Spicy Wojapi Smoked Beef Jerky: Traeger + Dehydrator

We'd never made jerky before this. Always figured it was one of those things you just buy from the gas station and don't think too hard about. Then one weekend we grabbed some beef bacon, laid it out on wire racks, hit it heavy with the Spicy Wojapi, smoked it for 30 minutes on the Traeger, and finished it in the dehydrator. What came out was nothing like store-bought. The heat and berry flavors concentrated as the moisture pulled out, and every piece had this deep, savory chew with a slow-building burn from the ghost pepper. We went through the entire batch in two days. Now we make it regularly and it never lasts.

Why Beef Bacon Makes Great Jerky

Beef bacon is already sliced thin and uniform — no butcher trip, no half-freezing a roast and trying to cut even strips. It's the shortcut nobody talks about. The slices are the perfect thickness for jerky, they lay flat on the racks, and the meat-to-fat ratio dries down beautifully. You skip the hardest part of making jerky (the slicing) and go straight to the fun part.

Why Spicy Wojapi Works for Jerky

Most jerky recipes call for a wet marinade — soy sauce, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, brown sugar. There's nothing wrong with that, but it all ends up tasting the same. Using Spicy Wojapi as a dry rub instead gives you something completely different. The berry blend and ghost pepper cling to the surface of the meat and intensify as the moisture evaporates during dehydration. You get layers of flavor — smoke, berry, heat, salt — instead of that one-note teriyaki thing every other jerky has going on. The slow-building burn from the Spicy blend gets even more intense as the jerky dries, and the 30-minute smoke on the Traeger before the dehydrator adds real wood-fired flavor that liquid smoke can't touch.

What You Need

• Beef bacon — as many packages as you want to make. We usually do 2–3 lbs at a time.
• Spicy Wojapi Meat Rub™ — coat every piece generously
• Wire racks
• A dehydrator

How We Make It

1. Lay it out: Spread the beef bacon strips in a single layer on wire racks. Don't overlap — every piece needs airflow on both sides to dry evenly.
2. Season: Coat both sides of every strip generously with the Spicy Wojapi. Press the rub into the meat so it sticks. Every piece should be well covered — the flavor concentrates as the jerky dries, so what seems like a lot now will be perfect later. Let them sit on the racks for about 15–20 minutes while the Traeger heats up.
3. Smoke first: Fire up the Traeger to 180°F. Set the wire racks right on the grill or lay the strips directly on the grates. Smoke for 30 minutes. This is a short smoke — you're not cooking the meat through, you're just laying down a base of real smoke flavor before the dehydrator takes over. The Spicy Wojapi rub starts to set during this phase and you'll see the color deepen.
4. Dehydrate: Transfer the strips to your dehydrator. Set it to 160°F. This is the USDA-recommended temperature for beef jerky — hot enough to be safe, low enough to dry without cooking. Let it run for 4 to 8 hours. The time depends on the thickness of your beef bacon and how chewy vs. crispy you like your jerky. Start checking at 4 hours.
5. Test for doneness: Take a piece out and let it cool for a minute — jerky firms up as it cools, so testing it hot will trick you into thinking it needs more time. Bend it. It should bend and crack but not snap in half. If it snaps, it's overdone. If it bends without cracking and feels wet, give it more time.
6. Cool and store: Let the jerky cool completely on the racks before storing. We use zip-lock bags with the air pressed out. It'll keep for a couple weeks at room temperature, longer in the fridge — but honestly it's never lasted long enough for us to test that.

A Few Things We've Learned

• Beef bacon is the move. No slicing, no prep, no freezing a roast for an hour trying to get even cuts. Just open the package and lay it out. It's the easiest jerky you'll ever make.
• The 30-minute smoke makes a huge difference. We tried batches with and without it. The smoked batch had a depth and complexity that the dehydrator-only batch couldn't match. It's worth firing up the Traeger for just that half hour.
• If you don't have a dehydrator, you can finish in the oven at its lowest setting (usually 170°F) with the door cracked open. Put the strips on wire racks over sheet pans. Takes about the same amount of time.
• This jerky packs perfectly for hiking, hunting, road trips, and kids' snacks. It's the grab-and-go thing we didn't know we needed.
• The ghost pepper heat in the Spicy Wojapi builds as the jerky dries — what starts as a warm tingle on the fresh strips becomes a serious slow burn in the finished jerky. If you want a milder version, try it with the Original Wojapi instead.

Ready to try it? Grab a jar of Spicy Wojapi Meat Rub™ →