food Jerky Basics 101

Well Ring Sting kindly donated some of his finest work to me yesterday. Some Teriyaki Beef jerky with Stillmanz' Naga/Fattali jerk sauce.

Well i have to first give a big thank you to RS for the jerky. WOW, this is my first try of home made jerky and i have to say I'm bloody impressed!!!!

I will give more detail:

1. Texture: It came in strips of about 5mm x 5mm (bit smaller than a quarter inch) with an average length of 50mm (2 inches). It was very easy to break but it wasn't brittle/over dry, but neither was it overly chewy. RS has found a very nice medium between the 2, with the jerky being chewy enough to allow all the flavours to roll through the mouth, but i didn't feel like i had to act like a wild beast to rip it apart..

2. Flavour: The first thing you get IMO is the soy sauce. Not strong, just the first thing you taste, then the Naga/Fattali jerk sauce kicks in (more on the heat of the sauce later). The flavour of this sauce in this recipe is just amazing. Even after being dried and with all the other flavours you can still identify the fattali. I have never eaten a Naga but i now have an idea of taste as i could taste what i would describe as underlying fruit flavour that was most certainly not fattali. After the sauce came all ingredients in one quick rush which was still evident through the sauce burn.

3. Heat: RS has stated that the heat from his usual recipe was 9/10. If he used the same amount of sauce I would only give it a 6-7/10 (I hope you didn't lighten the sauce on my account RS?). In saying this, I am more than happy with this heat. It gave a nice all round burn that lasted for a minute or so but let the flavours still come through. I would personally have the jerky at this heat level for general use and maybe try a batch hotter just to try it as a one off....

4.Overall: This may be my first home made beef jerky but i have had many different brands and flavours of jerky and RS's jerky holds its own with the best of them.....It has IMO a great balance with the texture (I may try it a little dryer, but only because I'm curious) and the flavour and heat combination is perfect for my taste......I received about 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) yesterday arvo and most of it was gone in under an hour......

I take my hat off to you RS on a awesome jerky and you have inspired me to go forth and try my hand at it..;)

Ring Sting, Thanks very much for sharing your jerky with me and i hope to be able to return the favor one day!!!!
 
Great review!

In response:
a) The base recipe is not mine, but one I found -- Thankyou Anonymous!
b) Stillmanz' Naga-Fatalii Sambal is the heat base, and works really well. I do agree that it could go hotter, but my suggestion would be sprinkling powdered dry chilli on it just before starting to dry the jerky -- someone else mentioned this and it seems like a good idea!
c) The texture owes itself to being cut across the grain of the meat. I sometimes think that I should try this with super lean ground beef for a more 'melt in the mouth' jerky.
d) I usually consume it pretty quickly too, store it in the fridge, and as such I like it a bit moist so that I don't feel like I'm eating a stick.

It's good to know that I inspired someone. That's great!

MB, as for returning the favour, post pics of your garden regularly, and share your love of 'hot' with those that want to get some!

RS
 
mmmm i love jerky, thanks to you, i have to look up jerky making online; as you can see from my sig i like to be self sufficient
 
I made a batch today, and ran it through the mincer coz my slicer cut it too thin, and then used a cheapie plastic syringe cake decorator similar to a jerky gun.

Result was pretty good, flavour the same, consistency was melt in the mouth!

Only difference was that I dried it in the oven on 'bake' paper rather than racks, and the drying time was reduced to about 2.5-3.0 hrs coz the sticks weren't that thick.

RS
 
As far as dehydrators for making jerky, I'm not a big fan of using heat when making jerky, I prefer to keep it old school with just air drying. Now since I'm not just going to hang strips of raw meat around the house(and this would take WAY too long to dry), I use a "custom" dehydrator.

Materials:
1 20" Box fan
3-4 20" CHEAP Paper air filters
2 bungee cords
Total cost: < 20$

Basically all you do is lay the in strips the ridges of the air filter, stack another air filter on top & repeat. Then place an empty air filter on top of the stack, strap it to the front of the box fan with the bungee cords & turn the fan on the lowest setting. You'll have perfectly dried beef jerky in about 12hrs.

For those of you worrying about the sanitation of the air filter, you can bake the filter in the oven first, although I never have. Also, make sure you get PAPER air filters not fiberglass or whatever other material. In this case cheaper is better.

I haven't tried the fan dehydrator for drying fruit/chiles yet, since the regular heated one works fine, but real jerky is dried not cooked :lol:
 
Latest batch

I'm using a blend of Cayennes, Tabascos, and Habaneros.
Marinade is:
2 Tsp. Sodium Nitrite
1 heaping Tbs. Lawsons seasoned salt
1 Heaping Tbs. Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup soy
1/4 cup worcestershire
beer
garlic salt
"Da Bomb" beyond insanity hot sauce
dried oregano from the garden
lots of the dried pepper flakes
4 smoked habaneros, ground up in the cuisinart.
I think that's it....
I kinda "wing it".... so all measurements are approximate!
 
Caustic Casey said:
I'm using a blend of Cayennes, Tabascos, and Habaneros.
Marinade is:
2 Tsp. Sodium Nitrite
1 heaping Tbs. Lawsons seasoned salt
1 Heaping Tbs. Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup soy
1/4 cup worcestershire
beer
garlic salt
"Da Bomb" beyond insanity hot sauce
dried oregano from the garden
lots of the dried pepper flakes
4 smoked habaneros, ground up in the cuisinart.
I think that's it....
I kinda "wing it".... so all measurements are approximate!
Click to expand...

Let us know how this winged recipe turns out... sounds pretty good, and warm....

Good luck...
 
POTAWIE said:
Isn't that how Chilliman64 makes his jerky that some really like?
BTW, what happened to chilliman64
Click to expand...

still here Potawie, and loving it!

I make jerky using both types of meat - whole meat and ground. I use a Jerky Cannon when shooting strips - this produces a nice easily chewed strip. I think the seasoning gets into this a lot better, in fact I often don't allow much time to marinate when using the Cannon.

strips of whole meat are nice and chewy. I like to alternate between the two types. the whole meat strips are less fiddly than loading up the Cannon so I usually use whole meat when I have less time.

I'm interested in you using your food processor to slice the meat ring sting - how do you get even slices? why not use a knife? I tend to cut my slices a little thicker, anywhere from 6mm-12mm. thick cut jerky is great but takes a little longer in the dehydrator. I also use the semi-freeze method as it makes the meat easier to cut evenly.

Txclosetgrower - I know that South Africans make biltong using the air-dry method but from researching jerky making I have read numerous times that you need to heat the meat to 145 degrees and keep its internal heat at that level for at least 10 minutes to ensure that you kill bacteria - although the added salt and reduced amount of water also reduce the risk of bacterial growth. do you add sodium nitrate to your seasoning mix? I strongly recommend you use nitrates if using ambient temperature air-drying, research the net. you don't need to use very much. I use it in all my jerky batches whether using a store bought mix or a DIY recipe.
 
moyboy said:
ring sting, I love the thought of jerky and i've always wanted to do it. So question time:

1. What sort of temperatures do you dehydrate at? and for how long?

2. What sort of dehydrator do you use? (I don't have one yet and am looking for suggestions)

3.Can i put the meat in a smoking box for a amount of time to get a slight smoke flavor or does this cook the meat to much before dehydrating and kill the end product?

4.Do you remove all excess marinade from the meat before drying?

Thanks....and thanks for such a detailed thread!!!
Click to expand...

I know you directed this at RS but I will add my dos centavos:

1 + 2 - I use an Ezi-dri Ultra FD1000 - 1000 watts, round trays (the only draw back), thermostat controlled, can take up to 30 trays. I dry on it's top temp of 65 deg C using solid sheets to catch the drips and it takes 6-8 hours - up to 12 hours if I'm making thick cut jerky
3 - you can cold smoke your jerky first if you want to though I've never done it. provided you watch your temperature you should be ok. I use liquid smoke to add the smoky flavour to mine. I just bought some from Misty Gully (http://www.arizonagunslinger.com.au...th=46&osCsid=0196a032dc59812f59d8a8f0f75b776b) and it works out fine for jerky making though the smoking afficionados will hear nothing of the sort - hi to the smoking afficionados :mouthonfire:
4 - I don't usually remove excess marinade but then I don't have it dripping wet when added to the dehydrator either. whole meat doesn't absorb quite as much liquid as ground meat does. roughly a quarter of a cup of liquid per 500gms meat usually is ok. if your meat is wetter it doesn't necessarily add to drying times by any appreciable amount.
 
chilliman64 said:
Txclosetgrower - I know that South Africans make biltong using the air-dry method but from researching jerky making I have read numerous times that you need to heat the meat to 145 degrees and keep its internal heat at that level for at least 10 minutes to ensure that you kill bacteria - although the added salt and reduced amount of water also reduce the risk of bacterial growth. do you add sodium nitrate to your seasoning mix? I strongly recommend you use nitrates if using ambient temperature air-drying, research the net. you don't need to use very much. I use it in all my jerky batches whether using a store bought mix or a DIY recipe.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I realize these things, but my jerky doesn't last long enough to spoil. If i made a large batch i intended on having around for long i might consider it though. I don't think its a very big risk, people have been salt curing then drying meat for thousands of years. I slice mine really thin and then cure in the fridge for 6 hrs before drying for 12. Do this all the time and never been sick. I'll even eat a few pieces straight out of the marinade while I'm laying it out to dry :hell: I love rare beef
 
Nitrates/nitrites aren't really for preserving but for preventing botulism when cooking/drying at low temps. I know this is a touchy subject with some people but I definitely recommend using them.
The reason people used salt successfully for so long was that the salt they used unknowingly had nitrites already in it.
 
Hi chilliman64!
I have heard good things about your jerky, and ,ahem, would like to 'steal' your recipe! PM me if at all possible...

Your experience is greater than mine, so I am happy that you answered Moyboy's questions better that I did/ever could!

I have some Tone's liquid smoke, what sort of quantities to use say in the recipe I listed at the start? e.g. 1/2 kilo of meat.

I have a breville Wizz Professional (don't buy one, it's not as good as the 1980's models) that came standard with an adjustable slicing plate. I use it instead of a knife because I can cut 1kg of meat evenly in about 2 seconds. and my knives are invariably blunt.

the jerky I sent to Moyboy probably wasnt the finest stuff I've done, it came out a bit wet, and a bit sticky, but was typical of the flavours I use. I would like to kick the heat up a notch or two, having completed my baptism of fire at Stillz's, so i was thinking some habanero powder sprinkled on before drying. any thoughts?

:lol:
 
gday stinger

I'm a bit of a fraud when it comes to my recipe as I use a commercial mix and add my own bits and pieces to it. I've been using Backwoods Original and adding smoke powder, home made hot sauce or powder, ground black pepper, onion powder etc. a good quick marinade to use is Masterfoods Smokey BBQ marinade, just mix it in with your meat (strips or ground). you can add your ground pods to the mix or sprinkle on top for a scarier effect. when it's only on top though it can fall away so I add to the mix and dust the top of the strips before drying.

your method and recipe are excellent - I have been making jerky for some years but that does mean I'm necessarily more experienced, it just means that I've f*cked it up more times than you :mouthonfire:

I slice my whole meat by hand. I recently bought a jerky board so I can get consistent thickness which will make the process a little quicker.

after loading up my dehydrator I usually sprinkle a little extra seasoning/sauce and hab (or some other) powder on top. if the meat is a little dry I will mist the strips with a spray bottle to help the extra powder stick better.

I've got a couple of books with good jerky recipes and next weekend I think I'll make a mix up from scratch as I want to try out the jerky board and I ordered some new trays for the Ultra.

Just Jerky - Mary Bell
Jerky - AD Livingston

both will give you a heap of ideas for recipes

when I get my next batch done I'll pm you
 
Thanks CM64!

Can you post a link or pic of the jerky board? Is it just one of those finger cuttin' demtel veggie slicers?

RS
 
HME-OrigJerkyBoard.jpg
 
chilliman64 said:
I know you directed this at RS but I will add my dos centavos:

1 + 2 - I use an Ezi-dri Ultra FD1000 - 1000 watts, round trays (the only draw back), thermostat controlled, can take up to 30 trays. I dry on it's top temp of 65 deg C using solid sheets to catch the drips and it takes 6-8 hours - up to 12 hours if I'm making thick cut jerky
3 - you can cold smoke your jerky first if you want to though I've never done it. provided you watch your temperature you should be ok. I use liquid smoke to add the smoky flavour to mine. I just bought some from Misty Gully (http://www.arizonagunslinger.com.au...th=46&osCsid=0196a032dc59812f59d8a8f0f75b776b) and it works out fine for jerky making though the smoking afficionados will hear nothing of the sort - hi to the smoking afficionados :mouthonfire:
4 - I don't usually remove excess marinade but then I don't have it dripping wet when added to the dehydrator either. whole meat doesn't absorb quite as much liquid as ground meat does. roughly a quarter of a cup of liquid per 500gms meat usually is ok. if your meat is wetter it doesn't necessarily add to drying times by any appreciable amount.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the extra info mate.

I just put a batch of jerky in the dehydrator.....
STA60067600x450.jpg


It is 1.4kg of Top side beef (was the only cut i could get at the time).

I marinated it for about 18 hours. Most pieces are about 3mm thick and 10mm wide.

Recipe:

1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cracked pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground corriandar seed
1 1/2 tsp ground onion
3 cloves garlic
3/4 cup of soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp liquid smake (Brand: Colgin, bought at local BBQ galore)
2 tsp of orange hab powder
chopped fresh basil
chopped fresh oregeno
chopped fresh lemon thyme


I am drying it at 155 degress (69 C) for about 10 hours or until semi chewy...

Will post later how it goes. It's my first try at jerky so fingers crossed...
 
if your slices are 3mm thick then I think that 10 hours will be way too long. jerky is ready to eat when you can bend it (but not break it) and there is no moisture appearing in the bend. since you've sliced it so thinly I reckon you should check it (and maybe turn it or rotate your trays if necessary) after about 2 hours and then every hour or two after that. it will be more pliable when it's warm so expect it to to 'harden' a little once it's cooled. allow plenty of cooling time because if you bag it up and it's still warm you'll have a moist environment that could grow mould or bacteria.
 
chilliman64 said:
if your slices are 3mm thick then I think that 10 hours will be way too long. jerky is ready to eat when you can bend it (but not break it) and there is no moisture appearing in the bend. since you've sliced it so thinly I reckon you should check it (and maybe turn it or rotate your trays if necessary) after about 2 hours and then every hour or two after that. it will be more pliable when it's warm so expect it to to 'harden' a little once it's cooled. allow plenty of cooling time because if you bag it up and it's still warm you'll have a moist environment that could grow mould or bacteria.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. It's been in for about 2 1/2 hours so i will put it out and turn it soon and then keep a close eye on it all....


chilliman64 said:
I bought some Colgin liquid smoke from http://www.usafoods.com.au/c13/sauces-spice-seasoning/ - I didn't know it was available in regular shops in Oz
Click to expand...


I can get it from Barbeques Galore in Maitland so i would presume it would be available in all there stores...

If you like it and need more and can't get it locally then let me know and i can send it to you...
 
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