YAMA Peppered Soy Jerky Kit

Yama Peppered Soy Jerky Recipe

Stop me if you've heard this one before. You are fueling up the tank for that 4 hour drive to get out of town and you go inside to grab some drinks and a good road snack. As you're checking out the limited selection, you see a bag of Bozo’s Farms jerky that costs $17.99 and buy it even though you know it will taste and chew like a dog treat. 

Wouldn’t it be better if you could just make it yourself? 

Homemade jerky seems like a hell of a process. It looks like it’s expensive, hard and time consuming. Well, we’re here to change that perception. 

The first part in any good homemade jerky is to select LEAN cuts of meat. Leave the fatty meats for the grill, for jerky you want as lean as possible. Game meat is generally a great option due to its leanness. If you’re going with beef, it’s best to stick with lean cuts like eye of round, top round or bottom round. 

How you slice the meat is up to you. If you like to chew, cut with the grain. If you want it to be easier to chew, cut against it. Depending on the cut of meat you may be able to cut it into long strips or into flat petals. How you slice it will change the amount of time it takes to dehydrate. One pro tip is to slightly freeze the meat before cutting. You want it to hold it's shape while cutting but still be soft enough to cut through easily.

Your marinade is your flavor enhancer. We at Tacticalories have a marinade cheat code and it is called YAMA Ghost Pepper Garlic Soy Sauce. It has less sodium than regular store-bought soy sauce, is sugar-free but it has so much more flavor than you’ll find elsewhere. Pair it with our Fresh to Death Black Pepper and you have a guaranteed winner. 

Our rule of thumb is to use one bottle of YAMA per three pounds of meat. This plays out to ½ cup of YAMA per lb of meat. Marinate the pre-cut meat overnight in a ziplock bag, making sure to get rid of as much air as possible prior to sealing the bag. In the morning, take the meat out of the bag and arrange the meat puzzles on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. It is important not to layer the meat, the surface of every piece of meat should be exposed and not touching. Pat dry the meat as much as possible and dust with Tacticalories Fresh to Death Pepper. You can use a grill, oven, dehydrator, or air fryer to dehydrate jerky.We prefer to smoke our jerky on a pellet grill because of the consistent low temperature and added smoke flavor. We find that 3-4 hours at 165-185 degrees works pretty consistently.