food Jerky Anyone?

a skilled butcher at work is awesome to watch if ya ask me! Id think the white fibers are connective tissue that will not break down during dehydration. Its normal id say, see it in my and store jerky.
 
looks good
 
Thanks! I don't generally buy the thin jerky, as I don't care for the texture and nor the flavor of most, so I'm not familiar with the white fibers. And yes, either muscle fiber or connective tissue…. I'm not about to take a magnifying lens to it!
 
I shared more of my last batch than I had the prior batches, so I ran out before I could make more. (Just making 1 to 1.5 dehydrator trays at this point.) So I picked up some Jack Links Teriyaki Tender Bites today. Hm. Now that I've been making my own, I both notice how almost candy-like the stuff is, and I even more strongly notice the salt. Never fear - the next batch is in the fridge and will be dehydrated tomorrow. My veins will thank me later….
 
Ok, this is likely the last batch I'll post, unless I find something super amazing that just screams to be posted. 
 
I'm not sure why the ones in front look so red in the pic, maybe the flash caused that, but they are the same as the others. This is pork tenderloin, with the same mex-style seasonings I used on the beef. The thing I did differently with this batch was simply to let it marinade longer as I ended up out of the house too much yesterday. The pork tenderloin has been on sale at my grocer's, so it was a good buy. Good texture and good flavor - I am very content with it. Next time I do pork I'm going to use the same seasonings I most often use on tenderloin, which is fatalii puree and rosemary, with just a touch of garlic. 
 
P1010794.JPG

 
As good as these are, though, I have to admit I'm a red-meat kind of person, so I am looking forward to my next beef batch. Maybe bison. Both are good!
 
So a question for those of you who are experienced making jerky. If I want to add a hint of lime, is using the rind sufficient? I am thinking that using the juice is probably not a good idea because of the acid, unless I add it to the marinade only in the last hour or so. 
 
geeme said:
So a question for those of you who are experienced making jerky. If I want to add a hint of lime, is using the rind sufficient? I am thinking that using the juice is probably not a good idea because of the acid, unless I add it to the marinade only in the last hour or so. 
Click to expand...
 
G, in my teriyaki fish marinade I use orange juice and zest from the orange peel. Orange juice on its own does just okay but the 
 
zest is what makes it really pop.
 
Same thing when making sauce's with lime juice, adding zest really makes it zingy yumbo good.
 
Myself I wouldn't be at all hesitant to use lime juice and zest in a brine for jerky. 
 
Sure the acid will "cook" the meat but it will also tenderize.
 
And it shouldn't matter one way or the other anyway as you're going to dry it.
 
I say go for it!
 
I think it's time to make some beef jerky. I went out today and bought 5 lbs. of beef for the dehydrators. I'll post pics of the process tomorrow, since Geeme won't show us anymore jerky porn gosh dang it!
 
LOL Nate - can't wait to see what you make!
 
I've been making jerky almost every week now, and have come down to one sure-fire favorite - everyone who's tried it wants more, more, MORE! My son's been a bit leery, knowing I'm using hot peppers in it, but he finally tried some just yesterday and today admitted he's hooked. Ha! I still have more experimentation to do with other types of meat - I'm not wowed yet by the beef versions, for example, but things are coming along. 
 
No! No! No! You don't get that part. But what I will tell you is that there are 1 red and 1 yellow ghost pepper, 1 red and 1 yellow moruga and 2 small reapers along with some brown sugar in it.
 
Last time I was at the grocery store the butcher sold me pot roast.. did pretty well really but I sliced it a little thin. For me I will marinate the meat for 24 hours in ziplock baggies filled with garlic powder, Worcestershire, soy sauce, cracked pepper, chipolte  powder, liquid smoke and a little brown sugar. If I had prague powder (Pink salt aka curing salt) I would add it but this stuff doesn't last that long and I usually will free the bags of jerky. About 2 years ago I invested in an excalibur 8 tray dehydrator gf hates how much room it takes up but dayum do I love jerky lol
 
It's on! I didn't marinate it for as long as I usually do because we need the fridge space but I tried something different with the meat. I stabbed the heck out of the pieces with a fork in hopes that it might better soak in the marinade. Any bigger pieces of fat will get cut out later.
 
041_zps7d4b3db9.jpg
 
The butcher cut it for me (it was already cut in the first pic) although I do have a food slicer. He knows how thick/thin I like it so that saves me the trouble.
 
Hmmm….. looks similar to the batch I made that contained molasses, due to the shiny-appearing surface. The darkness could come from that and/or liquid smoke. Looks tasty, regardless of how you made it!
 
No Molasses and yes there is a tbsp. liquid smoke to 6 cups marinade in there this time. Usually I don't use it. I just went out and bought about ten more pounds of beef to make more jerky. My wife took some samples to work today and now some people are wanting to buy some. :party:
 
I haven't made any jerky for a while.  All this talk of jerky lately has me jonesin' for some.  Next Monday...
 
Screw it. I just had to go get more meat because at $2.99 a lb. thats cheap for around here. So now I have a 17 lbs. I'm gonna have lots of jerky! I might just have to make some tacos or burritos with some of the meat too.
 
008_zpsbf656799.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top