Jerky Question

RightfulSin

Hello, I made a thread in the Holiday forums The Upside Down, but then I was unfortunately unable to view it due to real life issues preventing internet access for that time. I am wanting to see if using a cure (curing agent) would work to make my jerky (beef,pork,chicken) shelf stable and prevent it from molding/rotting if it were to be store not in the refrigerator. I am wanting this because I have taken up hiking from time to time over the weekends, and my friends have also wanted to take advantage of my owning a dehydrator to make jerky, assuming they buy the meat. So of course doing that I can't have a refrigerator with me, and my friends want to use it for when they go camping in the spring and summer. Also, I am wondering which cure I would need to use, #1 or #2? I am still quite a novice at making my own jerky, and I would like to have this be an outcome. I have bought jerky from stores before, and they are not refrigerated and they do not go bad/rot/mold from my experience; even though they are stored at room temperature. I have done some reading and I have found that sodium nitrite might help this or something similar? As far as adding nitrites, I have no major problems, since I intake enough vitamin C to nullify the potential downside.

I was hoping to find somebody on here who has experience making jerky, and having it be able to be shelf stable like in the stores, and not have to be refrigerated or put into the freezer. Thank you ahead of time.

Shogun

what cut of beef are you using? My only experience is making beef jerky but I do not store it in the fridge/freezer. I have no idea if pork/chicken can be made into shelf stable jerky. For some reason chicken jerky just does not sound appetizing. Anyway whatever cut of beef you're using make sure it is as lean as possible. I personally use round steak or bottom round because it is cheap in large quantities and about as lean as you can get. I have no idea what you mean by curing agent or #1/#2. I'm assuming you are referring to nitrates/nitrites. Curing is not necessary for beef jerky unless you plan on keeping that shit around for years. And that meat better have absolutely no fat on it or it will still go rancid eventually in storage.

Cut the beef into thin strips, marinade over night, lay out on your dehydrator racks, turn it on its highest setting (it should be 160 degrees F this is important) and let it go 4-8 hours. The time it takes to dehydrate will be determined by the thickness of the slices. When the jerky is done it should be bendy but NOT breaky. I know this sounds dumb and it is kinda difficult to describe. Experience is the best teacher on this. If the jerky is breaky be prepared for it to crumble and break peoples teeth.

zepherin

I’m not sure if a mod could help you but they might be able to copy the holiday thread over to one of the other threads or here. @ceres

Xaquin

Shogun wrote: »

what cut of beef are you using? My only experience is making beef jerky but I do not store it in the fridge/freezer. I have no idea if pork/chicken can be made into shelf stable jerky. For some reason chicken jerky just does not sound appetizing. Anyway whatever cut of beef you're using make sure it is as lean as possible. I personally use round steak or bottom round because it is cheap in large quantities and about as lean as you can get. I have no idea what you mean by curing agent or #1/#2. I'm assuming you are referring to nitrates/nitrites. Curing is not necessary for beef jerky unless you plan on keeping that shit around for years. And that meat better have absolutely no fat on it or it will still go rancid eventually in storage.

Cut the beef into thin strips, marinade over night, lay out on your dehydrator racks, turn it on its highest setting (it should be 160 degrees F this is important) and let it go 4-8 hours. The time it takes to dehydrate will be determined by the thickness of the slices. When the jerky is done it should be bendy but NOT breaky. I know this sounds dumb and it is kinda difficult to describe. Experience is the best teacher on this. If the jerky is breaky be prepared for it to crumble and break peoples teeth.

this is exactly right

the same process also works for maitake only you want mushrooms to go longer on a lower heat

ceres

I actually no longer have access to that part of the forum; I probably could have done it for a day or two after it closed.

However, at the top of H/A there is a whole thread dedicated to this kind of thing. Take a look. They like answer questions and sharing technique and results.