Smoking vs sun curing. which one is better?

[natertot]

I have never been to Italy... uh we all have egos....

I love egos. If you don't have any, they can be found in the freezer section at the grocery. The blueberry ones with butter syrup are my favorite!

[TXyakr]

Mom and dad send him to school in another country and allow him to vacation in Italy and we have the egos. Go figure.

If you knew how to read the scale on a map you would realize that this is less of a distance than for someone from Chicago to send their kid to school in New York and vacation in Florida. A good friend of mine from grade school through high school was a researcher and professor at a major university in England (she is originally from England) but then transferred to one in Stockholm, Sweden, this is not a big deal in Europe. English is the commercial language there and most are multi-lingual. Moving from Texas to Maine is probably a bigger adjustment. Americans are not great with geography especially those that don't travel much.

All the OP originally wanted was some perspectives on preserving meat in primitive situations and he got met with hostility. No wonder this forum is so small and has little useful content. It would be under highly unusual circumstances that I would ever want to use either method to preserve meat in a primitive situation but perhaps if stuck on a remote island after ship wreaked or after surviving plane crash on a island far from shipping lanes or if all the roads were washed out in a remote area or something far less likely line in a war zone, after North Korea and Russia attack us... 1 chance in 10 billion... N.K. 5% accurate missiles, Russia 80% accurate at best.

[natertot]

If you knew how to read the scale on a map you would realize that this is less of a distance than for someone from Chicago to send their kid to school in New York and vacation in Florida. A good friend of mine from grade school through high school was a researcher and professor at a major university in England (she is originally from England) but then transferred to one in Stockholm, Sweden, this is not a big deal in Europe. English is the commercial language there and most are multi-lingual. Moving from Texas to Maine is probably a bigger adjustment. Americans are not great with geography especially those that don't travel much.

All the OP originally wanted was some perspectives on preserving meat in primitive situations and he got met with hostility. No wonder this forum is so small and has little useful content. It would be under highly unusual circumstances that I would ever want to use either method to preserve meat in a primitive situation but perhaps if stuck on a remote island after ship wreaked or after surviving plane crash on a island far from shipping lanes or if all the roads were washed out in a remote area or something far less likely line in a war zone, after North Korea and Russia attack us... 1 chance in 10 billion... N.K. 5% accurate missiles, Russia 80% accurate at best.

Allllrighty then........ look! Coffee and pastries just arrived!

[kyratshooter]

The OP was met with "hostility" because he was baiting the members and arguing with each suggestion given.

And if you feel our forum is too small for a Texan who has traveled the world, and has so little useful content, don't let the door hit you on the way out!

[TXyakr]

This was an excellent answer to the OP's question, better than just telling him his question was foolish. There are some unusual situations were on a multi-day trek out of a remote area a person may want to dry/jerk some meat over night or dry it during the hot day and hike during the full moon at night. Assuming they made a kill of a fairly large animal or caught/took/shoot several smaller ones and were trying to get back to civilization before starving to death.

I have made primitive jerky many times as demonstration at historic sites and in skills workshops.

First, jerk is not cooked, it is dried and smoked. You never let the meat get hot enough to cook or you defeat the purpose. 160 degrees has distroyed the preservation of the meat and set up a whole different set of baceria to work against.

Jerk has been a staple preservation method since the first human found out the meat he laid on a rock untill it dried out did not kill him. Probably since he ran the first lion off a dead sun dried carcass.

Quit turning up your nose, you eat rare steak and have to pour the blood off half way through! I have seen it too many times to even pay attention to the parisites and diseases issue in a jerky discussion. If it does not count at the steakhouse it does not count over the campfire.

The drying and smoking cures the meat and the smoke is partly done to keep flies away from the meat as well as add flavor.

It does take all day to jerk meat. Slice it as thin as possible and salt it if you have salt. Place it on a rack or grid well above the heat of the fire and use wood that produces generous smoke. I like to have the grid about 2 feet above the fire and I keep the flames down to a minimum by using punkwood or wet bark as my main fuel. If the fire under the meat is so hot it hurts my hand it is too hot.

As it dries on one side and becomes brittle, turn it over and continue. When the meat is black and breaks in shreads when bent it is ready.

No it will not look like what you get at the corner store.

You can only jerk meats with low fat content, mostly from ungulates. Fish works very well. Pork, bear or rodents can not be jerked. this counts out rabbit jerky, sorry.

Randy, if you PM me I will get you some references and better instructions.

Why was the 2nd comment not a link to this comment my KYrat?
more details here:
http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/_jth...php?f=8&t=1130

I have hiked ultra light for days in the amazon jungle with indigenous people who where almost "stone age" this is what they did, there are many variations to it but the concept is basically the same.

https://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com...vival-s/53.htm

Edit: If I were ever in some highly unusual situation where it was best to wait in place for rescue and signal for it and forced to preserve some highly unrecommended animal similar to a raccoon/coati or wild rabbit by jerking (smoke drying) or sun drying it, then I would soak it in water and bring it to a boil in some improvised pot or hole in a rock/log/bamboo to kill all the pathogens such as bacteria and the larval cysts of the tapeworm and many other species that may have survived the low temperature of the sun or smoke. Mostly I avoid yachting off the coat of crime infested Honduras and the pirate infested islands of Indonesia, difficult to hire enough armed guns to make that safe and it is not peaceful with all those heavy large caliber full autos on board... ha ha ha

More realistic is if you and some friends are on a multi-day hike or trip in BWCA and one gets injured and must wait there with one healthy person for emergency extraction while one or more hike out to get help (assuming satellite phone got damaged or you did not have a similar device). Not a bad idea to dry some fish or game while you wait. It could take several days, if you have ever hiked for a few days with no food you will understand the risks for poor decisions (brain works slower) and lack of coordination and strength increases the risk you will suffer an additional injury. Good idea to fast for several days several times a year but still workout in gym and run 3-15 miles day as usual, train for marathon and triathlons etc. so you know how your body will respond in case this ever happens to you for real. Some rabbits and squirrels are fairly lean in my experience and you can always trim away the obvious extra fat, not a big problem if you are going to eat it in just a few days. This is for survival not recreational snacks for car camping or a relaxing road trip! Some fish like carp and catfish can be very fatty and have more parasites, I would avoid that for recreational snacks obviously.

[trapperjack]

I sundry meat like this .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-55SsJVyhs

[trapperjack]

then I made this full version video of the traditional process its 33 minutes in length. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOrsEqjJlhc
EDIT the meat takes on the condensed flavor of cooked meats.