Easy Homemade Midwest Ground Beef Jerky: Your Oven-Baked Chewy Snack Guide
Craving a savory, satisfying snack that’s packed with flavor but won’t break your teeth? Look no further than this incredible **Midwest Ground Beef Jerky recipe**, perfectly crafted for your oven! Forget tough, leathery jerky – this method produces a delightfully tender and chewy texture, making it an absolute game-changer for anyone who loves jerky but prefers an easier bite. Experience the classic, comforting taste of the heartland right from your kitchen, transformed into the ultimate high-protein, on-the-go snack.
Why Choose Ground Beef for Your Homemade Jerky?
While traditional jerky often calls for whole muscle cuts, ground beef offers several unique advantages that make it an excellent choice for homemade jerky enthusiasts, especially beginners. Firstly, it provides a consistently tender chew, a welcome feature for those who find traditional jerky too tough. This recipe specifically focuses on achieving that ideal pliability. Secondly, using ground beef allows for unparalleled flavor distribution. Every strand of meat is thoroughly infused with your chosen seasonings, ensuring a robust taste in every single bite. Lastly, it’s often more economical than prime cuts of beef, making it a budget-friendly way to enjoy delicious, homemade jerky without compromise. The process is also surprisingly straightforward, requiring minimal specialized equipment beyond your trusty kitchen oven.
I first developed this recipe several weeks ago and, in a flurry of other kitchen adventures, almost forgot to share it with you all! My apologies for the delay – my mind seems to wander at times. For those interested in a broader understanding of how to make ground meat jerky, I’ve previously covered the comprehensive techniques on how to make ground meat jerky. That resource offers even more detailed insights into the general methodology, which complements this specific Midwest-style recipe beautifully.
The Signature Midwest Flavor Profile
This recipe embodies the beloved, straightforward flavors that define classic Midwest cuisine. It’s a harmonious blend of simple yet impactful ingredients: a touch of liquid smoke for that authentic, subtle BBQ essence, brown sugar for a hint of sweetness that balances the savory notes and aids in tenderness, robust black pepper for a pleasant warmth, and the essential kosher salt to cure and enhance the meat’s natural taste. We also incorporate garlic powder and onion powder to build a foundational savory base that’s both familiar and incredibly appealing. While I certainly appreciate the occasional artisanal, spiced-up jerky with exotic marinades, there’s an undeniable comfort and satisfaction that comes from a well-executed, no-fuss **Midwest style original jerky**. It’s honest, hearty, and universally appealing.
Key Ingredients and Preparation Steps for Perfect Ground Beef Jerky
The foundation of exceptional ground beef jerky begins with your choice of meat. **Always start with a lean ground beef, ideally 10% fat at the most.** Excess fat can lead to a greasy product and significantly reduce the shelf life of your jerky, as fat can go rancid. Opting for a leaner cut ensures a drier, more stable product that stores better and tastes cleaner. Once you have your lean ground beef, the magic truly begins with the marinade.
To prepare your flavorful marinade, combine all the dry and wet ingredients in a separate bowl before introducing them to the ground meat. This pre-mixing step ensures that all the spices, sugars, and liquid smoke are thoroughly distributed, guaranteeing consistent flavor throughout your jerky. If your recipe calls for curing salt, such as Prague Powder #1, it’s absolutely crucial to dissolve it completely in a liquid ingredient (like the cold water in this recipe) or a small amount of extra water before mixing it with the beef. This ensures even distribution of the curing agent, which is vital for food safety and proper preservation. Once combined, mix the marinade thoroughly into the ground beef until it forms a uniform mixture. This can be done by hand or with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Shaping and Dehydrating Your Ground Beef Jerky
After your beef mixture has absorbed all those wonderful flavors – typically after sitting in the fridge for at least 12 hours (this chilling period also helps the meat bind together and firm up, making it easier to handle) – it’s time to prepare it for drying. For uniform thickness, which is essential for even dehydration, I prefer to roll the mixture flat. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, then spread the beef mixture evenly over it. Using a rolling pin, flatten the meat to a consistent thickness of about ¼ inch. Consistency is key here; thicker sections will take longer to dry, while thinner sections might over-dry and become brittle.
Once flattened, use a dull knife or a pizza cutter to score the meat into desired jerky strip sizes. Scoring it at this stage makes it significantly easier to break apart into individual pieces once it’s fully dried, preventing crumbling and ensuring neat strips. My preferred size is usually 4-5 inches long and 1 inch wide, but feel free to customize this to your snacking preference. Some jerky makers prefer to use a jerky gun, which extrudes perfectly uniform strips or sticks, making this step even quicker and more efficient, especially for larger batches. If you plan to make ground beef jerky often, a jerky gun is a worthwhile investment.
The Oven Drying Process: Achieving the Perfect Texture
Drying your ground beef jerky in the oven is a simple and effective method, even if you don’t own a dedicated dehydrator. For this particular batch, it took approximately 4 hours to reach the ideal dryness in my oven, set at a low temperature of 170°F (77°C). The low heat is crucial for drying the meat slowly and thoroughly without actually cooking it. Throughout the drying process, it’s important to ensure proper air circulation to prevent moisture buildup, which can lead to uneven drying or spoilage. I typically prop my oven door open slightly (with a wooden spoon or heat-safe object) to allow moisture to escape.
After the first 2 hours of drying, I carefully flipped the meat strips. This ensures both sides dry evenly. At this point, you might notice some liquid or rendered fat accumulating on the baking sheet. It’s good practice to use paper towels to gently blot and soak up any excess liquid, as this helps in the drying process and improves the final texture and shelf life. By this stage, the meat should be firm enough to handle easily. If desired, you can transfer the semi-dried strips from the parchment-lined sheet to a metal cooling rack placed over a baking sheet. This allows for even better air circulation around each piece, helping them to finish drying more efficiently and achieve that perfect chewy consistency.
The end result of this process was a truly delicious jerky. While whole muscle jerky will always hold a special place in my heart for its traditional chew and rugged texture, this ground beef jerky consistently hits the spot when you’re craving a savory, satisfying snack. Its easier chew makes it approachable for everyone, and the rich, authentic flavors are simply irresistible. It’s fantastic for road trips, hikes, or just a quick protein boost during your day.
How to Tell When Your Jerky is Perfectly Done
Knowing when your homemade jerky is perfectly dried is crucial for both taste and food safety. After removing the jerky from the oven, allow it to cool completely at room temperature. Jerky will firm up slightly as it cools. The definitive test for doneness is the bend test: take a piece of jerky and bend it. If it bends without breaking cleanly in half, or if it cracks just a little bit along the bend but doesn’t snap, then it’s finished. This indicates that enough moisture has been removed for preservation, but not so much that it becomes brittle. The jerky should still feel somewhat pliable and soft to the touch, not hard or crispy on the outside. If it snaps clean in half, it’s over-dried. If it feels overly moist or still looks raw in the center, it needs more drying time. Once cooled, store your delicious homemade ground beef jerky in an airtight container or a resealable bag at room temperature for up to a week, or in the refrigerator for several weeks. For longer storage, consider freezing it. Enjoy your flavorful and easy-to-chew snack!
Pro Tips for the Best Ground Beef Jerky:
- Corn Syrup Solids for Texture: Consider adding Corn Syrup Solids to your marinade. This ingredient can significantly help bind the jerky together, preventing it from crumbling, and contributes to a more pliable, less dried-out final product. It also adds a subtle sweetness.
- Jerky Gun Efficiency: If you’re planning to make large batches of ground jerky regularly, a dedicated jerky gun is an invaluable tool. It allows for quick, uniform shaping of strips or sticks, ensuring consistent drying times and a professional-looking result.
- Add Some Heat: For those who love a spicy kick, incorporating ground-up fresh hot peppers (like cayenne, jalapeños, or even habaneros, depending on your heat preference) into the meat mixture will elevate the flavor profile and add an exciting fiery dimension to your jerky. Adjust the amount to your desired level of spice!
- Maintain Low Oven Temp: Always keep your oven temperature as low as possible (around 170°F / 77°C) and prop the door open slightly. This ensures dehydration rather than cooking, and allows moisture to escape, critical for proper jerky formation.
- Pat Dry for Better Results: Periodically patting the jerky with paper towels during the drying process helps absorb any rendered fat or surface moisture, contributing to a cleaner, less greasy, and better-preserved final product.
For more in-depth directions on various methods to dry your beef jerky, including using a dehydrator or smoker, please visit my comprehensive page on Jerky Making Methods, or simply click on the helpful pictures below.
Midwest Ground Beef Jerky
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
Lean Beef
- 1 lb Lean ground beef (10% fat or less)
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 2 teaspoon liquid smoke (hickory)
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Prague Powder #1 (curing salt)
- ½ teaspoon corn syrup solids (optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine ingredients and add to 1lb of ground beef
- Mix the ground beef and seasonings thoroughly
- spread the ground meat on a baking sheet, cover with wax paper, and roll with a rolling pin until meat is ¼” thick
- Slice the pan of beef into jerky strips 4-5″ long and 1″ thick
- Dry with your favorite jerky making method. I used my oven at 170F for 4 hours
- Ground jerky is finished when it first starts becoming dry to the touch. It should bend without breaking in half. If it cracks in half when bent a little bit, it was over dried
Pro Tips
- Use Corn Syrup Solids to help bind the jerky together and make it pliable and not dried out too much.
- A jerky gun really helps when making a lot of ground jerky
- Add ground up fresh hot peppers for some heat!
Nutrition
For more in-depth directions on how to dry your beef jerky, visit my page Jerky Making Methods or click on the pictures below.