2-4 servingsair fryer recipeAmerican

Peppered Beef Jerky

By Donna-Marie Pye

2-4 servings

more than 2 hours

Easy

Recipe Details

Course: Side Dish

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 3 hour

Total Time: more than 2 hours

Cooking Technique: Dehydrate

Cuisine: American

Yield: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

1 lb flank steak
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
sealable freezer bag

My son Jack is a huge fan of beef jerky, so we decided to give it a try. There is a little extra work because you need to freeze the meat first, then marinate it. But the dehydrator function easily turns it into a delicious snack. It’s full of savory flavors, includes no added sweeteners and is irresistibly delicious.

INSTRUCTIONS

Place flank steak in a sealable freezer bag and freeze for 1 to 2 hours to firm the meat for slicing.
Slice steak against the grain into 1/8- to 1/4-inch (3 mm to 0.5 cm) thick strips.
In a glass bowl, combine soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, onion powder, seasoned salt and garlic powder. Add beef strips and mix to ensure strips are coated on all sides with marinade. Refrigerate covered 3 to  4 hours or overnight.
Remove meat and pat dry. Divide steak strips between the two cooking trays, in an even layer, making sure strips don’t overlap.
Place drip pan in the bottom of the cooking chamber and insert one cooking tray in the top position and one in the middle position.
Using the display panel, select Dehydrate, adjust Temperature to 160°F (70°C) and set Time for 3 hours, then touch Start.
After 1 1/2 hours, switch the cooking trays so that the tray in the top position moves to the middle and the tray in the middle moves to the top position.
When the dehydrator program is nearly complete, test a piece of jerky by bending it at a 90-degree angle. If any moisture seeps out, return for an additional 20 to 30 minutes of cooking time. If it bends but there is no moisture seepage, it is done. If it cracks and breaks, it is overdone.

Notes

Tips Use lean cuts of beef for making jerky. I really like flank steak, but eye of round or top or bottom round are also good options and a little more economical. , Slice the beef as thin as possible. For tender jerky, slice meat against the grain; for chewier, slice with the grain. Freezing steak for a few hours allows you to slice it very thinly., Image credit: gettyimages.com

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About the chef

Donna-Marie Pye

Growing up in Whitby, Ontario, Donna-Marie Pye was introduced to great food at an early age. Memories of summers spent putting up beans, corn, peaches and tomatoes with her mother and sisters, picking and selling strawberries at a roadside country stand, catching fish off the east coast of Canada and cooking over campfires on family camping trips created Pye’s appreciation for unfussy, flavorful food. Pye’s straightforward style and easy-going manner are illustrated by her heartfelt belief that cooking is easy and anyone can do it. All anybody needs are a few tips and tricks, a handful of well-tested recipes and some time-saving cooking tools, all of which is offered at her and collaborator Maria Burjoski's cooking school and kitchen supply store, Relish Cooking Studio, with sincerity and humility. Pye is a Professional Home Economist (P.H.Ec) and holds a Bachelor in Applied Science in Food and Nutrition from Ryerson University, a diploma in Public Relations from York University and has taken cooking courses around the world. She is the best-selling author of four cookbooks including The Best Family Slow Cooker Recipes, 300 Slow Cooker Favorites and 300 Slow Cooker Winners. Her cookbook "The Essential Vortex Air Fryer Cookbook" was released in November 2020, and her newest slow cooker cookbook "Today's Everyday Slow Cooker" was released in March 2021. She is also a busy wife and mother to two grown and almost-gone children, daughter Darcy & son Jack.

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