Caribbean Jerk Jerky
One of my favorite flavors is a traditional Caribbean Jerk marinade it’s fantastic on all kinds of foods like; rotisserie chicken, grilled fish and even beef jerky… like in this recipe.
This marinade has quite a few ingredients (like most Jerk recipes do). But the easy thing about this recipe is that you simply combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree, and you’re done!
Making beef jerky at home is a lot cheaper than store-bought… and very easy with the proper tools- a Ronco Beef Jerky Machine!
A little taste of Jamaica gives this Jerk Jerky a little something extra!
Ingredients
- Up to 4-pound flank steak
Jerk Marinade
- 5 scallions
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons allspice berries
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, (remove seeds or leave them for a real kick)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- yellow onion
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- Remove flank steak from packaging and place into large freezer bag. Pound meat lightly with meat mallet to uniform width of about ½ inch.
- Place flank steak in freezer for about two hours to make cutting the meat easier. Do not freeze solid, just place in freezer long enough to slightly harden the meat.
- When ready to cut meat, prepare marinade by placing all ingredients in a food processor or blender and make a puree
- Remove any extra fat from your steak with a sharp knife. Fat does not dehydrate properly and will quickly spoil your jerky batch.
- Slice flank steak along the grain of the meat into very thin strips about ⅛-¼ inch in width. The important thing to keep in mind when slicing your meat is to cut to a uniform width so that it all dehydrates in the same time.
- Place meat into marinade and allow to soak up flavors in the fridge for 2-12 hours. The longer you marinate your jerky, the more flavorful it becomes.
- Place marinated meat onto your Ronco Beef Jerky trays in one layer and not touching. Allow some marinade to remain on marinated meat strips and dehydrate. Rotate and turn your trays every few hours.
- Jerky is done in 8 to 24 hours depending on thickness of meat. Properly dehydrated jerky will be chewy and leathery; it will not have any moist spots and will bend like a green branch but not crumble into pieces.
Properly dried jerky will keep at room temperature two weeks in an airtight container. Store in a dark, dry place. You can also refrigerate or freeze jerky.
Enjoy!