Beef Brisket Tastes Like Beef Jerky: Is It Normal For A Beef Brisket To Taste Like Beef Jerky?

Beef brisket is one of the sought-after cuts of beef that is great for many recipes, including smoking.

But with some faults in the preparation or cooking process, you might end up with a taste like beef jerky, even though you didn’t mean to make this dried recipe.

Read on to find out the best way to get rid of this problem.

Why does my beef brisket taste like beef jerky?

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Beef brisket is a cut of beef that comes from the bottom of the cattle’s neck.

It is perfect for different recipes like salting or smoking thanks to its tough and marbled texture.

Beef jerky, on the other hand, is dried beef.

If your beef brisket, specifically smoked beef brisket, tastes like beef jerky, it might be because of one of the following reasons:

You use too much rub to marinate your beef brisket

Beef jerky uses the pungent rub of salt and other spices to keep the meat away from being spoiled by the drying method.

Therefore, if you marinate your beef brisket (for smoking) with too many spices, chances are it will result in a dish that tastes the same as beef jerky.

Your beef brisket has been smoked for too long

The second chance for the beef jerky taste in your beef brisket recipe is that you have smoked this beef cut for too long.

The long smoking time will make your beef brisket have a pungent flavor of the wood, which is quite similar to beef jerky that is hydrated and becomes dried.

Is it safe to eat beef brisket that tastes like beef jerky?

As you know now, the main reason that makes your smoked beef brisket taste like beef jerky is that you have cooked it in an improper way.

Although it doesn’t taste that bad, your beef brisket just doesn’t turn out to be as you expected.

In general, the beef jerky taste in your beef brisket recipe doesn’t refer to a sign of spoilage, so it is safe to eat.

But if you also notice another weird identification like mold in your beef brisket, you better throw it away to ensure your family’s health.

How to get rid of the beef jerky taste from beef brisket?

As already mentioned, in most cases, the beef jerky taste from your smoked beef brisket doesn’t refer to something bad.

However, if this is not the taste that you expect from your smoked beef brisket, here are some ways that can help:

Follow a reliable smoking recipe for beef brisket

You better follow a reliable and authentic recipe of smoked beef brisket to make sure that it will end up with a good flavor instead of tasting like beef jerky.

There are many recipes out there, but choosing a good and authentic one is not that easy.

Just look for it from a well-known source, chef, or food blogger.

Start with a small amount of beef brisket for the first batch of smoking

Another tip to get rid of the beef jerky taste in your beef brisket recipe is to start with a small amount.

Normally, in a smoking or drying method, your beef will shrink about half or more of its initial size.

Therefore, people often make a big batch of beef each time they make smoked or dried beef.

However, in case you have no experience before with smoking beef brisket, it is better to start with a small amount of beef to experiment and see how it turns out.

Use the store-bought rub for smoking beef brisket

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The last tip from us is to opt for the store-bought smoking beef brisket rub.

The package of this spice mixture often comes with clear instructions to guide you on how much beef you should use with this number of spices.

Buying the processed spice rub is also a good way to save time to prepare your smoked beef brisket, and lowers the chance of getting an unwanted taste in the resulting dish.

The bottom line

In general, if your smoked beef brisket tastes like beef jerky, chances are you have cooked it improperly.

However, this doesn’t affect the quality of the dish as well as how safe it is to consume your beef brisket dish.

After all, just keep your eyes while cooking your beef brisket to always result in the best beef brisket with a fragrant smoky flavor without being dried or burnt.