, it barely lasted the weekend. I was a little disappointed because I wanted more of a peppery garlic flavor instead of a smokey soy flavor but that's what next time is for!

Ingredients:

3 pounds of stead

2 minced garlic cloves

5/8 c. of soy sauce

1/2 c. of honey

1/2 tsp. of black pepper

1/2 tsp. of salt

5 Tb. of lemon juice

Wood chips of choice (Hickory & Apple)

Directions

1. Stick the steak in the freezer for about 20 - 30 minutes, makes the steak easier to cut into strips. 
2. Cut the steak into strips about 1/4" in width, and to the length you want. Cut with the grain for a chewy jerky, cut against the grain for a more tender jerky. Remember it will shrink quite a bit.
3. Combine ingredients and marinate for 12 – 24 hours, your choice. 
4. Remove the meat and pat dry, remember we are smoke drying the meat so you want all the moisture removed.
5. Light the grill and let it heat up to around 150 degrees. If the wood chips haven't been added be sure they get on as quickly as possible. The ideal range is between 150 and 200 degrees. 
6. Bake anywhere from 3-6 hours depending on how chewy or hard you like it but jerky should not break when bent.