Tex-Mex Chile Beef Jerky (Traeger)

• 1 to 1.5 lb eye of round, trimmed of all external fat
• 1 batch scratch-made chili paste (serrano, habanero, ancho, guajillo)
• 1 orange, juiced and zested (juice reduced into the paste, zest added off-heat)
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• Kosher salt, split: ~1.25 tsp to dry-brine the raw strips, plus 1 tsp for the rub-paste (more to taste after reducing)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 lime, juiced (plus zest)
• 1/2 to 1 tsp MSG or 1 tbsp mushroom powder (optional, for umami without soy)

Method

1. 1
   Partially freeze the beef

   Put the eye of round in the freezer for about 1 hour until firm but not frozen solid. Firm meat slices thin and even; room-temperature meat drags and tears.

2. 2
   Slice

   Slice 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Slicing WITH the grain gives a chewier, classic jerky pull; slicing AGAINST the grain gives a more tender, brittle bite. With-grain or a slight angle is the usual jerky choice. Keep thickness uniform so the batch dries at the same rate; uneven slices are the main cause of some pieces being done while others are still wet.

3. 3
   Dry-brine the strips

   Toss the sliced strips with about 1.25 tsp kosher salt (roughly 1% of the raw weight) and let them sit 30 to 60 minutes while you make the paste. This is a light dry-brine: it drives salt INTO the meat rather than leaving it on the surface, which is the fix for jerky that tastes flat despite a seasoned coating. Surface salt in the paste alone seasons the outside; drying concentrates the chile but not the salt, so pre-salting is what makes the seasoning register all the way through.

4. 4
   Make and reduce the paste with orange

   Make a batch of scratch chili paste as usual. Add the juice of 1 orange to the paste, then simmer it hard in a dry pan, stirring, until it cooks down to a thick, jammy concentrate with most of the water driven off. Reducing the orange juice IN does three jobs: it concentrates the chile flavor to jerky strength, fully cooks the fresh serrano and habanero (which a 160 degree F dry alone would not do), and folds in a round sweetness that counters the up-front bitterness of the dried ancho and guajillo skins. Expect it to reduce by roughly half or more; the added juice means it'll take a little longer to get there.

5. 5
   Build the rub-paste

   Off heat, stir the oil, 1 tsp kosher salt, cumin, garlic powder, Mexican oregano, black pepper, lime juice and zest, orange zest, and optional MSG or mushroom powder into the reduced paste. Add the orange zest off-heat like the lime zest so its aromatic oils don't cook off. Taste and correct the salt now, remembering the strips are already dry-brined, so you're topping up, not seasoning from scratch. The flavor concentrates further as the meat dries, so aim for assertively seasoned. Note: this paste reads hotter as jerky than it does in chili, because there is no dairy to buffer it and drying concentrates the capsaicin; the orange sweetness now lands before the heat instead of leaving the front end bitter.

6. 6
   Coat

   Toss the strips in the paste until evenly coated but not gooped, you want a thin, clinging layer, not a wet slick. Refrigerate 4 to 12 hours (overnight is fine) so the flavor penetrates.

7. 7
   Dry on the Traeger

   Set the Traeger to 160 degrees F. Lay the strips directly on the grates (or a jerky rack) with space between them for airflow, pieces touching will dry unevenly. Smoke/dry 4 to 6 hours, rotating once, until the jerky is dry and leathery but still bends without snapping. The 160 degree F floor is also the food-safety control: it clears the danger zone, which is why no curing salt is needed for jerky you will refrigerate and eat within a couple of weeks.

8. 8
   Test doneness

   Pull a piece, let it cool a minute (warm jerky reads softer than it is), and bend it. Done jerky bends and cracks but does not break in two, and shows white fibers at the bend. If it snaps clean it is over-dried; if it feels moist or squishy, keep going and re-test every 30 minutes.

9. 9
   Cool and store

   Cool completely, then store in the fridge in an airtight container or bag; eat within about 2 weeks. Let it sit out 10 minutes before eating for the best texture.