Jerkin it! (Making jerky)

[MGnoob]

This would be more suited for a cooking forum but since nes doesnt have one it fits in here the best.
Pennypincher' freeze dryer thread inspired me to finally upgrade to a real dehydrator. I had 4 or 5 junk ones that i always replace by picking them up from yard sales.they just dont work very well or last very long.ive gone though so many over the past 5 or 6 years i could have bought an excaliber 9 shelf

So i bought the Excalibur 10 shelf.while i dont care for the price, It is a nice unit.for half the price i could have got a much larger one,but i wanted somthing that would fit on the counter.
The excaliber uses much less power, does faster batches and is very easy to clean and is NSF approved.its also almost silent not that i care. The unit has a 10year warrantee which help me justify the cost.

So next i wanted a slicer. I looked at some $60 to $200 new residential units . these units just suck. I descided to get a used commercial slicer..if you don know commercial slicers can cost up to $20,000.i bought a used hobart 1712 automatic slicer for the price of a new residential slicer.
I could break the unit and sell it for more than i paid for it. So to me id rather have somthing thats worth more than a paid than a throw away that cant slice thin or slice cheese and has no resale value.




It is way overkill, but i plan to slap 2-3 briskets on it and slicer them all at once.There will be more time cleaning than slicing. Im just not very good with a knife i guess.


Anyway, ive used the dehydrator on various fruits and veggies and was very happy with the results.it takes 1/5 the time as the junk units and has a larger capacit than all my other units combined.
I personally wouldnt make jerky in the junky units they don't reach a stable high enough temp and i would want to eat raw meat that took more than 24 hours to dry.

I did do a load with 10 different recipes using ground beef..i was more just testing the flavor befor i load up alot of whole muscle meat. After 45 min it smelled great.....the dog then stood there crying for 4 hours......anything you put in a dehydrator becomes dog food..
I was hopeful the ground beef jerky wouldnt be that bad. But i dont care for it.
The dogs thrilled though.
Anyway ill post a video/photo in a few days of the final result.


Im going to try and make fish jerky down the road.

 

[Fixxah]

As far as the slicer goes, clean it religiously. I took one apart that was loaded with maggotts. Tends to curb the appetite a bit.

 

[MGnoob]

That is a reason why i wanted a new unit, rather than used..
Older units like mine have seels that can fail alowwing food to enter trapping it, once cleaned liquid drips out contaminating the area food is proccessed.

Thanks for the heads up, i am aware that not cleaning a slicer properly can literally kill people. Fortunately since im using raw meat that is then heated up to 165f its not as dangerious as say lunch meat

I have some cleaner they use in operating rooms aswell as other places.. im going to clean it with that first, then use the manufacturers recommended cleaners and lubes.

My unit didnt come with the sharpener i hope its sharp enough to use while i track one down.... im not paying 80-$150 for one

 

[Matt_SERE]

MGnoob not sure where you are at. These did some quality work for some old friends. I think they still sharpen ring knives as they are still listed in their supplies and they have a few butcher shops as clients. They are in Stoneham on Main St. (route 28).

Good luck.

Matt



http://www.dabucci.com/supplies

 

[MGnoob]

Thanks for the link.

 

[FrugalFannie]

I was in NH this past week and met someone who smokes their jerky. Leaves it moist enough so it's not dry and brittle. Tasted good!

Share your recipe when you make some.

 

[Frizzle Fry]

I've been doing this for a few years, slicing by hand and using an old Jensen Big Chief smoker or a cheap dehydrator (sometimes both). It didn't seem like a big savings cash-wise at first, and it took a bit to get the quality/flavor to where I like it... then for a variety of reasons, jerky cost rose a hell of a lot more than beef cost at my local stores for a year or so straight and it's REALLY helped my wallet to make it myself.

Looks like you've got a sweet setup there. How's the taste?

 

[MGnoob]

Everything i do comes out perfect over time.
The price of jerky and how gross store bought is pushed me over the edge....meat isn't cheap either.
I personally dont get much land game so thats why fish appeals to me.... im going to pickle then dehydrate fish after freezing. I only like fresh water fish a day or two after caught and never frozen. Salt water is a whole different store....

While i get weird about parasites, if i can't eat a medium rare steak from a fresh kill that i personally inspected. Life isnt worth living. And knowledge of there area determines a safe cooking practice.


I only used variation of the same recipe on ground beef... the flavors fine just not the product used.
Im grabbing my slicer in a few hours. Then ill make some good stuff.

Ill post a better walkthrough of what im up to by the weekend.. ill even proof read it for grammer and spelling.



While i kindof think my dehydrator is small 1... load of fruit lasted days and a load of jerky will be substantial....storing isnt a concern at this point.

 

[MGnoob]

Ive also been eating the ground beef jerky with my dog... i dont like it but once i get hungry i dont realy care.

 

[Frizzle Fry]

While i kindof think my dehydrator is small 1... load of fruit lasted days and a load of jerky will be substantial....storing isnt a concern at this point.

I've got a small dehydrator as well... Puts out a decent amount, though. A little jerky goes a long way.

I have an old "foodsaver" vacuum packer and I got a killer deal on the bag material from Ocean State Job Lot (it's a discount store, and it was on mega-clearance). I know it's not necessary but it's convenient so if I make a big batch I vacuum it and jot a date one there. I've eaten some OLD jerky out of those bags.

Sounds like you're a man with a plan.

 

[JayMcB]

I have an excalibur dehydrator as well. It does excellent work.

No fancy slicer like that. I par-freeze the beef and then use a very very sharp Henckels slicing knife.

After I mix the jerky recipe i actually put the beef into a half gallon mason jar with the marinade and then vacuum seal it with my foodsaver. Let it site on it's side in the fridge for 2 day, then dry and eat. My kids eat it like crazy, and if vac sealed in the foodsaver bag as mentioned above, it stores for over a year (personal experience)

Ground beef is not the greatest idea because you want very lean beef for dehydrating, else the fat becomes rancid.

Share your recipe!

 

[MGnoob]

I thought my food saver was expensive when i got it.. i can't believe it still works after 10 years.the vacuum is getting week though and the sealer overheats extremely fast.

I was alittle dissapointed when i went to the school to get the slicer it came out of a vocational highschool not a highschool lunch room like the listing led me to believe.
While its possible it was in the cafeteria not the culinary arts section. Just by looking at the condition of the blade the chips chunks missing looks like metal on metal contact from god only know what. Most likely young students making mistakes.. regardless it looks like it was recently sharpened

Im not complaining about the blade it is just an observation, i bought a used piece of equipment hence its been used. The only thing that wasnt right on it was the lever thats used to lift the machine off the counter for cleaning is broken.its not a huge issue..i could repair it or replace it for next to nothing. Maybe i will, maybe i wont.

I didn't plug it in yet...they wouldn't let me. Im confident its fuction, and even if it need bearings/gears or even the motor repair ,its so easy and wouldnt cost much at all.

As far as the automatic portion, thickness adjustment and the couple other features a slicer has ,its in more than acceptable condition.

It does need some cleaning before sanitizing but its not a nightmare or horror story at all.


Final thoughts on the slicer... it may be relatively heavy. Its not overly large. I have no problem just leaving it on my counter...i dont have small children and live alone..but if you did i wouldn't recommend leaving somthing like this in such a location.

Ill be pulling the meat out of the freezer tonight ... a nice eye of round. Didnt want to freeze it but i had too.


I'll share the receipts i tried in my next posting its alot of typing... i tried both 92% lean and whatever the fattier one is..i hope the fatty one would have better flavor.
It didn't really make much of a difference as i thought.
I defenitly wouldn't keep very long but just by looking at the product id eat it after a couple weeks.i almost wonder if it would be better old.. i kindof wish we didnt eat it all just to see how long it take me to tell its rancid.

 

[Evtide]

Great thread. I do about 5 pounds every three weeks or so, yielding about 2.5 pounds. I weigh out 2 oz. lots and vacuum bag them, and toss one or two in my field bag when I'm on the road. Saves me from posioning myself on gas station pizza. I do end up giving some away and have been getting good reports, which is nice since I'm a lousy cook in every other way.

 

[MGnoob]

Stopped home for an early lunch, moved the slicer and got it set up.. it was cold and the thickness adjustment wouldn't work... i did a cleaning and lubing plugged it in and everythings perfect.
After I get home later tonight. Ill post a video of it auto slicing, the receipts and if im up late enough some of the final product. The rest has to marinate

Slicer was super easy to clean and the only spot food could get trapped seems properly sealed...it isnt loud either.
I was caught alittle offguard by the adjustment binding, i had taken the meat out last night and if i didnt get it working i was gunna hand slice.

 

[MGnoob]

I passed out on the couch after dinner.so earlier morning jerkin took place.
That slicer works AWESOME! The meat was still more frozen than i thought would work,so was scared to use auto...the slow speed is almost too fast. It took me about 20 seconds to slice.. it took me longer to figure out the grain of the meat.. cleaning was about 5 min.



I cut 1 piece 1/4", 1 piece probibly under 1/8", and the rest 3/16.


The liquid parts of these will scale up except the liquid smoke....the dry ingredients wont.. i only had 2 lbs of meat so there are 4 slices in each ziplock bag i prepared.i would much rather have done larger batches.
The honey molasses and chipottle will bave tue best finnish color i bet.

1 part when i mixed such small batches was 2 tsp

Hickory
1 part worchestershire sauce
1/2 part soy sauce
1/4 part salt
1/8 part onion power
1/8 part garlic powder
1/4 par liquid smoke

Applewood
1 part worchestershire sauce
1/2 part apple cider vinegar
1/2 part soy sauce
1/4 part salt
1/8 part onion power
1/8 part garlic powder
1/4 par liquid smoke

Chipotle
1 parts Chipotle powerder
1 part worchestershire sauce
1/2 part soy sauce
1/4 part salt
1/8 part onion power
1/8 part garlic powder

Peppered
1 part red pepper flakes
1 part worchestershire sauce
1/2 part soy sauce
1/4 part salt
1/8 part onion power
1/8 part garlic powder

Honey molasses
1 part molasses
1 part honey
1 part worchestershire sauce
1/2 part soy sauce
1/4 part salt
1/8 part onion power
1/8 part garlic powder



I just realized i meant to do terykie but i didnt. Maybe next time

 

[MGnoob]

Im hiding in the bathroom to post these

I can already tell this stuff will be great when i get home.
Here's photos of it going in.






They didnt marinate very long, but they all have a nice color.i did blot them with papertowels to remove the excess.

 

[MGnoob]

I left them in for 5 1/2 hours... maybe 45 min to long id say.. it was on a timer and if i was here when they we're done wiping some render fat off would have been good.

the chipolete and honey molassas are perfect flavor wise.
The hickory and applewood seemed over seasoned salt wise
The peppered was just that peppered. Not to hot not to mild.

Id call it a 3 out of 5 success and not to dissiponting for my first try id have no problem making a full batch of either the chipolete or the honey molassas. Ill update some photos later.. got to clean myself up first

 

[MGnoob]

I take it back it was a total success, the two i didnt like the little piece i had just had a buildup of seasoning on it the rest is delicious.
The only change i would make is not dyhydrating it so long, or keeping the same moisture content and going with thinner slices.
I think i may use the kitchen shear to cut this batch up. Im thrilled

 

[MGnoob]

Dam that jerky is good... i actually cut with the grain instead of against it.. when i broke it down i cut the other way..so it doesnt really even matter..

 

[MGnoob]

So my most loyal friend who i could sit a steak or treat down and say "leave it" and she'd sit there for days and not eat it. Ate that entire plate of jerky this morning..its not the food or the money but i'm pissed. Its been 7 years since me and my dog have had it out ...look at this bitch..

 

[JayMcB]

 

[MGnoob]

New 10lb batch of honey molasses




I cut it extremely thin and against the grain(im sure this time)

I put the meat in the freezer for an hour and a half.. i didnt work as well as thawing it from completely frozen.. must be how thick the meat starts.
I meant to add alittle brown sugar but forgot.ill post photos when its done.. itll be several loads in the dehydrator.

Edit.i used the slicer on slow auto to slice the 4 eye of rounds..it sure is convient when cutting thin.it took about 15 min to clean it more of a mess this time.

 

[MGnoob]

Perfection

 

[JayMcB]

How long did you dry it? temp of 165?
do you turn yours every couple of hours?
do you use the white trays?

 

[MGnoob]

165 for 5 hours.
There is no need to turn it over in my unit.
They are stainless steel mesh trays.

apparently over lapping the pieces by about a half inch is a good thing and makes a sheet of jerky. Ive been experimenting with that... also the guy who make some of the best jerky has a video.. he doesnt marinate, just dips and doesnt blot off the excess or anything.
ive eaten more than half of what i made already.

youtube BC jerky.. i cant get the link form the youtube app which i hate

 

[MGnoob]

That jerky didn't last long..like 5 or 6 days max but i had alittle help...it was so good.
ive got 3 eye of rounds and a bottem round trimmed and in the freezer to firm up.

IMO jerky is best when yoy can see through it...(that thin) im going to let this batch freeze quite a bit and try and slice it as thin as possible... im also going to try and slice the bottem round to about 1/2 thick then restack it and slice it by 1/4...my buddy insists thicker is better.

Im going to do half honey/molasses and remember to add allitle brown sugar.
and the other half teriyaki.

ill post pictures and the larger batch recipe when i finnish.

only one person who tried my jerky didnt love it.... and well you know chicks.

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[MGnoob]

Lol, i havent posted the photo or recepeits yet...my jaw got sore from eating so much, ive had to ration myself only a few pieces a day.


I just checked and the photo didnt come out very good. Anyway. Now that im comfortable with the final result. I take 1 16oz bottle of wostershire, dump it in another container, then use the empty bottle to measure 8 oz of soy sauce. I then use this as a base for whatever diffent mixture im doing..ill use the empty bottle one time to add 8 ounces of teriyaki to half of the premade base .

i store it in a tupperware in the fridge...i honestly wonder how long it would take to go bad. If its not kept under lock and key it dissapears fast.. i some how doubt with its reletively low fat content that it would ever be so "off" i wouldnt eat it..

 

[KMM696]

GOALhkp7m8!

IMO jerky is best when yoy can see through it...(that thin) im going to let this batch freeze quite a bit and try and slice it as thin as possible... im also going to try and slice the bottem round to about 1/2 thick then restack it and slice it by 1/4...my buddy insists thicker is better.

Billy C in Westfield makes excellent see through jerky.

http://bcjerky.com/

Addictive, though.

 

[Evtide]

I use this to get consistent thickness and to save my fingers from being sliced off:

https://www.amazon.com/TSM-Products...8&qid=1487268536&sr=1-1&keywords=jerky+slicer

And I always slice against the grain for a more tender bite vs. the tough stringy chew you can get from slicing with the grain. An aluminum tenderizing mallet also goes a long way towards softening up the slabs after slicing.

I've been weighing out and vacuum bagging my batches in 2.5 oz bags and they do keep well. Just this morning I tripped across a batch I made back in November and it was as good as new. I found it in the door pocket of my truck so it's been mostly cold, but still, tasted great.