# I'm Stumped On Why My Beef Jerky Doesn't Taste Like The Marinade



## hotrod123

I'm stumped on why my marinate tastes super good and spicy hot but the end product of jerky comes out rather plain tasting.  I'm marinating for at least 2 days or longer and rotate the meat a few times each day.  I use enough marinate to completely cover the meat but when I dehydrate my meat it just doesn't taste nearly as good as the marinade did, it's rather plain tasting.  What I would end up doing was brushing on some hot sauce mixed with some molasses after the meat was dry and then stick it back in the dehydrator just long enough to dry the coating or I've also used a spray bottle to just spray hot sauce but I wish I didn't have to add extra steps. Both additional steps worked fine but the last time I brushed on the hot and sweet mixture right when I placed the meat on the dehydrator trays and that worked out really good.   Just wondering if there is some reason why the meat doesn't seem to hold the flavor of the marinade.   Like I said the marinade tastes great with plenty of flavor from the hot sauce and sweet sauce and all my spices but I end up always having to brush on a separate mixture of hot sauce and sweet sauce before or after drying.


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## PerazziMx14

Please delete


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## hotrod123

I’ll try multiplying the ingredients next time.  I use london broil or top round and always trim as much fat as possible.


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## SonnyE

You say marinade. Maybe what you need is a Jerky recipe.
Because my recipe blows my socks off when I taste it. It's not tongue friendly.
But I enjoy the resulting Jerky. 
I use an Original Jerky recipe, but spike mine with some smoked Paprika, and some Cyan Pepper. Gives a nice warm back in the throat heat after swallowed. :eek::rolleyes:
But as a recipe, even before adding heat to it, it tastes like shi-nola.

Are you making strip Jerky (whole muscle), or Ground beef? (Two totally different methods)
I presume whole muscle strip jerky, since you are soaking.


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## DanMcG

I always dust mine with either hot or black pepper (sometimes both) right before I place them in the smoker.
It give them a good kick.  But you do need a solid marinade to start with.


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## hotrod123

I guess I need to compensate by over concentrating my marinade recipe. I'll try a small batch making the marinade super hot and see how that comes out.  Maybe the fact that my current marinade recipe tastes so good in liquid form that I need to kick it up to the point that it's not as enjoyable in liquid form and then the dried jerky should come out  with much more flavor.  Recently, after my beef strips have been soaking for a couple days and as I'm loading the jerky into my dehydrator, I brush the top side with an additional mixture of hot sauce and molasses and that works but it's just another step that I'd rather not do. 
Thanks again for everyone's imput


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## johnmeyer

What temp are you using for dehydrating?

I have found that there is a gigantic decrease in the spicy heat in marinades when food gets cooked. Because I like hot sauce, my kids give me bottles of sauce for birthdays and Christmas. Some of it is way too hot for me, but if I put it in a marinade and then cook, the heat totally disappears, and the taste becomes muted.

I think, but don't know for sure, that this effect is more pronounced the hotter the heat used for cooking. For instance, I do a lot of chicken on the rotisserie, which uses very high direct heat, and I can use in the marinade the hottest sauce I have (from South Africa) and there is only a hint of spicy heat left.


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## hotrod123

I have an Excalibur dehydrator and have it at the max temp of 155.  I'm sure it's not putting out that temperature though and that isn't enough heat to cook just dehydrate.  It does make sense if I were cooking that the heat could effect the hot sauce in the marinade


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## 30" Jim

This may sound overly simple but I learned it the hard way. After I pulled the meat from the marinate, I was squeezing it while in a paper towel to get as much liquid out of it as possible. I assumed that this would help it dry faster. It did, but it also pulled all of the flavor out of the meat.
Now, I just pat it dry and when the moisture is pulled from the meat, the concentrated flavor is left behind.


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## hotrod123

I don’t pat dry.  I just shake it before laying it on parchment paper.  I’m going to 8 lbs tomorrow of eye round and will try making the marinade super super  hot and see how that works out


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## 30" Jim

What is your marinate recipe?


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## uncle eddie

You might want to try Owen's BBQ - some of their jerky marinades are super easy to use and taste awesome...Hickory, Mesquite, Garlic Pepper, Chipotle Lime are my faves

The marinade does need to be super concentrated.  My marinade recipe when I make it myself - for about 4 pounds of meat - has a base marinade consisting of:

20 oz. kikoman soy sauce
1 or 2 oz. liquid smoke (any flavor)

then I add whatever:

a 3 or 4 tablespoons of garlic powder and maybe a teaspoon or red pepper
or
about 3 or 4 tablespoons Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning

or???...You decide

Marinade overnight at least - 24 hours is better


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## SonnyE

Sounds like you are making strip, or whole muscle type jerky. Because ground beef is never soaked. 
Not in my house, tastes like EEeeww if it gets liquid in it. (Or too much anyhow)
Maybe go back to go and start over. I use recipe's, but used the pre-packaged, cure and flavorings for my first batches.

The method for my Presto Dehydrator was to use GB, then put the jerky in the oven at 275° for 10 minutes. Made it sizzle.
That sterilized the jerky. 
I tested my dehydrator for temperature, and it ran 170-171 with two probes at different levels. 
160° is considered the leathallity temperature for safety for Beef.  (165° for Chicken.)
Some call for heating the meat before dehydrating it. (to sterilize it.)

The same cure/flavor from Presto I used could also be used for whole meat jerky with water added to make it a liquid cure to soak the meat in.

I chose to order in some Prague Powder so I could make my own cures. Many of the recipes I've read call for adding Prague Powder (Cure #1), so it struck me as being more universal for a wide variety of interesting recipes.
But so far, I like Original Flavor the best. Tastes like what I grew up gnawing on from Jr. High (Middle School) on.

But my cures, dry or wet, taste awful. Nothing like marinade. :po_O


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## dan the mano

SonnyE said:


> Sounds like you are making strip, or whole muscle type jerky. Because ground beef is never soaked.
> Not in my house, tastes like EEeeww if it gets liquid in it. (Or too much anyhow)
> Maybe go back to go and start over. I use recipe's, but used the pre-packaged, cure and flavorings for my first batches.
> 
> The method for my Presto Dehydrator was to use GB, then put the jerky in the oven at 275° for 10 minutes. Made it sizzle.
> That sterilized the jerky.
> I tested my dehydrator for temperature, and it ran 170-171 with two probes at different levels.
> 160° is considered the leathallity temperature for safety for Beef.  (165° for Chicken.)
> Some call for heating the meat before dehydrating it. (to sterilize it.)
> 
> The same cure/flavor from Presto I used could also be used for whole meat jerky with water added to make it a liquid cure to soak the meat in.
> 
> I chose to order in some Prague Powder so I could make my own cures. Many of the recipes I've read call for adding Prague Powder (Cure #1), so it struck me as being more universal for a wide variety of interesting recipes.
> But so far, I like Original Flavor the best. Tastes like what I grew up gnawing on from Jr. High (Middle School) on.
> 
> But my cures, dry or wet, taste awful. Nothing like marinade. :po_O


when you make this jerky ... does it give you a medium say hot,(warm) taste , and also say what kind extra amount of these extra additives do you use ( , what i mean is 1/4 tsp per)? pound ?? ) 
  thanks


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## SonnyE

dan the mano said:


> when you make this jerky ... does it give you a medium say hot,(warm) taste , and also say what kind extra amount of these extra additives do you use ( , what i mean is 1/4 tsp per)? pound ?? )
> thanks



Depends on your "heat" index, Dan. All my batches are per pound. 
Small batch = Small screw ups. :confused:o_O

I made a batch with 1 tsp in it. Kinda hot. But I always eat the evidence.
Then next batch did 1/2 tsp. Nice heat after the swallow. Not too much that time.
I do equal Paprika and Cyan. Both raise the heat.

So you could begin with 1/4 tsp. Some folks say they fry up a very small sample to test the flavor and heat.
I'm more fool hearty, go for it, gag it down, do better the next pound. :rolleyes:


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## dan the mano

SonnyE said:


> Depends on your "heat" index, Dan. All my batches are per pound.
> Small batch = Small screw ups. :confused:o_O
> 
> I made a batch with 1 tsp in it. Kinda hot. But I always eat the evidence.
> Then next batch did 1/2 tsp. Nice heat after the swallow. Not too much that time.
> I do equal Paprika and Cyan. Both raise the heat.
> 
> So you could begin with 1/4 tsp. Some folks say they fry up a very small sample to test the flavor and heat.
> I'm more fool hearty, go for it, gag it down, do better the next pound. :rolleyes:


OK .. well thanks for the information there .. i try to start low... lol.. and then go a little bit warmer ,( i too go by the pound as i have a smaller digital scale i use as well) but usually only when i am trying out something new that hasn't proved itself to me. ... well.. you know how that works sometimes too... i just made a ( what i thought would be a good and interesting batch), then it said to add 5 1/4 tsp of honey ( i was making 5 pounds)... well i went and added 5 1/4 cups . you know, it wasn't actually wasn't that bad.. no where like you thought it would be,i mean being super sweet. so im gonna to try that one again just gonna have to pay better attention on ingredients and there amounts .

well thank you again ..


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## SonnyE

dan the mano said:


> OK .. well thanks for the information there .. i try to start low... lol.. and then go a little bit warmer ,( i too go by the pound as i have a smaller digital scale i use as well) but usually only when i am trying out something new that hasn't proved itself to me. ... well.. you know how that works sometimes too... i just made a ( what i thought would be a good and interesting batch), then it said to add 5 1/4 tsp of honey ( i was making 5 pounds)... well i went and added 5 1/4 cups . you know, it wasn't actually wasn't that bad.. no where like you thought it would be,i mean being super sweet. so im gonna to try that one again just gonna have to pay better attention on ingredients and there amounts .
> 
> well thank you again ..



You'll find your preference, just keep trying.
At first I thought I was seeing 5.25 teaspoons, and 5.25 cups. :confused::eek: 
Then realized I think your total was 1 & 1/4 tsp and 1 & 1/4 cups. LOL!

You could also put some lip blister juice on your finished jerky. Lightly brush a tiny amount of Tabasco Sauce on your pieces. Oh Baby! :rolleyes:

If you're dunkin your tail end in cold water the next day, that's probably too hot.... :D


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