Inaugural Batch of Jerky

[clfergus]

Made my first batch lastnight. Bought a cheapo Nesco 400 watt dehydrator for 30 bucks, cheapest Jerky cannon I could find.

Made 4 lbs, used backwoods Hickory seasoning. Added 1 tbsp liquid Hickory smoke, 1 tbsp worchestershire.

Came out really really good. My father in-law was over and almost ate a whole sheet.

Here is my question...the book that came with my machine said dehydrate for 6 hours then put the jerky in the oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes.

I read on the web from USDA you need to cook to 160 degrees before dehydrating so the bacteria are killed with wet heat vs. dry after dehydrating. So you cook it in the oven then dehydrate?

My machine doesnt have a temp setting so not sure how hot it gets really but inserting a thermometer while it was running said 155-160.

What is the proper way to kill the bacteria so I don't make anone sick?

 

[JBob77]

I've never used anything except for those kits, but they have a curing salt in them. I only use a dehydrator, and have never paid attention to the temperature. I have never had an issue, but the jerky hardly ever lasts more than 1-2 days anyway.

 

[Krush1127]

How long will this stuff last assuming I wouldn't eat it right away?

 

[JBob77]

It will keep longer than it will last. I can dehydrate 2 pounds of meat (before dehydration) and it will be gone within 24 hours. And I don't share, much!

 

[clfergus]

I ate a bunch today, so much better than store bought stuff.

 

[Krush1127]

Do you do regular beef jerky or some deer and other meats?

 

[Balinor]

I also have a "cheap" dehydrator I just dry my product till it almost breaks (on my machine 12-16 hours) you "cant" dry it too much other than it will be brittle ( I really never cared). After its done I place each trays work in a freezer bag and squeeze out all the air I can, then place it in the freezer, labled with the date. Mine has never lasted more than 6 months, not because of spoilage but because I ate it or gave it to friends. My directions say its good (without freezing) for 1 year. The leaner the meat the better it will keep (also according to my directions). I have done turkey jerkey (turns out for me at least as turkey chips) and fruits on my machine all have turned out GREAT.

 

[awittmer]

not to thread jack, so if it is cured then the temperature doesnt matter?

 

[spainy79]

I recently made my first batch of deer jerky and it turned out really good (my coworkers approved). I used a dehydrator and the whole process wasn't that bad. Here's a vid I found that shows what the recipe was that I used.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnrrRJt4u7A[/ame]

 

[westfork]

i've also been using the seasoning kits that come with cure and spices. i have been using ground chuck or very lean beef and a jerky gun. ground meat makes a texture of jerky that i prefer. not sure how my method applies to other meats but should work fine with other red meats?

i follow the following process with great results:

1. mix up the cure, seasoning, and meat according to instructions, cover, let it sit in the fridge overnight.

2. use the jerky gun to make my batch being careful not to overload the trays so air can flow well - my dehydrator has 4 trays and 1.5 pounds of meat seems to be the magic amount to fill it up right.

3. every hour or so i stop it, pat the fat/juice off of the meat with a paper towel and rotate my trays.

4. after 5-6 hours i test the jerky by taking out a piece and letting it cool to room temp. bend that piece after it cools and see if it just bends or if it starts to crack. i call it done when it 'cracks' but still is slightly bendy. if it breaks in two it is too done.

5. when i'm happy with the texture i take it all out and let the whole batch cool to room temp. then i portion it out into some foodsaver bags, vaccuum pack it, mark what it is with a marker and freeze what i'm not eating right away.

freezing it helps it last a lot longer. when you want some more to eat just take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temp until thawed. then enjoy.

that's my .

 

[rkesar]

I make some every year and I've never put it in the oven. I just season it and put it in the dehydrator until its done.

 

[ViperJock]

Made my first batch lastnight. Bought a cheapo Nesco 400 watt dehydrator for 30 bucks, cheapest Jerky cannon I could find.

Made 4 lbs, used backwoods Hickory seasoning. Added 1 tbsp liquid Hickory smoke, 1 tbsp worchestershire.

Came out really really good. My father in-law was over and almost ate a whole sheet.

Here is my question...the book that came with my machine said dehydrate for 6 hours then put the jerky in the oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes.

I read on the web from USDA you need to cook to 160 degrees before dehydrating so the bacteria are killed with wet heat vs. dry after dehydrating. So you cook it in the oven then dehydrate?

My machine doesnt have a temp setting so not sure how hot it gets really but inserting a thermometer while it was running said 155-160.

What is the proper way to kill the bacteria so I don't make anone sick?

Nice. I've been looking over some lower end dehydrators. Are there any out there that should be avoided? Which ones do people like?

 

[clfergus]

Nice. I've been looking over some lower end dehydrators. Are there any out there that should be avoided? Which ones do people like?

I bought a nesco FD-37 off amazon.com for 35 bucks. That included shipping and it worked great. No rotating, about 7 hours until complete.

 

[TMU317]

not to thread jack, so if it is cured then the temperature doesnt matter?

Theoretically yes, but there is still that chance that you do not kill all of the harmful bacteria.

Here is an article from the USDA which addresses the issue of food safety when it comes to jerky...

Jerky and Food Safety

According to this article, curing greatly reduces the chances that there will be harmful bacteria present in the finished product. They recommend heating the meat before dehydrating it, which will reduce the chances further. I have never heated my jerky before smoking it, and I have never had any issues.

"the jerky made with the curing mix had greater destruction of bacteria than jerky made without it. The jerky made with the mix and heated before dehydrating had the highest destruction rate of bacteria."

I also use tender quick...

Morton®Salt - Morton® Tender Quick®

I have also made jerky without tender quick and never had a problem with that method either, but I made sure there was plenty of salt in my marinade.

Curing (food preservation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ViperJock]

So, Made my first Jerky last night. woot! It was an adventure that I hope does not end in my being eaten by parasites and otherwise zombified.

I pulled a 1lb bambiburger bag out of the freezer (been there about 2 weeks now.) and defrosted it. My wife then found some article from Georgia saying you need to leave it frozen for a month or some parasite does not get killed.... We checked out the USDA site and they said nothing about this so I decided to proceed.

Next I carefully measured and mixed in a 1lb's worth of cure and spices and put it into the fridge to cure. I thought to myself that it seemed like a lot more than a pound but I didn't have good scale that wasn't measuring in "grains" so I went out for a food scale. $13 and a day later I weighed the ground meat at 1.7 lbs. so... I added more cure and seasoning and left it in the fridge a while longer.

Last night I finally used my Lem gun to squeeze out some strips and put them into the oven (don't have a dehydrator yet) @200 per the Hi Mountain recipe. After about 100 minutes the jerky was dried but still soft and I decided it was done. It tastes great, but I have to wonder if it is really safe to eat.

Thoughts? ummm...jerky....

 

[TMU317]

If you cured the meat and heated it to 200 F for over 1.5 hours, I think it would be perfectly fine.

 

[dashby115]

always keep deer in freezer for 60 days they say helps kill bacteria...try high mountain jerky cure..have tried many brands. like it the best

 

[smythe012]

I make my own jerky in a NESCO dehydrator, I've never put it in the oven, just set it on "jerky" and let it go. When it's done I put it in a Ziploc bag with a moist paper towel, set it in the refrigerator and it will keep for a few weeks. There's definitely something more tasty about making your own...