How to Make Brisket Beef Jerky: Good Eats and a Fun Trick!

Making your own beef jerky is a great way to get the exact flavor profile you want while also controlling the levels of salt and nitrites.  You can make jerky from just about any lean cut of meat and one that you ought to try using sometime is brisket!

When you are making brisket beef jerky you want to just use the lean “flat” portion instead of the fatty “point”.  Luckily,  small brisket flats in the 2-3 pound range are pretty easy to find.

Let’s take a look at how this is going to work!

 

Brisket Beef Jerky Recipe

The general steps for making beef jerky using a brisket flat are:

• Trim the meat
• Slice the brisket against the grain
• Season with your cure mix
• Refrigerate overnight
• Dehydrate at 170F for 6 hours.

Let’s look at these steps in more detail.

Trimming and Slicing the Meat

When you make jerky from a brisket flat you need to completely trim the fat cap. I also take the time to trim off any silverskin, greyish meat of the side and anything else that doesn’t look appetizing.

Slice the flat, against the grain, into 1/4 inch thick strips.  Slicing against the grain will give you a final product that you can easily bite through.  If you slice with the grain you will end up with a product that you will have to chew the heck out of.

You can freestyle the slicing, use a deli slicer or use a jerky board.

Once the brisket is sliced place it in a large bowl so it can be mixed with the jerky seasoning.

 

Season the Sliced Meat With Your Cure Mix

My Brisket Jerky Seasoning Mix

• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Morton Tenderquick
• 1 Tablespoon chipotle powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

This was enough seasoning for two pounds of sliced brisket flat.  The Morton Tenderquick in the seasoning mix has all of the salt and nitrite you need for the beef to cure.

If you do not want to use nitrites to cure the jerky then substitute the Tenderquick with either 1 tablespoon of standard table salt or three tablespoons of soy sauce.

Thoroughly mix the seasoning into the brisket and place in the refrigerator overnight to allow the cure to penetrate.  The nitrite in the Morton Tenderquick will give the finished jerky a deep red color and needs at least 8 hours to fully penetrate the meat.

 

Dehydrate the Beef

The next day, after the brisket slices have fully cured, place the strips on a wire rack and proceed to dehydrate.

If you want to make sure that the jerky will be completely safe to eat then, according to the USDA, you should fully cook the beef before you dehydrate it.  You can cook the beef slices by putting them in a 325F oven for 20 minutes.

I dehydrate jerky by placing the tray in a 170F oven with the door cracked open by a wooden spoon.  This is also a great job for an electric smoker.  You can also use a standard food dehydrator.

My method of using a 170F oven gets the jerky done in about 6 hours.

You can tell when the jerky is done when it is dry but still pliable.

This batch of brisket jerky was everything I wanted: Beefy, Sweet and Spicy.  The smokey heat from the chipotle powder was a nice touch.

If you find yourself with an extra brisket flat on your hands then you ought to give this a try!

For more jerky ideas check out the following posts:

How to Make Pork Jerky in Your Oven

Eye of Round Beef Jerky