Air Fryer Beef Jerky
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If you’ve got an adjustable temperature air fryer did you know you can make beef jerky?? YES! Budget-friendly made in the air fryer beef jerky can be yours!
Imagine slicing lean beef, marinating it for several hours, and then cooking it low and slow in the air fryer to make your own budget-friendly beef jerky.
Air Fryer beef jerky is not shelf-stable
One thing to know and understand about homemade beef jerky is that is it NOT SHELF STABLE. It MUST be refrigerated. Or frozen.
It can not be left in the pantry, it’s not treated with a plethora of preservatives to make it shelf-stable. Please be sure to store it safely for your health and well-being.
What Kind of Air Fryer Do You Need to Make this Recipe?
This beef jerky was made in a Cosori 5.8 Air Fryer. If you plan to use a different air fryer then please know the time for cooking may differ!
If you don’t have an air fryer with an adjustable temperature control then try Homemade Beef Jerky in your Dehydrator. You can ALSO make Ground Beef Jerky in your Dehydrator!
Why make your own beef jerky?
There are SO many reasons to make your own beef jerky!
- NO PRESERVATIVES–because this recipe is just spices and a dab of liquid smoke it’s preservative free so it’s cleaner eating
- Budget Friendly–buy lean beef that’s on sale and save big bucks!
- Use your OWN beef–if you buy a cow or half a cow you may have beef you can use in the freezer, any large lean cut will work, I used a london broil for this recipe
- Your preferred flavor–when you make your own you can add any and all flavors you like
- Make low salt jerky–because you’re making it you can also cut the salt down as much as you like
- It fun–making your own jerky is a fun project to do with kids
- Makes a great snack–lean beef makes a great protein filled snack especially when you control the additives
How to Spice Beef Jerky
You know how in recipes there’s sometimes this line “add salt and pepper to taste” or “add garlic to taste” and you’re trying to figure out HOW much you like without tasting it??
If you’re making a meat dish like this beef jerky, my ground beef jerky, or my pepperoni, I recommend you season the meat with a small amount of seasonings, fry it up in the frying pan and taste it!
If you like the taste chances are the flavor will work for you. if you need more flavor by all means add more of any of the seasonings and cook up another small piece.
Keep trying until you reach a flavor you like and make sure you take notes on much seasonings you liked. Remember that as the meat marinates the flavors will intensify. Ditto for the drying process because the meat is shrinking the flavors will intensify.
How to Slice Beef for Beef Jerky
For this jerky to cook in the time called for you MUST slice it thinly. Don’t think you’re going to make thick and chunky steak like jerky in a couple hours. It’s just not going to happen.
Air Fryer Beef Jerky
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean beef such as a london broil
- 2 TBSP soy sauce
- 2 TBSP honey
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder or granules
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoke flavor optional
Instructions
- slice the beef thinly across the grain, if you cut the meat THICK your cook time is going to be much longer the thinner it is the quicker it gets done
- mix the spices mix together
- stir HALF the spices mix into the beef, hold on the remaining spices you'll need them in a minute
- mix, making sure the beef is coated
- test for flavoring by taking one small piece and quickly cooking it in a hot frying pan
- taste for flavor, do you like it? Is it spiced enough?
- add the remaining spice mix as desired and quickly cook another piece, taste again
- if you like or want MORE of any spice add them now and try out how they taste, this spice mix works for us but might be too mild for you!
- once you've got your spice mix settled be sure to take notes!
- cover the meat and refrigerate for 3-4 hours
- when ready to cook set the air fryer to 180°
- lay one layer of beef down in the basket and cook in 30-minute increments until it's done
- it's done when the beef is dry and flexible and no longer raw
- pat off any grease and lay on a cooling rack to cool
- repeat with remaining beef slices until it's all dry
- store in an airtight container in the fridge, NOT SHELF STABLE
Nutrition
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My new dehydrator will be here tomorrow. I want to try your recipe, but at step 3 you say to mix half of the marinade in your beef. I don’t see when to add the other half. I am assuming it is after you fry up your test piece to determine whether or not to add more seasonings. Please clarify. Thank You, L.M.
if you keep reading you’ll see that the following steps tell you how to proceed!
test for flavoring by taking one small piece and cooking it in a hot frying pan
taste for flavor add more of the spice mix as needed or desired
if you like or want MORE of any spice add them now and try out how they taste, this spice mix works for us but might be too mild for you!
once you’ve got your spice mix settled be sure to take notes!
What??!!!?? This is awesome. I make ground beef jerky in my dehydrator all the time. But, it is NOT a quick process. I can’t believe how fast this goes! Great tips! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
Oh that’s such great jerky!!
This is sooo smart and economical! My son loves jerky and will love this homemade version. I think using a foodsaver to store in the freezer will work well for us. Thank you!
Can’t wait to make to make this again! Love this jerky recipe!