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

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It'due south pretty like shooting fish in a barrel to know when a fried egg is done. You merely eyeball it while information technology'south cooking until the yolk looks the way you want it, and you're good to go. When y'all're cooking a steak, however, it's a bit more than hard. Merely y'all tin use an instant-read thermometer or just cut into it to come across how done it is. Neither of those options works when you're making jerky in a dehydrator, unfortunately, and then there'due south a bit more finesse involved in knowing when your jerky is done.

There's No Set Standard for "Done"

Part of the problem with hasty is that there's no objective mode to know what "done" is. If you lot follow the instructions that came with your jerky maker, it should striking a nutrient-safe temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit early in the drying process, and it will stay at that temperature for hours as the moisture continues to evaporate from the beef. Fifty-fifty if you could just test for a given temperature, the slices of jerky are and then thin there's no really applied style to insert an instant-read thermometer.

Fourth dimension isn't a reliable guide, either. The transmission for the Nesco dehydrator, for instance, suggests that drying times can range from 4 to 15 hours. It depends on the meat you've chosen, how thickly it's cut, whether y'all used a dry rub or a moisture marinade, the humidity of your climate, and many other factors.

The good news is that "done" is a range when you lot make jerky, not a specific point, then you've got a lot of jerk room. As long as the meat is dry plenty to inhibit bacterial growth, it'll stay prophylactic to eat. Subsequently that, information technology's largely a question of what texture you lot'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, elevator the lid from your jerky dehydrator and remove a piece. Ready it bated on the counter to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, because the jerky volition be more pliable when it's warm. Have the piece of jerky and bend information technology gently to about a 90-degree bending. If any wet squeezes out, it'southward definitely not washed yet and can get dorsum into the dehydrator. If information technology cracks and breaks, you lot've left it too long, and it'due south already past the betoken of best flavor and texture. It'due south all the same perfectly edible, simply not equally good every bit it might have been.

Ideally, the jerky should be pliable similar leather, and information technology should just fray and cleft slightly at the bending point. If that's what you lot encounter, your side by side step is to take a seize with teeth. The jerky shouldn't crack or crisis, merely just requite style grudgingly between your teeth. If it'due south tasty, no longer has a "fresh meat" feel, just doesn't crumble as it's chewed either, you've gotten it right.

Jerky Preparation Basics

Getting to the perfect point requires conscientious preparation, more often than not centered effectually food rubber. To make sure your dehydrator trays and all your piece of work surfaces are clean and sanitized, apply either a commercial sanitizing product or a solution of 1 tablespoon of bleach in 3 cups of water to clean everything. Yous can likewise preheat your dehydrator to 145F or higher while yous're getting everything else fix, which volition kill any stray bacteria that take settled in it.

You lot'll as well need to launder your hands, knife and cutting board thoroughly, or in the case of the pocketknife and cutting board, y'all can run them through the dishwasher on the loftier-heat setting. Yous can't do anything about any bacteria that come up into your kitchen on the meat, just you can brand certain 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 fatty or connective tissue. Round roasts and center of round are ideal, and they are usually inexpensive. Still, other cuts volition also piece of work as long as they're lean. Trim away any big seams of fat, as well as any connective tissue.

Slicing your meat evenly is crucial in having all your jerky dry out at the aforementioned charge per unit, and information technology's hard to do that without a commercial meat slicer. If you're slicing by hand at home, identify the trimmed meat in your freezer until it's house but not difficult-frozen. It'll agree its shape and be easier to piece evenly with a sharp pocketknife.

Yous're looking for slices no more than 1/4-inch thick, and no less than one/eight inch. Anything over 1/four inch is hard to dry, and under ane/viii inch will become over-stale and crunchy as well easily. An easy rule is to get thicker for a chewier hasty, and thinner for one that'south easier to eat or if the meat itself is extra-tough. You might likewise opt to skip this step entirely, and just ask your butcher to slice information technology for y'all.

Marinating Beef Jerky

Marinating your hasty is a crucial step in the process. You lot can utilize 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 style, the goal is to add flavor to the beefiness. You'll want some combination of savory ingredients such as salt and pepper, onion or garlic pulverization, soy sauce or liquid fume; heat from chiles or hot sauce; and sweetness from sugar, honey or perhaps a sweet sauce such every bit teriyaki. Start with simple combinations, and and then tweak the mixture from batch to batch. Go along notes, so yous can recall what you liked or didn't.

Some beef jerky recipes call for a curing salt, such as "Prague pulverisation" or Morton's Tender Quick, as part of the marinade or rub. These help discourage bacteria, and make your jerky more nutrient safe. Alternatively, the USDA suggests boosting food safety past boiling the marinade first, and pouring information technology hot over the beef slices.

Leave your meat in the marinade for at least 4 hours or up to 24, or every bit directed in the recipe. Blot it dry, if necessary, before yous put it in the dehydrator.

Jerky From Footing Meats and Game

Yous can too make hasty from basis beefiness, every bit many commercial producers practice. Employ the leanest ground beef you can find, at least 80 percent and, ideally, 90 percent lean. You don't marinate ground meat; just work the spices into information technology during or later 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 sheet pan or jelly coil pan, and cut it into strips for drying.

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

In one case you've mastered beef, you might want to try venison hasty. Unfortunately, game animals often deport parasites or pathogens, and it's difficult to know how contaminated an animal got during field-dressing. Freezing the meat for a month or so before you make jerky tin can impale off near potential pathogens. For additional food safety, you should also dry venison jerky at 165F, or add some insurance by using curing table salt or the boiling-marinade technique.

After the Jerky Is Done

You're non quite done when the jerky comes out of your dehydrator. If you want to be extra-safe, y'all can requite your finished jerky 10 minutes in the oven at 250F to kill any specially stubborn bacteria. This is optional, only not a bad idea if you're working with higher-risk poultry, game or basis meats.

In one case your hasty 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 aforementioned caste of dryness, so this allows the drier strips to absorb moisture from the moister ones and evens things up.

Seal the jerky as airtight every bit you tin 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 out jerky can go on for a few weeks at room temperature, but you're always better off to keep it in the refrigerator or freezer until it's needed. The jerky's flavor will last longer, and you're less likely to accept problems with mold or spoilage.

References

Writer Bio

Fred Decker is a trained chef, one-time restaurateur and prolific freelance writer, with a special interest in all things related to food and nutrition. His 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 Establish of Technology.

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