Is primitive jerky (dried) safe?

[JPGreco]

The government is just covering its ***, that's all. Any institution, for the most part, is going to tell you the *safest* way to do things. Same reason restaurants have warnings about consuming *under cooked* meats. I eat steak medium, which has its center below the 160 degree mark (somewhere around 140). I've also gotten food poisoning from chicken before, which was supposedly cooked to the 160 degree mark. So based on experience, I've had better luck with the so called unsafe foods.

The drying process will kill worms cause they need moisture to live. It will also kill off and inhibit future growth of bacteria for the same reason.

[RandyRhoads]

But what about worm eggs? If I was to dry out some raccoon without cooking you don't believe a rouge egg that landed on the meat while cleaning would infect me?

Believe me I want to do it, I just want to get the facts and learn as much as I can before I do.

[Cast-Iron]

Howdy folks! I'm new to this board but I do have some experience with this topic.

I have enjoyed dried venison (white tail deer) jerky for 40+ years. I remember watching my grandmother on many occasions as she prepared it, and have tried to repeat her methods with modest success.

Note: This process should be safe for any type of venison or lean beef, but I would not recommend it for poultry, swine, or any member of the rodent family because of possible trichinella/salmonella contamination. I know of people who use smokers, ovens and dehydrators and they all work too.

OMA'S CLOTHES LINE JERKY

I recommend starting with a modest first batch so you can then tweak it to your particular tastes if needed.

Take 1-2 pounds of lean venison cut into roughly 3/4 X 3/4 or larger strips of whatever length you desire.

Place into a saltwater brine and soak overnight (the brine is salty enough when it will float an egg).

Remove from brine solution and rinse well.

Use a sterile large craft-type sewing needle, string the meat thru one end with a cotton twine and place the meat strips onto the twine (allow enough length to seperate the pieces and for tying up the ends).

Now generously coat the meat with black pepper & hang outside in full sun for 1-3 days until pieces are firm and dry to the touch. The dryer the better but I usually start "sampling" on day 2.

In Texas this method works best on sunny cool days (40-50 F) with low humidity and a light breeze. You may have to adjust the duration for your conditions. We seldom have any left after a few days so I can't address the long term shelf-life. When my Oma made it, she would bag and freeze it if she wanted to store it long term. I don't know that freezing it was necessary but if I kept it at room temperature I would keep it in a closed container to keep it as dry as possible. Observe the early drying process to make sure insects aren't contaminating the meat (the pepper should prevent this and the salt act to preserve the meat).

Bon appetit!

[Rick]

Well, I swan. If you're gonna sew it back together why on earth did you cut it up in the first place? Some folks make no sense.

[Cast-Iron]

Maybe I didn't make the point clearly, so here goes my attempt to clarify. There is no sewing involved! The needle simply speeds up the process of hanging the meat to dry. The strips are pierced only once and near an end to keep the meat from folding over on itself during the drying process. The string provides the medium to suspend the meat in the drying process. And finally, you slice the meat into strips to reduce the time required to marinate in the brine and dry. Of course you could skip all these steps and just make sausage.......but that's another topic.

[Rick]

I understood. It was joke. It's a good recipe and a good post.

[rockriver]

So, no fire/smoke required? I'm really wanting to try this!

[shiftyer1]

Cast-iron, there is alot of tongue and cheek humor and sarcasm on this board. Which is one reason I enjoy comin here I also brine and marinade my jerky but I smoke it at a very low temp until almost brittle. So far nobody has died from it and everybody begs for it. If I was trying to do it with something other than red meat I would probably be concered. I use a medium size texas style smoker, I have also had good success with 10 or twelve charcoal briquets. It's normally a 2 day affair for me. I couldn't hang it in the breeze.....too many critters.

People have been salting and smoking meats forever, including pork. Think of old fashioned farm smoke houses and curing hams or bacon. I think people are just too paranoid.....and it seems to be in the last 2 or 3 generations. Although people also used to cut the moldy spot off cheese and eat what was still good......cheese is different nowdays if it has a spot u just gotta throw it away.

[Sarge47]

Ya'all are making me hungry!

Cast iron, don't let yer leg come off in Rick's hand, okay?

[RandyRhoads]

Although people also used to cut the moldy spot off cheese and eat what was still good......cheese is different nowdays if it has a spot u just gotta throw it away.

Uh oh. I still do this lol. What are the dangers of that.....

[Cast-Iron]

Thanks for the clarifications. It's hard for me to interpret the intended "tone" of the written word. My paternal grandmother (Oma) was a great individual and an even better cook (I know, I'm biased) . Admittedly, I acted too hastily in defending her recipe. I'm a left-handed Texas Aggie with Polish heritage who was born with blonde hair.......I'm used to a good ribbing!

[shiftyer1]

Randy.....absolutely none that I know of, but most folks just throw it and buy new.

[Winter]

Sigh, meat is fine irregardless of all the crap you hear. A brisket, cooked, and left overnight on the porch just needs the fly eggs scraped off and it's fine.

Pork? Trichinosis is gone and has been for 40 yrs. You can eat raw pork just like you can eat raw beef.

[Rick]

Making note never to eat brisket at Winter's house.

With the advent of more and more folks raising their own animals the trichinosis problem is bound to return. And you can bet wild pork has it. Little porkers in environmentally controlled housing is clean.

[RandyRhoads]

Yeah i'm ok Winter....that's a little much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cysticercosis

[Cast-Iron]

We have a huge feral hog problem here in Texas. It is not too uncommon to have a deer hunt interrupted by a pack of the critters. I've bagged a couple of small ones and they made some of the best pork bbq I've ever had. But I assure you the meat was thorougly cooked to 160 degrees before consumption. Trichinosis has been virtually eradicated within the domestic swine industry but I assure you is still exists in the feral populations here as well as in other mammals namely members of the rodent family. There are an estimated 10,000 cases worldwide annually and I don't plan on becomming part of that statistic.
http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/trichinellosis/epi.html
I spent 8 years perfecting my bbq brisket (professionally) and I'd be happy to explain the basics if there's an interest here.

[crashdive123]

Oh, be assured.....there is always a keen interest in BBQ.

[Rick]

Indeed! We never tire of BBQ porn.

For those interested in the moldy cheese subject, Just remember that cutting the "mold" off cheese is only removing the fruiting bodies of the mold. The cheese still contains the mycelium which injects enzymes into the cheese to break it down so the mold can use the nutrients to grow. The mycelium typically grows much larger than the fruiting bodies. An analogy might be the root network on a tree is as large as the above ground tree. I'm not suggesting the mycelium is bad for you just explaining that you are still consuming part of the mold unless you are cutting away a lot of the cheese.

[crashdive123]

<snicker, snort> Rick said cutting the cheese.

[RandyRhoads]

Really? I've been studying mycology as a hobby since I was 15, and never heard of this. I thought the mold growing on cheese was the mycellium. Isn't that mold the vegative portion?