I don't want to go on a rant or lecture about Beef Jerky but there are some precautions you need to take. The amount of jerky recipes out there pales in comparison to the amount of opinions there are about how to make Beef Jerky properly. You can google to you're blue in the face and everyone has an opinion. There are a lot of rules out there and if you want to explore them I have collected on my BLOG. Click the Link HERE and go to the bottom and click on the desired information.
This is what I do. I make sure there is adequate salt levels. If I am using a dry rub I use 2.5-3% salt. If I use a marinade I go by taste and experience. I use Cure # 1 (.25%) because I tend to like my Jerky a little moister than others and cannot guarantee that the AW will be below the 85 threshold to ward off Botulism. I store my Jerky vacuum sealed in bags hence Cure # 1. I refuse to pasteurize like the USDA suggest so I have an alternate way of doing it that provides great texture. I pack all the Jerky in Vacuum sealed bags no thicker than an inch and Sous-Vide at 135 degrees for a minimum of two hours. I prefer 3-4 hours for improved texture. All cured and pasteurized.
Note- The importance of Sous-Vide-ing the Jerky is to kill of pathogens. If you SV first than dehydrate you're defeating the very purpose of why you SV to begin with. Do yourself a favor and SV at the end.
Note 2- How to use Cure # 1 with Jerky? Click HERE! It's very simple though. Weigh everything and make sure to use grams. If the meat and marinade weighed 9 lb. I would convert 9 lb. to grams which is 4082 grams. You would multiply 4082 X .25% (.0025) = 10.25 grams... You would need 10.25 grams of Cure #1. If you want a huge amount of detail click the link above.
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