How To Make Beef Jerky Without a Dehydrator (Oven Method)

If you ask someone that which is your favorite snack, we are sure that most of them will take the name of dried beef jerky. It is one of the delicious meals that comprises of spiciness, saltiness, and richness. Once you see it, you can’t resist yourself from eating it.

But buying the dried beef jerky snacks from the market is quite expensive. So, what you should you do to decrease the burden on your pocket?

The one and easy solution to this problem are to make beef jerky at your home with simple and easy steps. The homemade beef jerky is more nutritious, tastier, as well as more reasonable in comparison to the market-bought packing. You can quickly cook it at your home in fact without a dehydrator.

In the below article, we are going to provide you with info that how to make beef jerky without a dehydrator in very easy steps. Besides this, we will also share with your some tips that you can use while making this dish at home.

So, let’s begin!

List of ingredients required for dried beef jerky

The following are the essential ingredients that you need for making beef jerky without dehydrator:

  • 2 lbs. Of Silverside Beef / Round jerky
  • Oven
  • 2 Tablespoons Of Soft Brown Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Of Onion Salt
  • A Pinch Of Dried Chilli Flakes
  • 1 Teaspoon Of Cracked Black Pepper
  • 1 Teaspoon Of White Pepper (Optional)
  • 1 Teaspoon Of Coriander Seeds (Optional)
  • 1 Tablespoon Of Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon of Sriracha sauce, and honey

Step by Step Instructions for Preparing Beef Jerky Without a Dehydrator

How To Make Beef Jerky Without a Dehydrator

With the help of the following steps, you can quickly cook yummy beef jerky snacks at your home without a dehydrator:

Step 1: Select your beef jerky Meat

Dissimilar to the steak cooking, here you don’t need a high-quality piece of meat. You should buy a well raised and grass-fed steak’s piece that possesses a delicious flavor. You can pick the 2 lb. of silverside beef or round jerky which is not only delicious but pocket-friendly also.

Step 2: Cut out the extra Fat

The excessive fat of the beef does not get dried easily. Thus, it is essential that you cut off any excess fat out of the beef jerky meat.

Step 3: Cut out the Steak

Before cutting the steak, you should do freezing or partially freezing of the meat so that it becomes easier for you to slice it later. Try to cut thin flags size of 1/8 an inch.

Step 4: Prepare a Marinade

While making the beef jerky, there are three essential things you required pepper, salt, and vinegar. The pepper helps in providing the spiciness; salt adds up the flavor in the dish and vinegar offers high-quality and unique flavor inside the beef. Here, we have use the apple cider vinegar, Sriracha sauce, honey, Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of soft brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of onion salt, a pinch of dried chilli flakes, 1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper, white pepper and some coriander seeds along with some little water to make a thin marinade. Quickly combine all the ingredients and whip them till the time they get entirely dissolve.

Step 5: Marinate the Beef jerky Meat

If you want a delicious beef jerky, in the end, the key to this is the longer marinating of the meat. You must marinate the meat and leave it for at least 1 hour, however if possible then leave it for 4 to 12 hrs. After marinating, cover the meat and keep aside in the refrigerator.

Step 6: Turn on your oven

The beef jerky should be a cook at quite a low temperature, and for this need, you require an oven. It’s a good substitute for the dehydrator. Turn on the oven and set its temperature at 170 degrees F. If your oven does not have the setting of 170 degrees then, you can opt between 180 degrees F to 200 degrees F. Later on, place the ribbons of beef jerky over a cooling shelf on a cookie sheet.

You might also put the slices of the beef jerky straight in the rack if there is no cooking rack. You should keep in mind that during this time, the marinade can drip and therefore you should keep something below the meat that can collect the drippings easily.

Step 7: Its baking time

Bake the beef jerky meat for around 2 to 5 hours. The period varies according to the oven’s temperature of the oven, the preferred chewiness and the width of the slices. After the period of 2 to 3 hours, you can check whether the jerky needs more time or not. Take out one piece and try to bend it. If it gets bends quickly then, it means the jerky needs more time. But if starts stretching then, this means it is about to complete. So, you can check the texture of the jerky in between the drying process so that it does not get under-dry or over-dry.

Step 8: Storage

You can store the dried beef jerky in the refrigerator after cooling down in an airtight container or sealed packs. But don’t forget to cool it down entirely before the storage.

Benefits of the Homemade Beef Jerky without a dehydrator

The beef jerky made at home without the dehydrator is healthier in comparison to the market-bought dried jerky. The market bought jerky snacks have lots of odd flavors and additives that are not good for our health.

Moreover, the homemade jerky is inexpensive than the store-bought. You can add the flavors in the homemade product that you like and prefer.

Useful Tips and Tricks for preparing Beef Jerky without the dehydrator

The below are a few valuable tricks and tips that you can use while making beef jerky in the oven:

  1. You should always buy the leanest meat as in such piece of meat you can easily cut off the excess fat layers outside. The jerky with the extra fat remains moist and does not get dry completely. There are high chances of getting it rancid.
  2. While buying the beef jerky meat from the butcher, you can ask him to slice the meat. It will not only save your time, but you can also get ensure that all the slices cut with equal thickness.
  3. If you are slicing meat at home then, place the meat in the freezer for at least 30 to 60 minutes before slicing. It will make the slicing process easier. Use a sharp knife for cutting. If you feel while cutting that the meat is still soft then, place it again in the freezer for some more minutes.
  4. While seasoning the slices of the meat, lay out the parchment paper or the wax paper on the counter of your kitchen so that every single piece of the meat gets seasoned quickly, uniformly and perfectly.

Final word!

The above-discussed process of making beef jerky without a dehydrator helps you in preserving the meat for several weeks without the requirement of refrigeration. You can take these dried beef jerky snacks with you on the backpacking trip. These were also the best survival food when you caught in some crisis or unfavorable circumstances.

As we have told you earlier in the above article,, that making the beef jerky at your home in the oven is much cheaper than the store bought beef jerky snacks. You can cook it without a dehydrator easily. With the help of above-discussed steps, now you don’t have to think much about cooking the beef jerky at your home.

If you have any confusion about the above info then, please let us know in the below comment box. We will surely eradicate all your doubts quickly. Don’t forget to share us your experiences after cooking beef jerky with these easy steps and guide. We will wait for your views.

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Image Credit: Reddit

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