• General food and cooking questions, discussion, and recipes. To blog your food or to create (or post in) a community food thread, please post in Post Your Eats!

drying Jerky issue

I make some very good jerky and have for years
I primarily use a wet marinade for all my meats
I use pepper powder as the heat source(Moruga,Primo,BubbleGum etc)
I usually soak the meat in 5lb batchs for at least 48hrs
I use two heavy heaped tablespoons of powder per 18-20oz of liquid marinade
Its pretty freaky hot,but not hot enough or "need more heat" for a select few who buy from me on a regular basis.
I refuse to use extracts,they all suck IMO

You heat freaks got any idea's?
 
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Try this...use the wet marinade without the powder and once you pull the meat from the marinade as the last step dust with the powder. I used my mystery wine which is not a super hot and my last batch was very spicy!
 
Agreed. Or use fresh pods pureed into the marinade so there's more of an infusion. Dusting as a last step is probably your best bet, though.
 
I get good heat during the marinade process,its in there deep.
Dusting wet meat before drying doesnt work so well,as it dries the meat shrinks and pulls away from the powder
and just falls off basically.
Might just have to wait till pod season and then snatch their ass :fireball:
I cant make enough for the other folks,they beat down the door every week wanting what ever flavor I have on hand
the hot is very unique as nobody uses super hots the other side of ghost.
Ive had 7-8 that were completely cratered(floored) with a 1/4" X 1/2" samples :party:
If I had more dryers I could crank out more product and really get it out there,I like cooking for people and like knowing they get the best of quality
and over all satisfaction of money well spent.

Great Jerky and Great Craft Beer just get along so well :drunk:
 
I must disagree on dusting wet does not stick...mine worked flawlessly but then again I went Asian with mine and maybe my marinade held it better. 
 
 
Good luck on perfecting and most of all have fun!
 
You could make the marinade a week or so prior to using it so the heat infuses more. Do you heat your marinade, or just combine ingredients and go? Bringing it to a boil and then cooling it before adding the meat would probably help as well.
 
Yes Sir I had considered that option as well,heating may just get enough oil extracted to bring it around good
 
TNKS said:
Dusting wet meat before drying doesnt work so well,as it dries the meat shrinks and pulls away from the powder
and just falls off basically.
 
If your marinade is high sugar it caramelizes and bonds the rub so it will not fall off. If it is low sugar, you can still dry dust as JHP says, but let it take on the moisture of the marinade before dehydrating, and a spritz of apple cider also helps to create that bond and marry it.
 
I use no sugars or ACV because of residual flavoring issues
Im trying to stay more traditional/rustic/smokehouse type profiles
I may just spring for a good vacuum tumbler and be done with it,cool gadget that actually works well
for pulling in good marinade flavors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1xWy6h5cnc
 
That explains why it is falling off, no sugar bond.
 
You could try to make the powder as fine as possible, I find those stick the best, kind of like how powdered sugar would stick better than granulated.
 
Note:
I do not blot off the wet,just lightly ring it out so to speak,I want the marinade drawn in but not so dripping wet it puddles
in the bottom of my dryer

I run an Excalibur dryer and it works very well
Love the rear fan operation concept
 
TNKS said:
I make some very good jerky and have for years
I primarily use a wet marinade for all my meats
I use pepper powder as the heat source(Moruga,Primo,BubbleGum etc)
I usually soak the meat in 5lb batchs for at least 48hrs
I use two heavy heaped tablespoons of powder per 18-20oz of liquid marinade
Its pretty freaky hot,but not hot enough or "need more heat" for a select few who buy from me on a regular basis.
I refuse to use extracts,they all suck IMO
You heat freaks got any idea's?
Just a thought, as I don't know if you've tried it or not, but what about salsalady's Pure Evil? Everything I've used it in hasn't had any flavour added, purely heat. If you have tried it for the jerky and didn't like it, please disregard.
 
I would rather not add any more resources as it only raises cost and therefore product cost increase
I sell to working folks a good bit under the pricing of other area big name sources
Im confident thru customers feedback my product is fairly priced and across the board "better".
I do not use nitrates or salt cures,its made to eat and not store for months
 
TNKS said:
I would rather not add any more resources as it only raises cost and therefore product cost increase
I sell to working folks a good bit under the pricing of other area big name sources
Im confident thru customers feedback my product is fairly priced and across the board "better".
I do not use nitrates or salt cures,its made to eat and not store for months
Very true re pricing. Completely missed the part where you said you were selling. Tbh I've got 2 bottles of PE here, and as I'm the only one in the house that'll touch it that's a few years supply for me. If you want one to try out, pm me your addy and I'll get it out when I can.
 
I'll cast another vote for powdering/dusting the wet meat after it comes out of the marinade and has been squeegeed.  I have done a few batches where post-marinade and dry-blot I press the strips in to a ghost chili powder/salt.  I get pretty good adhesion.  As mentioned by others, my marinade includes some honey for the hygroscopic effect and it helps the powder to stick through the drying process. 
 
I have some Reaper Squeezins or whatever its called buried in the fridge,got it as a Christmas gift,its plenty hot no doubt
Im just burnt out on all things "reaper".The person that gave it to me is the only reason its still here,I tried about a 1/2 tsp when I got it
Anyway . . . . . how much is that PE ? wasnt it like $25 or something like that ??
MeatHead1313 said:
Very true re pricing. Completely missed the part where you said you were selling. Tbh I've got 2 bottles of PE here, and as I'm the only one in the house that'll touch it that's a few years supply for me. If you want one to try out, pm me your addy and I'll get it out when I can.
 
OK!!
Scraped all this crap into one pile and took another run at it
Added a teaspoon of molasses(sugar) to the same wet mix,then heated mix to just hot and cooled it
Meat soaked 48hrs and was fine dusted on one side before going into the Excalibur for a 150* slow ride to dry.
Very humid today so likely be near 8hrs . . . . . . .

Wanna trade for some jerky?
New batch working as I write this!
Take it to PM and we'll work something out . . . . . .
 
MeatHead1313 said:
Very true re pricing. Completely missed the part where you said you were selling. Tbh I've got 2 bottles of PE here, and as I'm the only one in the house that'll touch it that's a few years supply for me. If you want one to try out, pm me your addy and I'll get it out when I can.
 
Back
Top