Meat slices laid out on a dehydrator to be made into deer jerky

Akchamczuk/iStock/GettyImages

It's pretty easy to know when a fried egg is washed. You lot just eyeball it while it'south cooking until the yolk looks the way you want information technology, and you lot're proficient to go. When y'all're cooking a steak, however, information technology'due south a scrap more than hard. But you tin can use an instant-read thermometer or just cut into it to see how washed it is. Neither of those options works when y'all're making jerky in a dehydrator, unfortunately, so at that place's a bit more finesse involved in knowing when your jerky is done.

In that location's No Fix Standard for "Done"

Part of the problem with jerky is that there's no objective mode to know what "done" is. If you follow the instructions that came with your jerky maker, information technology should hitting a food-safe temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit early in the drying procedure, and it will stay at that temperature for hours every bit the moisture continues to evaporate from the beef. Fifty-fifty if you could simply test for a given temperature, the slices of jerky are and so thin there'south no really applied manner to insert an instant-read thermometer.

Time isn't a reliable guide, either. The transmission for the Nesco dehydrator, for example, suggests that drying times tin range from 4 to 15 hours. It depends on the meat you've chosen, how thickly information technology's cut, whether you used a dry rub or a wet marinade, the humidity of your climate, and many other factors.

The good news is that "washed" is a range when you make jerky, not a specific signal, so you lot've got a lot of wiggle room. As long equally the meat is dry plenty to inhibit bacterial growth, it'll stay safe to eat. After that, it's largely a question of what texture you're looking for and how long you want to store the finished hasty. Drier jerky lasts longer, while moister jerky is tastier and easier to eat.

Bend and Chew to Test

To test for doneness, lift the hat from your hasty dehydrator and remove a piece. Gear up information technology bated on the counter to absurd for 5 to 10 minutes, because the jerky will be more than pliable when it'south warm. Take the piece of jerky and curve it gently to about a 90-degree angle. If any wet squeezes out, it's definitely not done however and can become back into the dehydrator. If information technology cracks and breaks, you've left it as well long, and it's already by the point of all-time season and texture. It'southward still perfectly edible, just not as skillful as information technology might take been.

Ideally, the jerky should be pliable like leather, and it should only fray and crack slightly at the bending point. If that's what you see, your next step is to take a bite. The jerky shouldn't crack or crunch, but just give style grudgingly between your teeth. If it's tasty, no longer has a "fresh meat" feel, merely doesn't crumble as it's chewed either, you've gotten it right.

Jerky Grooming Basics

Getting to the perfect point requires conscientious preparation, mostly centered effectually nutrient safety. To make certain your dehydrator trays and all your work surfaces are clean and sanitized, use either a commercial sanitizing product or a solution of 1 tablespoon of bleach in 3 cups of h2o to make clean everything. You lot can also preheat your dehydrator to 145F or higher while you're getting everything else ready, which will kill whatsoever stray bacteria that accept settled in it.

You lot'll likewise need to launder your hands, knife and cutting board thoroughly, or in the case of the knife and cut board, you tin can run them through the dishwasher on the high-rut setting. Yous can't do anything about whatever bacteria that come into your kitchen on the meat, but y'all tin make sure you don't add any new ones.

Choosing and Slicing the Meat

When shopping for your meat, your best bets for making hasty are lean cuts with fine grain and minimal fat or connective tissue. Circular roasts and heart of circular are ideal, and they are ordinarily inexpensive. However, other cuts will also work as long as they're lean. Trim away any large seams of fat, also as any connective tissue.

Slicing your meat evenly is crucial in having all your hasty dry at the same rate, and it's difficult to practise that without a commercial meat slicer. If you lot're slicing by hand at dwelling house, place the trimmed meat in your freezer until it's house but non hard-frozen. It'll concur its shape and be easier to slice evenly with a sharp knife.

You're looking for slices no more ane/4-inch thick, and no less than 1/eight inch. Anything over 1/4 inch is hard to dry, and under 1/8 inch will get over-dried and crunchy likewise easily. An like shooting fish in a barrel rule is to go thicker for a chewier hasty, and thinner for ane that'south easier to consume or if the meat itself is extra-tough. You might also opt to skip this step entirely, and only ask your butcher to piece information technology for you.

Marinating Beef Jerky

Marinating your jerky is a crucial step in the procedure. You tin use either a liquid marinade or a dry marinade – otherwise known as a spice rub – depending on personal preference or what your recipe calls for. Either fashion, the goal is to add flavor to the beef. You'll want some combination of savory ingredients such as salt and pepper, onion or garlic powder, soy sauce or liquid smoke; rut from chiles or hot sauce; and sweetness from saccharide, beloved or perhaps a sweet sauce such as teriyaki. Start with elementary combinations, and so tweak the mixture from batch to batch. Keep notes, so you lot can remember what you liked or didn't.

Some beefiness jerky recipes call for a curing salt, such every bit "Prague pulverization" or Morton's Tender Quick, equally part of the marinade or rub. These help discourage bacteria, and make your jerky more than nutrient condom. Alternatively, the USDA suggests boosting food safety by boiling the marinade first, and pouring it hot over the beef slices.

Leave your meat in the marinade for at least 4 hours or up to 24, or equally directed in the recipe. Blot it dry out, if necessary, earlier you put it in the dehydrator.

Hasty From Basis Meats and Game

Y'all can also make hasty from ground beef, as many commercial producers practice. Use the leanest basis beef you can find, at least lxxx percent and, ideally, 90 percent lean. Y'all don't marinate footing meat; just work the spices into information technology during or after grinding. Pipe the mixture onto your dehydrator trays from a jerky gun – basically a jumbo-sized cookie press – or pat information technology out to one/4-inch thickness on a sail pan or jelly coil pan, and cut it into strips for drying.

Ground meats need to be dehydrated at 165F rather than 160F, and the USDA suggests pre-cooking your meat to that temperature before dehydrating it.

One time yous've mastered beef, you might want to effort venison jerky. Unfortunately, game animals oft carry parasites or pathogens, and it's hard to know how contaminated an animal got during field-dressing. Freezing the meat for a month or so before you make jerky can kill off most potential pathogens. For additional food safety, yous should also dry venison hasty at 165F, or add together some insurance by using curing salt or the boiling-marinade technique.

Afterward the Hasty Is Done

Y'all're not quite done when the hasty comes out of your dehydrator. If you want to be actress-safe, you can requite your finished hasty 10 minutes in the oven at 250F to impale any especially stubborn bacteria. This is optional, just not a bad idea if you're working with higher-risk poultry, game or ground meats.

In one case your jerky is cool, pack it loosely into airtight bags or containers for a few days to "cure." The strips won't come up out of your dehydrator at exactly the same caste of dryness, so this allows the drier strips to absorb moisture from the moister ones and evens things up.

Seal the hasty as airtight equally you can make it in bags or containers, because the less contact that oxygen has with your jerky, the longer it'll last. Vacuum-sealed bags are ideal. Actually dry jerky can continue for a few weeks at room temperature, but you're always improve off to keep it in the fridge or freezer until it'south needed. The hasty'southward flavor will last longer, and you're less likely to have issues with mold or spoilage.

References

Author Bio

Fred Decker is a trained chef, former restaurateur and prolific freelance author, with a special interest in all things related to food and nutrition. His piece of work has appeared online on major sites including Livestrong.com, WorkingMother.com and the websites of the Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle; and offline in Canada's Foodservice & Hospitality magazine and his local daily newspaper. He was educated at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Northern Alberta Plant of Engineering.

You lot MAY Likewise Like