Anyone have a jerky recipe?

[aktrekker]

Most dehydrators run between 120-140 degrees. At temperatures as low as 145F the meat cooks. Cooked meat only lasts 3-4 days when refrigerated, no more than 4 hours at room temperature before it is unsafe.
http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html

Natives dried the meat in the sun. No cooking. Early pioneers did the same. Dried meat will last for months at room temperature as long as it is kept dry. Solar methods of drying, even with fancy setups that collect solar energy over large areas, max out at about 120F.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai407e/ai407e18.htm

I imagine that "cooking" dried meat won't actually cook it. Moisture is required for normal cooking. Once dried the meat shouldn't be transformed the same way it would if fresh.
But since jerky has been made for centuries using only the sun for drying, I tend to think that will be enough. Of course salting speeds it up (and adds flavor). Smoking keeps insects away (and adds flavor). But if higher temperatures were required I think our ancestors wouldn't have survived and we wouldn't be discussing this right now.

[natertot]

Every recipe I've seen for jerky (or dehydrating anything) is no more than 120.
When cooking meat you try to get the internal temperature to at least 165. If you cook at 165 until the meat is at 165 you have cooked it.

That is interesting, The lowest temp my stove goes to is 200 and that is called "warm". I really don't see how 165 would be cooking, per my stove......

[pete lynch]

I make my jerky at my dehydrator's highest setting as it tells me in the instruction manual. That is a temp of 160 degs. I have kept jerky made from it for a month ( I hid some) with no ill effects.

[Rick]

It's really hard to look back at Native Americans or early settlers and subscribe to what they did. Remember that we only know about those that were successful. Those that died of food poisoning don't seem to get much press. Sort of like Mountain Men. Those that died right off aren't well known.

[aktrekker]

When you make jerky in an oven you are supposed to leave the door cracked to let the moisture escape. The temperature will never reach 200.
Most hot water heaters are set to 140. Turn on the water all the way to hot. Stick your hand in it. You won't keep it there long because it will burn you. If you could leave it there long enough it would cook your hand.
I suppose it's possible that at lower temperatures it will dry before it cooks. At least in a dehydrator with a fan blowing the moisture out.

I guess this is one of those "many ways to do something" moments. I've been making jerky for about 15 years and I've always done it the way I learned - 120-130 with a fan. That was in the instructions that came with the dehydrator and several books I read. Nobody has ever gotten sick from my jerky.

[Rick]

Oh, well sick, sure. But how many died? See, dead is kinda permanent. Did you count those? And that guy that said it was the flu? He was just being nice. He didn't want to hurt your feelings.

[aktrekker]

I don't count the 2 that died. They had it coming.

You only need 150 for 1 minute to kill all active bacteria. But cysts will survive. Even boiling temps don't guarantee it's safe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/di...nted=all&_r=1&

Just sayin

[Rick]

Well, if they had it coming then you don't have to count them. It's the ones that were accidents you have to tally in.

[hunter63]

Y'all seem to have this covered....but just a couple of comments.
My favorite was supposed to be a Old Native American.........don't know how old.... as it talks about Morton Season-all, and liquid smoke?

I supposed some folks consider 1988 a long time ago, and before they were born.....but well just saying.

One thing it does state that I haven't seen mentioned was step one.

"Get your self a deer"...or "Get your self a cow"...or whatever..... but you need meat.

[sjj]

revised....

[Highhawk1948]

I can remember my Father making it when I was a kid. We lived in cold country then and he would wait for winter. He cut the meat in thin strips, put them in boiling water for about a minute. Then salt and peppered them. Hung them on a thin rope between two trees so that they received full sun all day long. He covered it with a sheet of clear plastic and left it there for two weeks. We would fill a pocket with it when we went camping, rabbit hunting, or fishing. Sometimes we would fry it, put it on a rock at the fire and eat it warm, or put it in beans or a stew. Best I have ever had. And still today I do not like all of the "flavored" jerky. Can't remember how we kept it though, maybe in glass jars, but it lasted a long time, at least till we ate it up and had to make more.

Had to edit, just read Rick's post. There was 3 of us that eat this and we never got sick.

[Rick]

Good post, sjj. Handling raw meat without thorough washing of hands can be just as bad as under cooked meat.

Highhawk: You don't suppose that parboiling and salting had any beneficial effects on parasites and disease do you?

[Highhawk1948]

I guess that was it. I know it was the best jerky I ever had. Can not make it here in Florida.