My absolutely favorite jerky flavor comes from the beautiful blend of Dr. Pepper soda and habanero peppers. I already did a post about it – Dr. Pepper Habanero Jerky – but like I always do, try to make it better. This one will be less about the process, more about the pictures. Check out the previous post for a little more detail. Also just re-using the recipe from last time, but I’ll tell you what I changed up!
The Prep Table
On my last Jerky post, I had butcher slice it thin for me. This one I went back to where I started and cut it by hand. I searched high and low for some hot peppers – specifically Carolina Reapers, but came up short every time. Whole Foods had a sign for Ghost Peppers, but they were waiting on the supply chain. If I only had an inflated dollar for every time I heard that.
Same seasoning blend I used last time, but this time we were doing half regular Dr. Pepper and half Cherry Dr. Pepper. Wanted to see if it made it better, made it worse, or didn’t matter.
Heat it all up, reduce it down and throw it in a bag. I reduced the Cherry marinade far greater than the original – wasn’t intentional, but also didn’t make that great of a difference in taste.
Pop the meat in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to make it easier to slice, but it’s still a pain in the ass. I tried to use the electric knife but that was an awful decision. Just take your time and do your best.
Bagged it up and placed it in the refrigerator over night. The next day we use some elbow grease pressing out the marinade so rest up!
The Process
The process is the same – Remove from marinade, put it on a bed of paper towel. Take another sheet or two and press the hell out of the slices. This takes me a little bit of time, but the juice is always worth the squeeze. Once you’ve dried it out, trim off any fat that you can.
Now we just smoke it (for you RecTeq’ers: XTREME SMOKE (Lo)) or about 180 degrees. Let it grab all that smoke, I used cherry pellets and check it every half hour or so until it’s how you like it.
The Result
When you’re pulling these when they get done, place ’em immediately into a ziploc bag and let the steam get at ’em.
Not a big difference in flavor between the two. They both tasted great, but neither were really hot (to my taste). They did get hotter over time, but next time I do it – I’ll use ghost/reapers and I’ll try to add some preservatives so I can ship some out to some friends. Always looking to do it better!
Thanks for the reading the redux, let’s do it again soon!
The Recipe
Dr. Pepper/Habanero Jerky
Ingredients
- 2.5 Lbs Eye Round Sliced Thin
- 6 Habanero Peppers Sliced
- 2 Cups Dr. Pepper Soda
- 2 Tbsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
Instructions
Marinade
- Combine Dr Pepper, Habanero, Salt, Worcestershire, Black Pepper, Garlic/Onion Powder into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce and simmer for 15 minutes until reduced by half. Allow marinade to cool before adding to beef.
- Pour marinade into Ziploc bag with the thin sliced beef and marinade overnight (at least 8 hours)
Jerky
- Pre-heat your RecTeq to XTREME SMOKE (Lo) or 180 degrees.
- Remove a piece of meat from the Ziploc, place onto a bed of paper towel. Grab a second piece of paper towel and press the hell out of the meat. Get as much liquid out as possible and place onto frogmat/jerky rack for smoker.
- Optional: Shake a little more black pepper on top before adding to smoker
- Smoke until jerky is firm. After the first hour, check every half or so until it's how you like it. It won't be shingle jerky, it'll be good chewy beef.
- When a piece is done, put it in a Ziploc bag and keep adding pieces to it. Let the steam work in the bag. Crucial step.
- Eat it up!