Save Money and Skip the Store: How to Make Real Smoked Beef Jerky at Home

Fresh beef jerky ready for snacking

Actually, because beef jerky is a basic food group in my house, zombies or no, I tend to have a batch on hand all the time. But have you looked at the price of store-bought jerky lately? It’s getting ridiculous. Paying $25 or more a pound for commercially processed meat that could be packed with preservatives just doesn’t sit right with me.

The good news? You can make fresh, deeply flavorful, homemade beef jerky right in your backyard using discounted cuts of meat for closer to $4 a pound.

When I tell friends I make 3 to 4 pounds at a time, they think I have some elaborate setup or a highly guarded secret recipe. I don’t. My marinade is incredibly simple. The real “secret” is that I skip the fake chemical “liquid smoke” and give the meat a short bath in real wood smoke on my patio grill before it hits the dehydrator.

You don’t need a fancy, thousand-dollar smoker for this. A little portable charcoal grill, a hibachi, or even a DIY setup will do the trick perfectly. Here is how to do it, live-and-learn style.

The Master Checklist: Ingredients and Equipment

Before we slice a piece of meat, let’s gather our supplies.

Some cheap meat and a few seasonings are all you need

The Best Meat for Jerky

Any lean, thinly sliced beef will work here. Look for what’s on sale at your local grocery store or butcher.

• Flap meat, flank steak, or shoulder knuckle (often used for carne asada) are fantastic choices because they frequently go on discount.
• Eye of round, top round, or London broil are also backyard favorites because they are incredibly lean.

Homestead Note: Fat is the enemy of shelf-life when it comes to jerky—it spoils much faster than meat—so pick the leanest cuts you can find and trim away any large pockets of fat.

The 2-Ingredient Base Marinade

For every pound of meat, you will want a 1:1 ratio of the classics.

• 1 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 cup Worcestershire Sauce

Want to make it Hot & Spicy? Add these to taste:

• Ground black pepper (about ¾ teaspoon per cup of liquid is my sweet spot)
• Red pepper flakes

The Gear

• A backyard grill or smoker: Anything with a lid (a Weber kettle, a hibachi, or a small portable grill).
• 2–3 pieces of charcoal: Just enough to get a small ember going.
• Hardwood chips or chunks: Oak, hickory, apple, or mesquite all work beautifully.
• A food dehydrator: A standard counter-top model works great.

Step-by-Step: How to Make Smoked Beef Jerky

1. Slice the Meat

First, trim away any visible solid fat. Next, slice your meat into strips about ¾-inch wide and roughly ¼-inch thick.

I picked up some shoulder knuckle on sale for $3.99 / lb

How you slice matters: If you cut with the grain of the meat, you’ll get that classic, tough, leather-style jerky that’s good for chewing on a long hike. If you cut across the grain, the jerky will tear easily and be much tenderer to bite into. Both are great, so pick your pleasure!

Place your sliced strips into a one-gallon zipper bag or a resealable container.

2. Mix and Marinate

In a bowl, combine your soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and any pepper flakes or spices you like. Pour the marinade over the meat, making sure every single piece is well coated.

Pop the container into the fridge for 8 to 12 hours.

Live and learn moment: Resist the temptation to leave it in there for 24 hours. Because the meat is sliced so thin, over-marinating will cause the salt to completely overpower the beef. You want to taste the meat and the smoke, not just dried soy sauce!

3. The “Cold Smoke” Setup

We want to infuse the meat with real wood smoke without actually cooking it through on the grill. To do this, we need to keep our grill temperature low—ideally under 120°F.

I use a DIY rocket stove to light the charcoal

Just a few pieces of charcoal and some hardwood is all you need (this is oak)

Fire up just 2 or 3 pieces of charcoal (I used a little rocket stove made from cans to do this). Once they are glowing, move them to the absolute edge of your grill’s fire pan, as far away from where the meat will sit as possible. Add a handful of your hardwood chips or a small wood chunk directly onto the coals. It should start billowing a nice, thick smoke.

Just a few pieces of charcoal and some hardwood is all you need (this is oak)

4. Smoke the Meat

Lay your marinated beef strips out on the grill grates. Make sure they aren’t overlapping; you want plenty of space for the smoke to circulate around every piece. Close the lid.

The marinated meat on the grill for smoking

Keep a close eye on it. We are looking for the meat to take on a beautiful, slightly pinkish-red tinge from the smoke. On a small portable grill, this might only take 15 to 30 minutes. On a larger grill where the meat is further from the coals, it could take up to an hour.

5. Dehydrate for Safety and Storage

Once the meat has absorbed that rich, smoky flavor, transfer the strips from the grill onto your food dehydrator racks. Again, leave some breathing room between the pieces.

My trusty old dehydrator ready to dry the jerky

A note on food safety: To ensure any lingering bacteria is destroyed, the USDA recommends that beef jerky reaches an internal temperature of 160°F. Set your dehydrator to its highest setting.

Depending on your specific dehydrator model and how thick you sliced the meat, the drying process will typically take anywhere from 4 to 12 hours depending on how much you’re dehydrating.

How to Tell When Jerky is Done

The finished jerky coming off the dehydrator

Storing Your Backyard Bounty

Once your jerky is completely dried, let it cool completely before placing it into an airtight container or a glass mason jar.

Fresh beef jerky ready for snacking

Because we aren’t using nitrates, homemade jerky will absorb moisture from the air if left out, making it soft and ruinous to all your hard work. Kept in a cool, dark pantry in an airtight jar, this jerky will easily last for 1 to 2 months—though, if your family is anything like mine, a batch rarely lasts more than a weekend before it’s gone.

Give this simple real-wood twist a try on your next weekend homestead project. Your wallet (and your tastebuds) will thank you!