Black garlic looks like tar and smells like candy, and our official Taste Testers kept suggesting it. So our test kitchen made Black Garlic Beef Jerky as a monthly exclusive flavor drop, then put it to the Keep It or Kill It vote. Here's the full recipe, the method and what our panel thought. Love garlic? Try our Old Fashioned Style Garlic Beef Jerky.

What is black garlic?

Black garlic is regular garlic aged low and slow for weeks until it caramelizes from the inside out. The sharp bite drops away and you get something sweet, savory and rich: think molasses meets balsamic meets roasted garlic, with a little tang on the back end. That's why it works in jerky: deep flavor without the burn.

Ingredients (2 lb test batch)

• 2 lb flank steak, sliced just under 1/4 inch
• 80 g soy sauce
• 40 g brown sugar
• 40 g Worcestershire sauce
• 20 g honey
• 20 g light corn syrup
• 15 g black garlic puree
• 10 g vinegar (white or cider)
• 10 g lemon juice
• 10 g chopped fresh garlic
• 3 g granulated garlic
• 3 g coarse black pepper
• 2 g onion powder
• 2 g liquid smoke
• 1 g white pepper
• 0.5 g cayenne

Instructions

Build the base. Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, Worcestershire and corn syrup. The corn syrup adds a sticky shine. Then layer in the vinegar and lemon juice for acid, the black and white pepper for balance, and the liquid smoke.

Add the black garlic. Stir in the black garlic puree, then the fresh and granulated garlic, the onion powder and the cayenne. The puree is thick, glossy and runs the show.

Slice evenly. We cut the flank steak to size and ran it through our slicer at just under 1/4 inch: thin enough for a good chew, but enough to stay juicy. An OSTBA electric meat slicer keeps every strip the same.

Coat and marinate 24 hours. Work the marinade through by hand so there are no dry spots or bare edges, then refrigerate for 24 hours. Black garlic seeps in slowly. New to marinating? See our beef jerky marinade guide.

Hang-dry it. We pushed the strips onto bamboo skewers and hung them under the racks of our Cosori dehydrator. It doesn't change the flavor, but it gives a completely different chew than laying strips flat. You can lay them on the trays instead.

Dry until done. We dried at 158°F, and our batch took almost 5 hours. It's done when a cooled strip bends and cracks without snapping, with no wet spots.

Test kitchen note: We dried at 158°F. The USDA recommends heating beef to 160°F (poultry to 165°F) before or during drying. The simplest way is to dry at 160°F. If your dehydrator can't reach 160°F, steam or roast the strips to 160°F first.

Keep it or kill it? The taste test

Doug, Joey and Kenny tasted it for the first time on camera. Out of the dehydrator it was very dark with a real shine; one taster said it reminded him of our root beer jerky. On the nose: soy-forward, with something harder to pin down, "like onion powder almost."

The first word was "savory." The sweetness comes and goes: "every single bite changes just a little bit. You get some sweet and I get some savory." Instead of the loud, sharp garlic they expected, it was smooth and layered, and the flavor builds the more you chew. The hang-dried strips got praise for their chew, too. The best line of the day: it's like "teriyaki after dark."

The verdict: Keep it. "Very easy call. I'd keep this." It landed in the panel's top 10, "maybe top five even." Their pick for who'll love it: anyone who likes savory flavors, and garlic lovers looking for something new. "I'm a diehard garlic lover and I'm pleasantly surprised."

Want to try it?

Black Garlic Beef Jerky was a limited Taste Tester exclusive, and it isn't in stock right now. Since the panel voted to keep it, it could come back. Our official Taste Testers get a brand-new flavor every month and help decide what stays. Sign up to become an official Jerky.com Taste Tester, it's free.

FAQ

What does black garlic beef jerky taste like?
Savory first, with a soft, caramelized sweetness that comes and goes. It's rich and layered rather than sharp, and our panel compared it to a darker teriyaki.

Is black garlic the same as regular garlic?
It starts as regular garlic, then it's aged low and slow for weeks until it caramelizes. That turns the sharp bite into a sweet, savory, molasses-like flavor.

Where do you get black garlic puree?
Look for black garlic puree or whole black garlic cloves at specialty grocers or online. Whole cloves can be mashed into a paste.

How long should black garlic jerky marinate?
We marinated our batch for 24 hours in the fridge so the black garlic could work all the way in.

What is hang-dried jerky?
Strips threaded on skewers and hung from the dehydrator racks instead of laid flat. It doesn't change the flavor, but it gives a different chew.

Can I buy Black Garlic Beef Jerky?
It isn't in stock right now. It was a limited Taste Tester flavor drop, and since our panel voted to keep it, it could come back. Taste Testers hear about new flavors first.

Rather skip the work? Try ours: Old Fashioned Style Garlic Beef Jerky or our All-Natural Teriyaki Beef Jerky, or browse all our beef jerky.

Would you keep it or kill it? Tell us in the comments, and send us your next flavor idea!

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