Today, we are going to teach you how to take the greatest fast food sauces in the world and make it into one of our favorite flavors to make at home. I am OBVIOUSLY talking about Chik-fil-A Sauce...and we are making Chik-fil-A Sauce Beef Jerky.
It's often speculated about what actually makes up this sauce. But, in 2012, Chik-fil-A revealed the ingredients in a tweet: honey mustard, barbecue, and ranch sauces. You can try and knock it off at home and get pretty close...but, man...there is something about that sauce right from Chik-fil-A. So...head down to your nearest Chik-fil-A, stock up on this sauce until they won't give you anymore and let's get making some jerky with it!
Tools needed
- Baking sheet
- Large and small mixing bowls
- Mixing spoon or spatula
- Jerky.com Jerky Gun with tips and cleaning accessories
- Optional: Parchment paper - This makes clean up a breeze.
- Optional: Wire Rack - the wire rack is the best option as it allows for air movement (which is VERY important to the dehydration process!) all around the product. This makes for a more consistent drying process and eliminates the need to constantly turn your jerky.
Ingredients needed
- 1 pound 96% lean ground beef
- 4 packets of Chik-fil-A Sauce (1 oz. each)
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
6 steps to making this jerky
- Mix the Chik-fil-A Sauce, pepper, and salt into a small bowl until it is consistently mixed together.
- Put the ground beef in a large mixing bowl and pour the Chik-fil-A Sauce mix over the beef and mix it all up thoroughly with your hands. Get in there! Don't be afraid! The more you mix it together the deeper that Chik-fil-A Sauce gets into the meat and the smoother the meat will extrude from the gun. Once this is thoroughly mixed, cover the meat and refrigerate for 8-24 hours (longer times are better!).
- After the meat has marinaded to your satisfaction, pack the meat into the barrel of your Jerky Gun, trying to eliminate air pockets inside of the barrel. The better you can pack it in, the smoother and consistent the meat will extrude out of the gun's nozzle.
- With the gun loaded up and fully assembled, you are ready to extrude it onto your surface (either directly onto your baking sheet, your parchment paper (on top of your baking sheet), or on your wire rack on top of your baking sheet (the baking sheet will catch the drippings!). Squeeze the handle on the jerky gun and the seasoned meat will be pressed out of the nozzle for you to pull the gun towards you as you pull the handle forming long strips of seasoned beef. Place the strips parallel to each other, without touching as it can affect the dry time and consistency of the dehydrating process. ***Tip: Pay attention to the rate of speed that you move the gun and the rate at which you pull the trigger. These two factors will determine how much meat is coming out of the gun and how thick your jerky strips will be. The thinner they are, the less time they will take to dehydrate. Try to get all of the strips as consistent as possible in thickness to ensure a consistently dried batch.
- Put the baking sheet with your strips into your preheated oven at 300F for about 10-15 minutes. This should get the internal temperature of your jerky to over 160F, the point at which all bacteria is killed. After this, you can back the temperature down to between 150-175 (which is ideal). Some ovens won't go that low...but, just set it at the lowest temperature that it can go and crack the oven door open to allow air to circulate in and out of the oven. This should take between 4-8 hours depending on your oven and texture preferences. Check on the jerky until it has the desired texture that you are looking for. Usually, its firm but pliable.
- Once your jerky has reached the proper texture, pull it out of the oven and let it 'rest' to room temperature. Once this process is completed, your jerky is ready for consumption!
Tip: On your first couple of batches, you may want to keep an eye on the jerky every hour or so. Every oven is different and will perform this process differently. Once you understand how your oven works during this process, you will more reliably understand the proper cook time and process.
Tip: If you are not using a wire rack, you may want to flip the jerky several times during the process to get air flowing around all surfaces as evenly as possible.
***This recipe will yield you about 8 ounces of jerky from 1 lb. of beef. Your results may vary some depending on your selected meat type and texture preference but...generally, this is the kind of yield you should expect.