How to Make Your Own Jerky

Jerky’s got a bad rap. It’s long been synonymous with truckers, gas stations, a hard, nigh-unchewable texture, and dank, fake flavor more akin to the aroma of dog treats than human food. But it’s come a long way from its first iterations, and it’s a pretty perfect road trip snack or hiking fuel, not to mention something to stash in your desk for those hangry moments between lunch and quitting time.

You can find premium versions made from all sorts of meats (and meat substitutes), with countless flavor variations even in chain grocery stores these days, but it’s really easy—and a lot cheaper—to make your own jerky at home. You don’t even need a dehydrator, although if you have one, it’ll come in handy. If you don’t, just use your oven!

There are only a handful of simple tips to keep in mind to maximize your jerky’s flavor, texture, and shelf life. Other than the right meat (or meat substitute), a sharp knife, and an oven, you really only need time to make great jerky.

Test upon test taught us what does and doesn’t work when it comes to jerky. Here are some pointers:

Equipment

• If not using a dehydrator, use an oven thermometer to confirm that your oven is at the right temperature. (If your recipe only gives instructions for a dehydrator, just set your oven to the same temperature indicated.)
• Check your thermometer periodically throughout the drying process to ensure a consistent oven temperature.

Ingredients

• Work with cuts of meat that are lower in fat, since they will have a longer shelf life once dried. For poultry, that means the white or breast meat; for beef, the top loin, sirloin, or tenderloin. (It doesn’t apply to fish.)
• Get the right amount of meat—it will shrink considerably once dried. Three pounds of meat should give you about one pound of jerky, so plan accordingly.
• When making the rub or marinade, be sure to use salt (or ingredients that include salt), which helps the flavor and extends the jerky’s shelf life.

Preparation

• Freeze the meat before you slice it (anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour ahead) to make slicing easier.
• Use a very sharp knife to cut the meat to keep the strips as even and thin as possible.

Storage

• Pat any excess oil from the dehydrated meat before storing it. In general, fat is the enemy of the jerky’s shelf life and will make it turn rancid a lot quicker.
• Let the jerky cool completely on the oven racks before storing.
• Store the jerky in an airtight container. The turkey jerky is fine stored at room temperature, but the salmon and beef jerky should be refrigerated.

See? It’s pretty simple! Here are some recipes to get you started on your homemade jerky journey.

Western Barbecue Jerky

CD Kitchen

This recipe doesn’t specify a particular meat because it’s good made with beef, pork, or poultry. Generally, that’s true of most jerky recipes, so choose whichever lean cut you like, and put a zesty BBQ spin on it. Get the recipe.

Teriyaki Beef Jerky

Cooking With Janica

Teriyaki is a classic jerky flavor, and one of the best. If you’re vegan, try this teriyaki seitan jerky to get your fix. For meat eaters, beef, pork, or turkey all take equally well to the soy-heavy seasoning. Get the recipe.

Spicy Turkey Jerky

Chowhound

Chile garlic paste and honey give turkey hits of spicy and sweet. Get our Spicy Turkey Jerky recipe.

Peppered Salmon Jerky

Alaska From Scratch

You can make seafood jerky from lots of different fish (and with various flavors, like this Hawaiian fish jerky), but simple salmon is the classic piscine choice. This salmon jerky has a nice pepper kick. Get the recipe.

Thai Beef Jerky

Chowhound

Jerky can take on any flavor combos you dream up. Dr. Pepper jalapeño jerky, ginger orange jerky, Kentucky bourbon jerky, and black coffee jerky all (deliciously) attest to that. This Thai-inspired version is one of our favorites. Fish sauce, ground coriander, and honey infuse beef with an irresistible, almost floral flavor. Get our Thai Beef Jerky recipe.

Bulgogi Pork Jerky

Oink Cooking

Another Asian-inspired jerky, this one’s made with pork in a classic Korean marinade more often used with beef (so feel free to switch up the meat if you prefer). Get the recipe.

Spicy Sriracha Tofu Jerky

Connoisseurus Veg

You don’t even need meat to make jerky! This spicy tofu version is savory and chewy, just like you expect from jerky. (You can find Sriracha beef jerky too, of course.) Note that the tofu will get even chewier as it cools, so don’t overbake it. Get the recipe.

Candied Bacon Jerky

Kitchen Heals Soul

It’s hard to make bacon better, but if there’s one way to do it, it’s to add sugar and spice. This candied bacon jerky with brown sugar and cayenne pepper is so good you’ll probably want to make a double or triple batch. Get the recipe.

Spicy Sweet Mole Jerky

Teaspoon Of Spice

Firstly, we are talking about mole as in the classic Mexican chocolate-spice sauce, not small-burrowing-rodent jerky. This recipe does happen to use a semi-exotic meat: venison. If you’re a city slicker unable to source deer meat, you can just make the jerky with beef instead. Get the recipe.

Salmon Jerky “Candy”

Chowhound

Smoked candied salmon is delicious, but it’s not true jerky; it’s much moister, plumper, and softer, thus quicker to spoil. Our salmon jerky is still as addictive as actual candy—caraway and sugar partially cure the salmon before it’s dried, resulting in a sweet jerky with a pop of Nordic flavor. Get our Salmon Jerky “Candy” recipe.

Cauliflower Jerky

Olives For Dinner

Yes, cauliflower. Technically, you can make jerky out of practically anything, and there are lots of veggie versions: mushroom jerky, eggplant jerky, beet jerky. (There’s even at least one dessert jerky comprised of cacao and chia seeds.) This cauliflower version is deeply savory from tahini and nutritional yeast, and super chewy after 12 hours in the oven. Get the recipe.

Related video: Black Pepper Jerky.

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Seafood Paella on the Grill

Are you ready for a party? Mix up a pitcher of sangria and call your friends and neighbors!

A festive occasion calls for a big statement, and this paella is just that: a colorful rice dish bursting with clams, mussels and shrimp along with smoky chorizo and saffron for tons of flavor. You don’t need much else to serve alongside it, but you could make a green salad if you feel inspired.

Set the whole pan of paella on your picnic table, and bring out some crusty bread and wine glasses. Summer is just too short not to celebrate it with friends.

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Hummus Fries With Spicy Tahini Dip

Get Recipe!

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What’s in Salt Water Taffy? The Story Behind the Boardwalk Treat

Taffy is one of those deeply old-fashioned candies that still exist, but is usually only encountered in certain places—chiefly, at the beach. Salt water taffy has been a boardwalk staple for decades, but how did that come to be? And is there actually salt water in it?

Not in the way you might think. There is usually a small amount of salt and some water in all taffy, but so-called salt water taffy doesn’t have a higher amount of either, let alone actual water from the sea; in fact, it’s not distinctly different from regular old taffy in any way save the name.

It’s all made from boiled sugar, corn syrup, and a few other ingredients, including various flavorings and sometimes food coloring. The mixture starts out as an extremely sticky mass that’s also scalding hot, which sounds like a recipe for disaster, but once it’s cooled enough to handle, it’s stretched out and folded back in on itself numerous times to achieve its thick and fluffy, soft yet chewy texture. The constant agitation aerates the mixture, just like whipping cream makes it lofty and light.

Taffy has been enjoyed in America since at least the 1800s; an 1847 recipe from “Mrs. Crowden’s American Lady’s Cookery Book” calls for boiling molasses, flavoring it with lemon, sassafras, or vanilla, and pouring it into buttered tins—but also gives the option of “pulling it in your hands, having first rubbed them over with a  bit of butter, to prevent the candy sticking to them,” which would make it lighter in both color and texture. An 1843 cookbook (Mrs. Webster’s “The Improved Housewife”) elaborates on how one would take the mixture “while it is yet warm, and pull it out into a thick string, between the thumb and fore-finger of both hands. Extend your arms widely as you pull the candy backwards and forwards. By repeating this a long time, it will gradually become of a light yellow color, and of a spongy consistency.”

Taffy pulling parties were once a common pastime (you know, before television, gaming consoles, and smartphones were invented), enjoyed by young and old, and even Raggedy Ann and Andy, who starred in an entire (pretty creepy) story about it, in which a houseful of dolls play with fire and make candy while the human occupants are away. In the real world, these shindigs were both a fun activity for small children’s parties and an acceptable way for more mature young adults to get face time with the opposite sex (again, before smartphones).

Candy making wasn’t confined to homes, though, and large wall-mounted hooks made it possible for one person to manually make taffy in fairly large batches, as it had been since the 1800s as well. It did require muscle, and as former President William Howard Taft wrote in 1921, “[t]he work was strenuous, and produced perspiration and uncleanliness. It was done with the bare hands, and…was neither appetizing nor sanitary.”

And yet, it was still immensely popular, especially in Atlantic City, NJ, where the biggest names were Joseph Fralinger and Enoch James. Lots of other producers set up shop there too.

James Candy Company

Popular legend says one such candy maker, David Bradley, coined the now-common term “salt water taffy” in 1883, after a storm surge or particularly high tide caused flooding along the boardwalk that inundated his shop with sea water. More likely, some clever but ultimately shortsighted person simply applied the term for marketing purposes, to connote the proximity of the sea and thus imbue the confection with the aura of a special holiday treat—something to enjoy on vacation, but also to bring home with you to tangibly extend the experience and give as a souvenir to others too. “Salt water taffy” does sound vaguely magical and ethereal, like fairy bread.

The evocative name was never trademarked, though. John R. Edmiston tried to stake a claim in 1925, about 40 years too late. By then, hundreds of confectioners (along the Atlantic coast and elsewhere in the U.S.) had been selling salt water taffy for decades, and the court ruled that the term couldn’t be officially registered.

The actual process of making it, of course, has come a long way since then—the first taffy pulling machine was patented in 1893, and such contraptions continue to evolve. The flavors have grown in scope too (piña colada, bubblegum, and cookie dough can now easily be had along with classic versions like vanilla and molasses). But the original chewy candy continues to beckon beach-goers from coast to coast, and its name to inspire wonder over whether a little bit of the ocean actually makes it inside the sweet.

Related Video: How to Make Maple Syrup Snow Candy

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