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Texas Pepper Beef Jerky on wooden cutting board.

Texas Pepper Beef Jerky

Steven Pennington
Classic Texas Beef Jerky Recipe you'll love and want to make again and again :)
4.60 from 15 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine Classic Texas
Servings 25 pieces
Calories 76 kcal

Suggested Equipment

Ingredients
  

Meat Suggestions: Top Round, Bottom Round, Flank Steak, Top Sirloin

  • 1 ½ pound Eye of Round Options: Top Round, Bottom Round, Flank Steak, Top Sirloin

Marinade

  • 1 cup Soy Sauce
  • 10 oz Teriyaki Sauce
  • 3 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
  • 1 Tablespoon Wasabi Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Mustard (Jalapeno Flavor) Substitution: mince up a jalapeno and add to the mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Before Dehydration Begins

  • 3 Tablespoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper Directly on the meat

Instructions
 

  • Slicing the meat: Placing the meat in the freezer before slicing will make it easier. The cold will firm up the meat.
    Use a large knife and make long smooth slices.
    The single most important bit of information is to slice against the grain of the meat. This will help make your beef jerky more tender.
    Look at the cut of meat, search for the long intramuscular grains, and which way they run. The cuts you make need to be cut against/across the long grains.
    Tip: Cut 90 degrees to the direction of the long grains.
    You do not want to slice the meat too thick. Shoot for around a ¼ inch or less. This will help with even dehydrating times and a more tender result.
  • Beef jerky marinade: Combine ingredients in a large bowl
    1 cup Soy Sauce
    10 oz Kikkoman Teriyaki
    3 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
    1 Tablespoon Liquid Smoke
    1 Tablespoon Kikkoman Wasabi Sauce
    1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
    2 Tablespoon Jalapeno Mustard 
    2 teaspoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
    TSA: Taste, season, adjust. Take a taste and make any seasoning adjustments.
    After slicing the meat, add the slices to a zip lock bag and add the marinade. Then straight into the refrigerator overnight.
    2-4 hours for a fatty cut of beef like sirloin flap.
  • Dehydration of the meat: Layout the meat on each dehydrator tray and add a healthy amount of fresh cracked black pepper to each piece.
    Be careful the pieces of meat are not overlaying one another. You do not want to have an overloaded dehydrator due to varying cook times.
    Tip: Add a piece of aluminum foil to the bottom of your machine for easy clean-up.
    Texas pepper jerky recipe
  • Dehydrating beef jerky: The timing for dehydration can swing between 4 to 15 hours. That’s a huge time window and can be confusing.
    The average is 4 hours at 160/170 degrees. 160 being the optimal temperature
    That is the temperature and timing I used.

Notes

Meat Selection Info
Eye of round beef: One of the more popular beef cuts to make jerky.
Bottom round beef: Another top pick for Beef Jerky. This muscle can be found as part of the outer muscle of the upper leg.
Flank steak beef: Great choice for Beef Jerky, higher-quality cut of beef with all the flavor.
Top round beef: Similar to the Bottom Round cut, but is more tender and sits right on top of the bottom round.
Brisket beef: One of our readers left a comment suggesting we not forget about Brisket because they LOVE making Beef Jerky out of brisket.
Top sirloin beef: Not as mainstream as the others mentioned above, but still a very nice choice for making quality Beef Jerky.
Deer/venison: Incredible flavor and belongs in the tender category. Makes Amazing Jerky.
Keyword Best Beef Cuts For Jerky, Texas Pepper Beef Jerky