Pork Loin Jerky

Pork Loin Jerky

Although I used pork loin chops to make homemade jerky this weekend, you can prepare jerky using lean cuts of beef, chicken, turkey, duck, and venison using my recipe. You'll just need to make a jerky marinade using tomato paste, water, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, seasoning salt, molasses, mustard, freshly ground black pepper, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. Then follow each step pretty much in the same fashion as I do my pork jerky.

Ingredients:

• 8 to 10 pork loin chops

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste

• 1 cup of water

• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce

• 1/4 cup of molasses or honey

• 2 teaspoons of yellow mustard

• 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt

• 4 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons of onion powder

• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper powder or flakes

• 1 1/2 tablespoons of smoked paprika

Instructions:

In a large container, add 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste, 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of molasses, 2 teaspoons of yellow mustard, 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt, 4 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons of onion powder, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, and 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper powder or flakes. Stir the marinade well. Set aside.

Now, using a cutting board and a sharp steak knife, try to cut each pork loin into 1/4-inch-thick strips. The pork strips should be cut about 1½ to 2 inches wide. Try to cut each strip into even-sized pieces. Trim as much fat off the meat as possible.

Add the strips to the container with the marinade. Using a fork or your hands, flip the pork pieces in the sauce. Try to evenly coat each piece in the sauce. (Every few hours, you'll want to flip the pork strips over, or you can double the marinade sauce recipe so that you can skip flipping them.)

Now, transfer the container to your refrigerator and allow the pork strips to marinate for ten hours or up to 24 hours.

After the pork strips have marinated for several hours, transfer them to your dehydrator trays. I also sprinkled more black pepper on each side of my pork strips. This is completely optional. (I add more because I am a pepper fanatic.)

Dehydrate at 160 degrees for about 8 to 12 hours. Each dehydrator is different, so you'll want to check on your jerky every few hours.

Allow your jerky to completely cool, then, for long-term storage, place the jerky in Mason jars and vacuum seal them, or place the jerky in freezer bags and store it inside your freezer. Otherwise, if you're making it to have for snacks right away, just place your jerky in an airtight container or Ziploc bags.

Note:

About midway through dehydrating the jerky, I generally flip each piece over. Doing this helps speed up the dehydrating process.

To test for doneness, your jerky will slightly crack but not break when you do the bend test. It should not be moist, squishy, or soft.

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© 2025 Olden Oasis

oldenoasis.blogspot.com

Homemade peppered pork jerky

Homemade peppered pork jerky

Here’s how you can make homemade peppered pork jerky using your dehydrator. It will take you just a few hours, and it will come out very delicious. 

First, I sliced and marinated the meat. Then I pre-cooked the pork until it was at an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees F. This isn't a step that has to be done if your dehydrator has the higher settings to dehydrate meat safely when making pork or beef jerky. However, I do this step just to ensure that any and all bacteria in the meat are killed. Plus, today I made this jerky out of a Boston butt. So precooking it also helped with cooking some excess fat out of the meat first, before dehydrating it. 

The absolute best cut of pork to dehydrate is pork tenderloin. However, any cuts of meat can be dehydrated and made into jerky, or be rehydrated for use in stews, soups, and various other meals later on.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of preheated pork (tenderloin works best, but I used part of a Boston butt today)

• 2 tablespoons of Splenda or sugar

• 2 tablespoons of honey

• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons of ground black pepper

• 1 ½ teaspoons of smoked paprika

• ¾ cup of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon of liquid-smoke

• 1 ½ teaspoons of cayenne pepper

• 1 tablespoon of onion powder

• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder

• Water, about 2 cups

Instructions:

First, in a large dish, mix the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Splenda (or sugar), onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, honey, liquid smoke, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. Stir well, until the Splenda (or sugar) has completely dissolved.

Now, slice the meat into strips and trim any excess fat off of the meat. After that, you will need to marinate the pork.

Place the slices of pork into the bowl of marinade; add just enough water to allow the marinade to cover the meat. Using a spoon, stir to combine the water and marinade seasoning in with the pork. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for one to two hours. For optimal flavor, marinate the pork for twenty-four hours.

Next, once the meat has marinated; shake the excess marinade off each piece and place the slices on trays and precook the meat in the oven until it comes to an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees F.

Once that is complete, add the slices of pork to the dehydrator trays. Set the dehydrator at 160. The dehydrating time may vary due to the thickness of the meat and the dehydrator that you use. Generally, it takes me about four to six hours since I normally pre-cook the meat. Again, the dehydrating time varies depending on how thin I slice the meat.

You'll know when the jerky is done because it will feel dry to the touch, and be leathery. Dehydrate longer if the meat bends easily, or feels greasy, or wet.

Once the meat is fully dried, take it out of the dehydrator; store in an airtight container and place the jerky in the refrigerator or freezer.

The peppered pork jerky can be kept in a dark pantry for two weeks. If stored in the refrigerator, it will keep for one month. When stored in the freezer, it will keep well for four months.

Note:

If vacuum-sealed, the pork jerky will last about two months in a dark pantry. When stored in the refrigerator, the jerky will keep well for four plus months. When vacuum-sealed and stored in the freezer, the jerky will keep the longest, at about one year.

The jerky will last even longer if you salt cure it. To do this, brine the meat in a solution using 2 ½ cups of pickling salt with about three quarts of water, plus the ingredients for the marinade above. After one day, remove the meat from the brine, shake the excess off, or pat the meat dry with paper towels. Then proceed with dehydrating the meat.

The peppered marinade works well with beef and other cuts of meat as well. 

As stated previously, when making pork and beef jerky, precooking is not required, as long as your dehydrator has higher settings for dehydrating the meat. However, when using chicken or turkey, always make sure to pre-cook it first. This will prevent any chances of getting sick from harmful bacteria such as salmonella. 

I'm using a Ronco turbo dehydrator to dehydrate my peppered pork jerky, and it does have higher settings to make jerky. However, I still pre-cooked the pork that I used, simply because I don't even want to chance getting any food-borne illnesses. 

I forgot to mention this earlier when placing the slices of meat onto the dehydrator trays, leaving plenty of space between each of the pieces of meat. Doing so allows more air to flow through the trays, which also decreases the dehydrating time. Also, rotate the trays, and flip each piece of jerky over midway through.

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© 2025 Olden Oasis

oldenoasis.blogspot.com