Jerky hints!!!!

“Well, I've just wrapped up my first attempt at making jerky, and I'm not too sure of the results. I used one of the recipies from one of the past posts on this site and I'm pretty sure I followed the directions to a T. Used round steak, very lean. And marinated over night the meat in the Teriyaki recipie. Problem is the jerky seems kinda of tough. Don't think I did it too long either. Am I expecting too much for it to come out like the kind you buy at the store? Also the flavor is more bland than the comercial stuff. Any hints or ideas for more tender, flavorful jerky?”

“For it to be more tender try flank steak, cut thin and on the bias.
For a more commercial like taste, try some nitrites and preservatives and more salt.
Homemade should have a more mellow flavor.
The receipe I like is:
Flank steak, thin / on the bias.
1 bottle of porter beer.
1/2 onion, chopped.
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chopped.
some salt.
some pepper.
marinate, the longer the better, dry.

This will NOT be like anything you can buy in the store, but I like iy a LOT better.

Happy trails”

“A friend of mine made great jerky using ground moose - the ground stuff is easier to chew.”

“My recipe is different than most and is more for the meat lover type and not the sweet barbeque lover.

I soak the meat in salt water for a few hours, About a table spoon of salt in six cups of water. I take the meat out and pat dry. Lay the meat on the dehydrator rack and sprinkle one side with dry barbeque mix. I use a local mix, but McCormicks or any other commercial rub will work. Do not put this on too heavy or on both sides of the meat.

The meat comes out spicy, but it tastes like beef not teriaki sauce. I don't know how long the jerky will keep this way, because it never lasts over a week. Yum Yum”

“The-Naviquesser: When you say "cut on the bias"...does that mean with the grain or across the grain?

Bacpac: What kind of meat do you use for your jerkey?”

“I use London broil. Cut against the grain with slices about 1/8 inch thick. Marinade for few hours in teriyaki sauce, then dehydrate for 8-12 hours. Comes out pretty good and tastes like some of the better store-bought stuff.”

“There are several "theories" on making good jerky. One says that you need
to marinate for various amounts of time to let the meat absorb flavor. My wife makes beef jerky another way. Some of the people on the Llama-Rama hikes have tasted this jerky and I think they will vouch for me when I say it's not bad at all.

Start with quality meat. Have your butcher slice the leanest rump roast he has along the grain of the muscle fiber. [Originally the meat was torn (jerked) from the bone and it ripped along the grain of the muscle fibers. You want the butcher to duplicate this.] The meat should be sliced about 3/16ths of an inch thick. When you get home remove as much of the fat along the outside edges of the meat. Don't make a chore of this. Just get most of it.

Mix roughly 3/4 cup of regular (not low salt) soy sauce to ¼ cup of Liquid Smoke.
Add in a tablespoon of brown sugar. Dip each slice of meat into the ?marinade?. Don?t let it sit in the ?marinade.? That?s right ?? just trust me on this.

Place slices on dehydrator trays. On one side sprinkle very lightly with salt. On the same side sprinkle with fine freshly ground black pepper. Use a lot if you like your jerky spicy. Then on the other side sprinkle lightly with Luzianne brand Cajun seasoning.

If the dehydrator has a fan it will take 4 ? 6 hours to dry. Without a fan,12 ?18 hours. Using this method you will be eating jerky before the other guy has his out of the marinade and IMHO it will taste twice as good because you haven?t pickled the meat. You want to taste the meat first and then the spices.

As far as toughness, well jerky is always going to be slightly tough. But if you had it sliced right it should always tear along the grain.

My last word of advice is unless you?re a Labrador Retriever, chew slow and enjoy the taste.”

“If you like the jerky chewey, cut along the grain. If you like to take only a bite and not have to peel a strip off, cut across the grain(fasttimes, try this). Unlike solitary hiker I prefer the across the grain method. If you like the slimjim style, ground the meat.

The following notes don't apply to the ground style. That's a totally dif. thing...

Try a lot of marinades and take notes, teriaky is not the only marinade. I prefer soy sauce, a bit of liquid smoke, a bit of hot sauce, worchester sauce and lots of cracked pepper.

Think of a flavor you like and give it a try. Jerked Jerky(Jamacian), sweet and sour, pepper steak jerky, smoked jerky, cajun jerky, garlic, etc... Think about Marinades with lots of salts and lots of acids. The Acids(vinegar, lemon juice, cider, etc...) will help to break down the protien strands and make the meat less chewey(which fasttimes seems to prefer).

Maybe instead of marinading you might soak the strips in salt water and then pat on the spices. It all depends on the spices you want to use.

The big constant is salt, this makes the meat last alot longer. I would also suggest patting the strips every couple hours, as they dry, with a paper towel. As the meat drys and shrinks it squeezes alot of the remaining fat out as a liquid, removing that before it dries prolongs shelf life quite a bit.
Of course you should cut out all the fat you can before slicing strips.

Make notes of dif. marinade recipes, marinade times, drying times. Notes will help you zero in on the recipe your prefer. Sometimes you may want to dry more for longer storage, sometimes shorter times(more juicy) for jerky you'll eat in a week or two.

Jerky is a personal thing, experiment, test and try new ideas. Once you learn the basic principals of how drying meats works there are thousands of variations.”

“I use venison and the cheapest cut of lean beef I can find. Whatever is on sale. I also prefer to cut the meat with the grain. Across the grain makes it easier to chew, but the texture is more grainy. (duh)

The very first time I made jerky I cut the meat too thin. One quarter inch is perfecto!”

“Fasttimes; not sure whose Teriyaki jerky recipe you used, but as a general rule that flavor is not very spicy, but more sweet.

You may not be able to reproduce the exact taste you can buy in the stores, because you don't have all the expensive equipment they are using to make their jerky. However, I believe home made is even better. I've found more folks appreciate the spicier stuff, with more bite.

When I marinate it overnight, I put it in a sealable container and constantly turn it over again and again to ensure the marinade covers as equally as possible.

If your jerky was too tough, try using a different cut of meat. I use a top round, which is a higher quality cut and not as tough as some others, but it all comes down to personal preference. Phil is correct, to cut across the grain. My Dad's jerky is sliced very thin and actually breaks in half when you bite it. You will get a higher yeild too per batch if you cut it this way, but sometimes I prefer thicker pieces which keeps the taste in your mouth longer. To get the extra thinly sliced stuff, trim off as much fat as possible and put your slab of meat in the freezer. Leave it in there until just the ouside is slightly frozen, then remove and you will be able to cut as thinly as your knife will allow.

I pat down my strips lightly on paper towels prior to putting them into the dehydrator, and leave them in there for an average of 9 hours. Any more, I don't time the drying time as much as just check the meat to see when it's done. If you bend a piece, and it breaks, it's done. If your pieces are cut thicker, and you tear apart a piece, and it's dry on the inside too, then it is done.

After removing it from the dehydrator, I layer it between paper towels again for an hour or so to soak out any remaining grease, then package and freeze.

For a spicy treat, try:

Nomad's Hot & Tangy Jerky

1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
2 cloves garlic -- crushed (I use precrushed garlic for ease)
2 Tbsp A-1 Steak Sauce
3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (stick to the quality brands)
1 lb. lean meat (I use top round)

Enjoy!”

“The last time I went to Philmont, my crew had to join another one (but that's another story). Anyway, one of the guys in the other crew had a dehydrator and he brought along dried tomatoes, jalpenos, and onions. He also brought some homemade bannana chips. THey were way better then the store ones and let me tell you, nothing makes dehydrated spaghetti taste better then dried jalapenos in the sauce. Don't limit your dehydrator to jerkey.”

“turn off your headlamp and eat....”

“Dehydrated frozen veggies are wonderful on the trail.they dry up like little rocks and the weight is nothing.they can be added to any soups out there.by the way wylers deyhdrated soup starters are absoulutly wonderful on the trail.I usually devide them in half though before I go .there is just to much in one package for those little cook pots. and they have GREAT veggies in them.you can add Jerky to them to and have beef stew.”

“Here's my idea of good jerky: Ask Rad he's had it.

I pick a lean roast at the store and ask them to slice it on a very low, or then setting. You can see light thru the red meat.

I purchase some liquid smoke (any brand), brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

I fill a bowel with two bottles of liquid smoke and cut it with the same to more water (very important!) I add the other items in guesstamations amounts.

The brown sugar is REALLY important because it counter acts the bitterness created by the liquid smoke. I use about 1/2 cup in the mix. (you won't taste it after it's dry.

I let it stand 6 hours to 24.

I dry it out for till it crispy and breaks apart.

As for how to cut the meat, I've had it both ways and if you cut it thin enough and dry it long enough it doesn't really matter how bad a cut of meat you get.

while it's drying out, I pat hard coarse ground pepper into the meat while it's still wet.

Anyways, that's my dime worth.”

“lonestar makes the best jerky on God's green earth.

i sh!t you not.”

“Sounds like a pretty good recipe, Lonestar, but I'm not sure I get the correlation of filling your "bowel with two bottles of liquid smoke" in the process ????? LOL ;-)”

“I use the Teriyaki jerky recipe Nomad posted a while back. I love it!!! THANKS Nomad!!! I sometimes add some A-1 sauce to the marinade.”

“Here I go, resurrecting yet another old thread!

Gonna make me some beef jerky for the first time. All the recipes you guys posted look great... I think I'll do a bit of each & decide from there! :-)

My problem however, is that I don't have a dehydrator! How long and at what temperature should I put it in my oven(gas) for? Does it have to dry on a cookie sheet, or should I lie it directly on the oven racks themselves?

How long a shelf life does jerky have? Can you freeze it to make it last longer? How much finished product will I have if I start with a pound of already sliced meat? Help?!?!?!”

“If yer like me...you'll have half the batch eaten before its done. The rest of it won't last very long either.

Bet you'll find lots of oven jerky stuff on the net!”

“Lots of ovens are different. I hear the best temp range is 110 to 150 deg. Use some kind of rack, and leave the door open.”

“Good advice, didjfan. I recommend the same.”

“would it help to aim a fan at the cracked door, for airflow?”

“As Phil and others have said what you do with your meat determines if it's hard and chewy or soft and supple. Cut it cross grain and it's more tender, with the grain it's harder. Also if you get it too hot it will get tough.”

“I have a question. What exactly is liquid smoke? What's in it and how is it made?”

“http://www.hickoryliquidsmoke.com/how-liquid-smoke-is-made.htm

cut and paste, dude!”

“Ingredients: Water, Natural Smoke Flavor, Vinegar, Molasses, Caramel Color and Salt”

“There are lotso jerkys on this site and I are one!”

“Rad, Thanks bro. (he he)”

“yer welcome! LOL!!!!”

“What this place needs is a How Not to Be Jerky Thread. ;-)”

“Jerkys is GOOD CHEWIN!
(o:3”

“>As Phil and others have said what you do with your meat determines if it's hard and chewy or soft and supple.

Aw, c'mon guys--isn't someone gonna pick up on this straight line? Where's the thread deterioration? ;-)”

“no, tehipite, I'm not gonna touch that one!”

“that does not look like a straight line to me...”

“Tehipite... meat should 'always' be hard! As for chewy? Well, if you're into that kinda' thing I s'pose... The soft stuff wouldn't last more than a night around my house though! ;->”

“Just wanted to bring this thread back up and say that I just made the jerky from Lonestar's recipe and it has got to be some of the best I've ever had and certainly the best I've ever made. Damn good, recomend it to everyone. I'll have to admit I was skeptical at first at the amounts of liquid smoke, even more so when making it. It was such a potent smell, thought for sure it was going to over-do it. But, it is da-bomb! Thanks Lonestar for the recipe.”

“As others have pointed out, jerky is a personal thing in terms of taste, texture, etc. But I'd like to add a couple of general thoughts.

1. Your own jerky will never taste like the stuff you buy in packages because that stuff aint jerky. It's ground, pressed, flavored meat. And, unlike real jerky, it won't keep long once the vacumn seal is broken.

2. Real dried meat (which is what jerky is) is a preserved product. You do not need to add salt or anything else to make it keep longer. Salt adds flavor, though, so use it if you want the taste.

3. Temperature control: The idea is to dry the meat, not cook it. You want to work at the slowest possible temperature you can. We prefer 90 degrees, and certainly no higher than 110. If you work too high, you'll cook the meat, and it won't reconstitute if you use it in soups and stews.

4. As a rule of thumb, 5 pounds of raw meat will convert to 1 pound of jerky.”

“Fastimes, What did you use for the guesstimation ammounts?”

“bacpac-I'd guess around 2-3 tablespoons of the garlic and onion powder, and probabably a little less for the salt and pepper. Especially for the pepper since you pat some ground pepper into the meat on the dryer racks.”

“I made two batches of Lonestar's Jerky. Both were very good!

The first was a little sweet and not salty enough.

The second was still a little sweet, but the salt was good.

It is an excellent basic recipe that I hope to fine tune to my tastes. Thanks Lonestar.”

“i miss that jerky.

damned good stuff.”

“how can you tell when the jerky is done? will the thickest part have no spring left when you squeeze compress it? will you be able to compress it? help me here folks.”

“When the moisture is gone. It should look leathery and be a little brittle. I don't dry mine to dust. If all the pieces have a uniform color they are done.”

“thank you.”

“I don't make mine too dry either. I like the uniform color check that bacpac suggested. If all else fails, take a piece out and try to tear it in half. It should be dry and snap a little. I made some dry as dust one time and didn't like it. Get rid of all that fat too!!

Good Luck!!”

“Tke pieces out every 30min after ~6hours. Let them sit to room temp them eat to get the feel for tenderness...too tender, keep drying. Some thicker parts may not be as dry as the thinner portions, but stored in a plastic bag at room temp for a couple of days will evenly distribute the moisture.”

“CALIFORNIA RAISINS MAKE SAFE AND TASTY PRESERVATIVE IN JERKY
05-09-03

By Carol Savonen, 541-737-3380
SOURCE: Mark Daeschel, 541-737-6519

CORVALLIS - California raisins may soon be starring in a new role: keeping beef jerky tasty, more nutritious and safe.

Food science researchers at Oregon State University have determined that raisins are a great substitute for sodium nitrite, a preservative commonly used in beef jerky.

Mark Daeschel, an OSU food scientist, is a specialist in natural "antimicrobials" - natural substances added to food that inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms. He and OSU research assistants Karl Schilke and Cindy Bower have completed research indicating that ground up raisins work just as well as the preservative sodium nitrite, typically used as a processed meat preservative by the food industry.

The research results will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Food Science.

Daeschel and his colleagues found that adding raisins to jerky inhibited bacterial growth, especially the types prevalent in food borne illness: E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes.

"Raisins performed as an antimicrobial at least as well as sodium nitrite in jerky," said Daeschel.

Sodium nitrite has been found to break down into cancer-causing chemicals during digestion. In addition inhibiting bacterial growth, raisins bring multiple nutritional benefits to jerky over jerky made with typical preservatives.

"First, when you add raisins to jerky, it means there is less fat in the jerky," he said. "Plus, raisins are high in antioxidants and have lots of fiber. Consumers are looking for all these characteristics - low fat, high fiber and antioxidants."

Raisin additives may be of benefit especially to those on sodium-restricted diets, he said. "Traditionally, high sodium foods such as beef jerky are restricted for patients on low salt diets," he said. "The substitution of raisins for a high nitrite curing mix may make beef jerky accessible to these people again."

Why do raisins work so well as a preservative in jerky?

Raisins are high in sugar, which inhibits microbial growth associated with spoiled food and food borne illness, explained Daeschel. "The sugar makes the water in food less available to microbes."

And raisins are acidic, which also discourages microbes.

With a grant from the California Raisin Board, Daeschel and his colleagues in OSU's Department of Food Science and Technology evaluated the taste, texture, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial properties of jerky made with ground beef. They compared these properties of the raisin jerky to typical commercial-type jerky made with sodium nitrite and jerky made without any preservatives.

In blind taste tests, a scientific panel in OSU's Sensory Research Laboratory in Corvallis evaluated the three types of jerky for flavor, texture, chewiness, overall liking and appearance.

"Panelists ranked the 10 percent raisin jerky as superior to the nitrite control in terms of overall liking, flavor, texture, and appearance," said Daeschel. "They said sweet and tangy flavor imparted by the raisins was pleasing and that it made the jerky seem less salty."

Why did he use raisins?

"The raisin industry is always looking for new uses for its product," he said. "We tried to come up with some type of food product whose flavor would be compatible with raisins. Then we came up with beef jerky. It's sweet and sour.

"Raisins have showed us they offer multiple benefits as an additive," added Daeschel. "People liked the texture and flavor, they inhibited bacterial growth and added nutrition. Plus raisins can be used in place of more harmful preservatives. Another benefit is that the high antioxidant levels in raisins may decrease off-flavors associated with oxidation or rancidity. We'd like to investigate that next."

Daeschel thinks that raisins may also prove valuable in vegetarian products such as meatless burgers and sausage.”

“Used my folks meat slicer to cut up some beef eye of round roast into about 1/4" thick slices. That meat slicer worked great.
The meat is marinading right now in a solution of salt, worcestershire, black pepper, garlic, onion power, and liquid smoke. Smells wonderful.
I'll put them in the dehydrater in the morning before I go to work and when I get back, they should be about done.
I'll put the full recipe up if they turn out like I hope.”

“Mmm. Sounds good. I gotta do me some jerky sometime.”