Beef Jerky Questions

[radar's girl]

As I think about adding protein to my few months worth of freeze dried meals, I've come to the inevitable brick wall of price. I have a few pouches of freeze dried chicken chunks, and I already rotate through canned chicken, tuna, and ham. But the freeze dried meats I see online are just too expensive. Even TVP is pricey. I know beef or turkey jerky can last a while. Would packing unopened bags in a bucket with O2 absorbers help, or not? One site iIsaw online suggested that it could last for years in the freezer. they also suggested that it could be rehydrated in boiling water and used in recipes. I would think that this would remove some of the excessive saltiness, too. Are there any less-salty brands out there? This particular site said turkey jerky wouldn't last as long as beef, 1 year as opposed to 2 years. What if I store it in the fridge? I figured that someone on here must have some experience. It seems like it might be a lower cost way to add meat to my meals. Is there dehydrated Beyond Burgers? love that Impossible Whopper at Burger King! What do people think?

 

[moojpg2]

uhm just buy some mountain house meals? they have meat in them depending on what one it is, and are pretty damn good.

 

[clampett]

Check out MRE depot. Despite the name of the company, most of the products they sell is freeze dried meats in #10 cans.

 

[whacko]

As far as the price of buying jerkey you can make your own very easily. Plenty of recipes online using a home oven.....you don't need a dehydrator to make Jerky. You could also adjust the saltiness with your own recipe.

 

[The Edge Lab]

As far as the price of buying jerkey you can make your own very easily. Plenty of recipes online using a home oven.....you don't need a dehydrator to make Jerky. You could also adjust the saltiness with your own recipe.

I agree... making your own jerky is easy. If you do a search, Alton Brown has a great episode of how to make your own jerky using a box fan and a hvac filter.

 

[Wilbart]

I bought a dehydrator to make my own jerky it is easy way cheaper and it comes out pretty good. I have started to dehydrated other things. Ground beef and chili have been my go to. You can not do to much with the beef other then add it to things. But I figure it will be a good addition to pasta, soups or just rice.

 

[Jason m]

I make ruffly 3-4lbs of Jerky a week, we end up eating maybe a half and freeze the other half. I buy the London broil steaks the manager specials, they seem to have the least amount of fat and they are cheap.
I use a simple seasoning of Teriyaki sauce and red pepper, soak the strips in this for a few days ( 2 days max ) and drain the brine off and run them for maybe 12 hours depending on the thickness.

I Vac seal one half and freeze it, the rest we pick on over the week makes for a great snack and I have the sodium level fight down to where its tasty but not killing us.

Just did some Goose meat I got over the weekend ( shot two Fri night ) and hoping to tag a deer this year, I will turn a 1/3 of that in to Jerky, lean meat is the best.

 

[whalerman69]

I make ruffly 3-4lbs of Jerky a week, we end up eating maybe a half and freeze the other half. I buy the London broil steaks the manager specials, they seem to have the least amount of fat and they are cheap.
I use a simple seasoning of Teriyaki sauce and red pepper, soak the strips in this for a few days ( 2 days max ) and drain the brine off and run them for maybe 12 hours depending on the thickness.

I Vac seal one half and freeze it, the rest we pick on over the week makes for a great snack and I have the sodium level fight down to where its tasty but not killing us.

Just did some Goose meat I got over the weekend ( shot two Fri night ) and hoping to tag a deer this year, I will turn a 1/3 of that in to Jerky, lean meat is the best.

A buddy does a peppered goose jerk that is really good.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

Is there dehydrated Beyond Burgers? love that Impossible Whopper at Burger King! What do people think?

Kind of off topic, but Beyond Burgers are not Impossible Burgers. Two different companies. I prefer Impossible Foods if I had to choose (but would pick real meat any day over both). They have been slow to get out to grocery stores, and as far as I know, are not available yet outside of restaurants.

 

[Twigg]

The pandemic has pushed freeze dried products beyond affordability for many. Start home canning at least your meats. My wife & I used to run classes on home canning. If you're concerned about longevity, we're rotating through a 2 year old stock at this time. You don't need a fancy pressure canner unless you're processing regularly for a large group. We use a cheap Wal-Mart pressure cooker.

Freezers work well until there's no electricity. Our home canned items do very well stored in an interior closet without refrigeration. I'd suggest getting "The Ball Book of Canning" as a start. Buying 2 years worth of either freeze dried items or MRE's is expensive, impractical, wasteful and just plain silly when you can have a larger stockpile of better quality items for dramatically less cash (or debt) involved. Store what you eat, eat what you store. That's what works for the long term. Best wishes.

 

[radar's girl]

How long would dehydrates ground beef last? How do you package it after? And store it? Is canning meats better than dehydrating them? So much to learn!

 

[Wilbart]

I keep my dehydrated ground beef in vacuumed sealed bags in my basement. I am at 12 months old and it is still good. It all depends on how much fat is in the beef and how you store it. You can keep it in the frig or freezer and it will last longer.