Help dehydrating beef jerky

[Jeff M.]

So I think I let my jerky dehydrate for too long. I follow Alton Brown's recipe and the flavor is there but it comes out hard as a rock. How long do you dehydrate your jerky for and how do you tell when it is done "enough" without having to gnaw on it because it's harder than rocks you find on the trail?

[jimmer ultralight]

Jeffrey

I dont know if Alton Brown covts this, but its not just moistute content. If you want CHEWABLE Jerky you need to be SURE and cut the meat ACROSS the grain of the muscle fibers. If you don't ,you wind up with tough hard to chew pieces of meat flavored tent cordage..

[David Thomas]

Things that I find help:

Cut slices across the grain.

Use a more concentrated brine to pull more moisture out, osmotically, then pat dry on paper towels.

Change wood chips often to quickly get that flavor, then "finish" it in the oven (cook it) thereby minimizing the time in the smoker.

Also, using the smoker on a lower humidity day.

[Philip Tschersich]

I just poke it with a finger and once it starts feeling firm (usually after 4-5 hours), I take a small piece out every half hour and eat it to check, until it seems right. Remember that the outside of each piece will be quite dry while the inside will have considerably more moisture, especially if you didn't slice it uniformly thin. After the pieces come out of the dehydrator and have a chance to equilibrate, the moisture from the center will move out to the surface, and if there is enough moisture it can mold. Or if you store it where it continues to air dry, it will get hard like you described or crumbly if cut across the grain. I vacuum pack mine, and even put it in the freezer for longer storage, though my wife usually eats it all long before then.

Definitely do not use the pre-made jerky seasonings. They are TERRIBLE. There are lots of good seasoning recipes out there.

[Jeff M.]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been slicing it against the grain. I think I'm dehydrating it too long. Usually 10-12 hours until it is completely dry inside and out. Sounds like that may be my problem.

[Bob Gross]

If you dehydrate it wrong, the entire cellular structure of the meat will collapse, and then it dehydrates as a solid block which is tough at a minimum. It might be brick-like when you get done.

That is one thing that happens positively with the freeze-dry process. It mostly retains the cellular structure of the meat. As a result, it can be rehydrated more easily.

–B.G.–

[Jeff M.]

"If you dehydrate it wrong, the entire cellular structure of the meat will collapse, and then it dehydrates as a solid block which is tough at a minimum. It might be brick-like when you get done."

Yeah, my meat has been like that. Takes a good amount of saliva to get it chewy enough to eat.

[Bob Gross]

If you end up with the brick of meat, you might try feeding into a food processor to get meat flakes out of it.

–B.G.–

[jimmer ultralight]

What most folks dont know about freeze drying is that it is done as a two to three step process to prevent cellular callapse .

While I think when home dehyrdating jerky , you dont have to go that far, you really should not dry the meat past a point of plyability. It shodnot be.totally.rigid

Jerky is just that,.jerked meat. The marinate helps preserve it even when there us a bit of moisture present.

Fat is the biggest culprit because it goes rancid, but a small bit of moisture in jerky is not a deal(or tooth) breaker.

There has to be some sort of breaking point at which ypu habe remived toimuch moisture..I know in wood, that is around 8 to 10%…

I wander what the sweet spot for Jerky is..?

Maybe the best home Jerky technique is a combo of drying to a nice texture combined with good vacuum packing to allow it to keep fresh long term without having the texture of linoleum flooring.:)

[Sean Westberg]

10-12 hours seems like a very long time if you have a heated dehydrator. My nesco goes up to 160 and can make jerky in about 5-6 hours depending on how thin I slice the meat. Ground beef jerkey takes about an hour less. I'm making meat particleboard if I let it go 8-10 hours.

I'd seriously test at 5 or 6 hours.

Edit: Alton Brown makes a good marinade for jerky, but his dehydration method uses high speed constantly moving air, even higher than in a fan-driven dehydrator. It also uses *no* heat.

[Dave Ayers]

Mine usually finishes to the moisture level I like in ~5-6 hours. The key is to keep trying it about every half hour after ~4 hours of so and pull it out when you like it.

You might also consider other meats. I've found that pork and poultry are usually more tender after jerking that the lean cuts of beef commonly used.

[Philip Tschersich]

Modern food dehydrators have various heat settings depending on what you are drying, and the red meat setting is around 165 F, which is warm enough to cook the meat and kill pathogens. While it is certainly doable to simply air dry (no heat) the meat, it is probably safer to use the heat setting and still get a good product.

[Brandon Gittelman]

I made my first batch last night of chicken jerky. 7 hours at 155 deg seemed to do the trick.

I did a simple marinade and let the chicken (cut up) soak for 24 hours:

soy sauce
BBQ sauce
garlic powder
red pepper flakes
onion flakes

[Elliott Wolin]

I recall reading one should not make jerky (from uncooked meat) using chicken, pork or fish. Something about nasty microorganisms in these meats that survive the low-temperature drying process.

Anyone know more about this?

[Bob Gross]

You could probably nuke it before you start the dehydration process.

–B.G.–

[Valerie E]

I've made chicken jerky before, and while it wasn't cooked going INTO the dehydrator, it sure was coming OUT of the dehydrator.

That said, I used extremely, extremely thinly cut chicken breast meat (sliced by a butcher for me while the meat was frozen), so it dehydrated quite quickly to a crispy, crunchy, chip-like consistency. It was the best jerky I've ever had!

Edited to add: My dehydrator uses heat + air, so I assume that provides some level of "cooking".

[Elliott Wolin]

A quick web search yielded inconsistent results. Some people make jerky from pork or birds at 200 degF rather than the more typical 145 degF. Some sites say only to use smoked or processed chicken or pork. Others just make pork or chicken/turkey jerky the usual way, no special handling needed.

I just found this at http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/uga/prep_safe_jerky.html, maybe it it definitive:

Judy A. Harrison, Ph.D.
Extension Food Safety Specialist,
Department of Foods and Nutrition

Mark A. Harrison, Ph.D.
Professor
Food Science and Technology

Jerky is a lightweight, dried meat product that is a handy food for backpackers, campers and outdoor sports enthusiasts. It requires no refrigeration. Jerky can be made from almost any lean meat, including beef, pork, venison or smoked turkey breast. (Raw poultry is generally not recommended for use in making jerky because of the texture and flavor of the finished product.)

Raw meats can be contaminated with microorganisms that cause disease. These harmful bacteria can easily multiply of moist, high protein foods like meat and poultry and can cause illness if the products are not handled correctly. If pork or wild game is used to make jerky, the meat should be treated to kill the Trichinella parasite before it is sliced and marinated. This parasite causes the disease, trichinosis. To treat the meat, freeze a portion that is 6 inches or less thick at 5°F or below for at least 20 days. Freezing will not eliminate bacteria from the meat.

[Bill Giles]

I just recently made several batches of venison jerky. I cut up a whole deer ham and sliced it into strips roughly 1/4" thick by 1 to 1-1/2" wide with the grain. I have never cut jerky across the grain. The strips were marinated for 24 hours in various solutions. The one that I prefer is 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/3 cup Soy sauce , 1/3 cup Apple juice concentrate (frozen, but thawed) with about a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Each batch was about two pounds wet. After marinating, the strips were dehydrated at 145 F for 12 hours minimum. This jerky will keep practically forever and is the right consistency to be pounded into pemmican or rubbaboo. Although it is very dry, I just tear off a small piece and let it soak in my mouth until it is tender enough to chew. This may not be everyone's style, but I don't have any trouble giving it away. The yield is around 25% of the weight of the wet meat.

[Richard Glasgow]

I want to thank everyone who contributed to this thread because my first batches of jerky turned out damn near perfect.

Also, anyone use pineapple juice instead of honey? I thought about leaving out the Cayenne and adding maybe a quarter cup of juice.

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