National Jerky Day
Fall back on your old favorite jerky flavors, or try something new and exciting on Jerky Day, like alligator jerky or, odd as it sounds, caffeinated jerky.
Drive jerky sales and trial by positioning National Jerky Day as the perfect occasion to stock up, gift, or experiment with bold new flavors and artisanal brands.
- Try exotic jerky flavors (alligator, caffeinated) this June—challenge your taste buds
- Pack jerky for your summer road trip: lightweight protein that never spoils
- Make your own jerky at home—DIY smoker/dehydrator recipes for foodies
- Local jerky makers spotlight: discover craft brands in your area
Jerky is essentially what happens when lean meat is put through the special process of soaking it in brine (salty water), and leaving it to dry under specific circumstances.
The origin of the word “jerky” would be most surprising to many people, as it is from the Quechua word ch’arki. The Quechua are a family of people who live in the Andes mountains of South America, which may be where the ideas for making jerky were first developed.
The process of creating jerky ensures that the bacteria will have insufficient time to form before the meat is properly dried, preserving it in a healthy, tasty manner. It usually involves using very thinly sliced meat as it dries better and faster.
Now, there are other ways to produce jerky than just using thinly sliced meat. In fact, it can be smoked, or it can be ground into a paste and pressed into shapes that are easily dried. The end result is just as delicious and amazing!
National Jerky Day was founded in 2012 through a collaboration between Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and the Wisconsin Beef Council. The purpose of the event was to celebrate the history, popularity and nutritional benefits of any type of snacks made from dried meats.
This day offers the ideal opportunity to try out a new flavor of jerky. Or perhaps it’s time to try out jerky made from a different kind of meat, since it can be made from turkey, chicken, pork, beef, venison or any other form of meat that the jerky-maker chooses.
Eat Some Jerky
The most obvious, but necessary, way to celebrate National Jerky Day is to source some tasty jerky and then enjoy eating it! Get some that has been made locally, or try out a well known brand of beef, turkey or other kind of jerky that can be found at a nearby grocery store.
Take Jerky on a Trip
Ever wondered why jerky is often sold to people who are traveling? Not only is it a food that is easily preserved, but meat loses about 75% of its original weight during the drying process. Yet, it loses none of its nutritional value or flavor. That means it’s lightweight and easy to bring along, but it still packs a huge protein punch! So the next time travel is in the works, get ready to pack that beef jerky. Or for that matter, just throw it in a lunchbox and take it to work for a healthy snack.
Try Making Jerky in a Dehydrator or Smoker
For those who really want to celebrate National Jerky Day in style, it is strongly recommended to not only go out and buy a favorite kind of jerky from the store, but possibly even to truly take on the mantle of a culinary adventurer and find a cookbook for jerky. Buy a smoker or dehydrator and get started making some jerky of your own! Come up with some special flavor combinations and varieties, and produce the kind of snack people can eat the whole year round. Go out there and get smoking and curing and drying, and enjoy the delicious results!
Try a New Flavor of Jerky
Jerky can come in a surprising number of flavors, including some delicious and spicy orange and pepper varieties. In recent times, the flavors have even expanded to include that most beloved of meats, bacon. These are some other particularly crazy types of Jerky that can (and should!) be tried on National Jerky Day: Kangaroo Jerky. Very low in fat and supplied by House of Jerky. Alligator Jerky. Certainly less scary than coming across a gator in the swamp! (Buffalo Bob’s is one brand.) Hawaiian Jerky. Beef jerky made with Hawaiian flavors of pineapple and garlic. (Try it from The Jerky Connection.) Caffeinated Jerky. Get a big kick out of this one, it’s spiked with Guarana which has twice as much caffeine as coffee. (Try the Perky Jerky brand.)
Help a Kid in Need on National Jerky Day
A few years ago, the beef and dairy community in Texas combined their efforts with some charities to provide needy school kids with protein snacks for the weekends, when they otherwise might not get a healthy diet. Now, more than thousands of kids receive food bags for the weekend that include delicious and healthy jerky. Specifically, SP4K Beef Sticks is offered by Clint and Sons, a meat company that provides a buy one, get one scheme: for every beef stick purchased, another one is given to a hungry child. National Jerky Day Timeline1200–1500 CE Ch’arki in the Andes Indigenous Quechua-speaking peoples of the Andean highlands developed ch’arki, strips of llama or alpaca meat that are salted and air-dried in the cold mountain climate, creating one of the earliest documented predecessors of jerky. [1]15th–16th Century Inca Expansion Spreads Dried-Meat Techniques As the Inca Empire grows across the Andes, ch’arki-style drying methods spread through imperial food networks, supplying armies and supporting state storehouses with lightweight preserved meat. [1]17th–18th Centuries Pemmican Emerges in North America Plains Indigenous nations refine a method of pounding dried meat into a powder and mixing it with rendered fat and sometimes berries to make pemmican, a highly compact, long-lasting food that later becomes vital to the North American fur trade. [1]Late 18th–Early 19th Century Dried Meat Fuels the Fur Trade Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company traders adopt pemmican as a primary provision for voyageurs and explorers, relying on Indigenous-made dried meat and fat as a dense energy source on long canoe routes. 19th Century Jerky Becomes a Frontier Staple As European American settlers moved west, they adapted Indigenous drying and smoking practices; strips of dried beef and game became standard trail food for pioneers, soldiers, and cowboys traveling long distances without refrigeration. [1]Mid–Late 20th Century From Home-Cured Strips to Packaged Snack Advances in meat processing, food safety, and vacuum packaging help transform traditionally homemade dried meat into a standardized, shelf-stable convenience snack, paving the way for large-scale commercial jerky brands in North America. [1]2013–2018 Jerky Enters the Modern Snack Mainstream Industry analyses show the North American beef jerky sector growing at an annualized rate of about 3.4 percent, reflecting rising demand for high-protein, portable snacks and cementing jerky’s place in the broader snack-food market. [1]
Ch’arki in the Andes
Indigenous Quechua-speaking peoples of the Andean highlands developed ch’arki, strips of llama or alpaca meat that are salted and air-dried in the cold mountain climate, creating one of the earliest documented predecessors of jerky. [1]
Inca Expansion Spreads Dried-Meat Techniques
As the Inca Empire grows across the Andes, ch’arki-style drying methods spread through imperial food networks, supplying armies and supporting state storehouses with lightweight preserved meat. [1]
Pemmican Emerges in North America
Plains Indigenous nations refine a method of pounding dried meat into a powder and mixing it with rendered fat and sometimes berries to make pemmican, a highly compact, long-lasting food that later becomes vital to the North American fur trade. [1]
Dried Meat Fuels the Fur Trade
Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company traders adopt pemmican as a primary provision for voyageurs and explorers, relying on Indigenous-made dried meat and fat as a dense energy source on long canoe routes.
Jerky Becomes a Frontier Staple
As European American settlers moved west, they adapted Indigenous drying and smoking practices; strips of dried beef and game became standard trail food for pioneers, soldiers, and cowboys traveling long distances without refrigeration. [1]
From Home-Cured Strips to Packaged Snack
Advances in meat processing, food safety, and vacuum packaging help transform traditionally homemade dried meat into a standardized, shelf-stable convenience snack, paving the way for large-scale commercial jerky brands in North America. [1]
Jerky Enters the Modern Snack Mainstream
Industry analyses show the North American beef jerky sector growing at an annualized rate of about 3.4 percent, reflecting rising demand for high-protein, portable snacks and cementing jerky’s place in the broader snack-food market. [1]