Jerky

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  Jerky: 203 Glycerin in Place of Sugar
  • Jonathon  

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  Jerky: 203 Glycerin in Place of Sugar Attend this Intermediate-level class from Meatgistics University by watching the video, reading the article and post any questions you have! No Sugar? A few months ago we had a suggestion on meatgistics that we try using something called vegetable glycerin instead of sugar. Let’s face it, 18% added sugar takes a relatively healthy snack like Jerky and changes it into something closer to junk food. Glycerin is a sweetener that does not interact with your body in the same way that sugar does. It doesn’t seem to spike your blood sugar levels, which would indicate that it is a better choice for everyone but especially diabetics. So we are making two batches of jerky from some venison we had here. One is going to be done with 18% brown sugar and one is going to be done with 18% vegetable glycerin. If you are looking for some glycerin it is relatively inexpensive to purchase large bottles of it on amazon. First, we sliced the meat into slightly thicker than 1/4 pieces and cut across the grain. Then mix all of your ingredients until everything is fully suspended, you don’t want a bunch of sugar sitting at the bottom of your mixture, so this might take some time. Marinating We then ran both of these through a vacuum tumbler to pick up as much of the solution as possible. You can use a home style tumbler like this Express tumbler or if you don’t have that you can also vacuum pack it, let it sit for about 24 hours and massage the meat occasionally. This will help loosen the fibers of the meat and it will pick up more of the solution. Smoke Schedule Next lay everything out on a rack in your smoker. If you have the ability to control the humidity in your smoker then I will list the relative humidity levels in the post on meatgistics.com that we will link in the description below. If you don’t have a way to control the humidity then I would suggest you go get yourself a larger than normal water pan and a few automotive sponges. No, we aren’t gonna make you clean my truck before I tell you what to do next, you are going to get those sponges wet and then sit them in the water pan with half of it sticking out into the air. This is going to increase the surface area for evaporation and allow for greatly increased relative humidity in your smoker. You won’t be able to control its levels but it will increase it which is better than nothing. Don’t add this water pan until after the initial 20 minutes which is going to be our drying phase. Stage 1 - 20 Minutes at 110° (dampers wide open) Stage 2 - 30 Minutes at 135° (begin adding smoke) Stage 3 - 10 Minutes at 140° (dampers wide open again for drying) Stage 4 - 30 Minutes at 150° Stage 5 - 175° until internal temperature is 160° The Results The one that we did with the sugar has a glisten to it and is slightly tacky and sticky. The one that we used glycerin does not have this problem, the surface appears dry and mostly normal. Now for the tenderness, both of these are pretty tender, they have some good flexibility and a nice bite. For the taste I notice a slight after taste with the one that I used glycerin on that isn’t present on the sugar but it is certainly not something that would prevent me from using glycerin instead of jerky if I was trying to make a healthier product. So, all in all if you are wanting to make a tender jerky that isn’t going to be processed like junk food by your body then by all means try substituting the 18% brown sugar with 18% glycerin! $500 Budget for Equipment In my opinion, I would spend the majority of my budget on a slicer the Weston 10" Slicer has a hefty price tag of $400 but it will cut evenly and can also be used for so much more than just jerky. Then I would spend the remaining amount on the 6 Tray Digital Dehydrator. Now, another, and equally valid way to go would be to spend the bulk of your money on a Weston 80L Pro Series Dehydrator ($350) and then buying a Weston 9" Slicer, don’t let the 1 " difference between these slicers confuse you though, the 10" is extremely well built and could be used in a semi-commercial environment whereas the 9" is only for home use. Other Equipment Or Supplies A Smokehouse will give you a lot more versatility and can obviously be used for so much more than jerky. Shop waltonsinc.com for Vertical Smokers Shop waltonsinc.com for American BBQ Systems Smokers
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  Jerky: 202 Smoked Vs. Dehydrated Jerky
  • Jonathon  

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  mosales What temp did you have your dehydrator set on? My guess is maybe its not getting hot enough? I know when I do it in the oven between 150-175, I have always had a little bit of fat render out.
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  Jerky: 201 Making Brisket Jerky
  • Jonathon  

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  Yup I’ve made this same one before and brisket does have its own unique flavor. yummmmmm
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  Jerky 104 - Whole Muscle Jerky Basics
  • Jonathon  

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  Tex_77 Yeah you can use bottom round for sure, just trim it up
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  Jerky 101 - What is Jerky?
  • Jonathon  

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  Jerky 101 - What Is Jerky? Attend this entry level class from Meatgistics University by watching the video, reading the article and post any questions you have! What is Jerky? Jerky is a meat product that has been processed, seasoned, cured and then cooked or dried. Drying and curing meat is one of the oldest ways to preserve meat and has been around for 1,000s of years. It is typically made from low-fat content pieces of meat or has had the fat trimmed off. Jerky should still be cooked up to 160°F internal temperature to kill off harmful bacteria. Types of Jerky Whole Muscle - Whole muscle is jerky that has been sliced into strips between 1/8" and 1/4" inch then coated on all sides with a mixture of the seasoning and the cure. Once that is done it will be placed in a plastic bag with just enough water to cover all the strips and held in a refrigerator for 12 hours and then cooked and or dehydrated. The advantages of this type of jerky are that it is easy to do and you need minimal equipment. Restructured Jerky - This is a form of jerky that has been ground up, seasoned and cured and then extruded into strips or sticks. The jerky is then cooked and or dehydrated to form the classic jerky structure. The advantage of this type of jerky is that you can control what form the jerky takes and that you can use more of the animal as you don’t need to start with a whole muscle cut of meat. Water activity A key part of making jerky is lowering the water activity. A simple explanation of water activity is that it represents the amount of water in a product that is free to be used for microbial growth. A product can have some moisture to it but most of that water is bound up with the meat, or sugar and mold or other microbes cannot access it to begin spoiling the meat. Cure You might hear some people say that Jerky does not need to be cured as it is going to be dried out. However, the meat will not start out at that level of dryness and since we are cooking this at low temperatures we are creating an environment that is ideal for the growth of botulism, so cure should be used for safety reasons. Think of it as a seat belt, your car will start without it but it’s not a great idea to ride around town without it on! Smoking/Dehydrating We do not recommend that you use only a dehydrator unless that dehydrator can run at 160 or above. The reason for this is if you dehydrate the meat before killing off the bacteria you have made that bacteria much harder to kill. In essence, you need some moisture to kill the bad bacteria. Storage If you have a way to measure water activity and it is below .85 then you do not really need to vacuum package it and it can be left out, now, there are other factors here but it is a good general rule. However, since most people do not have a way to monitor this you should still either put it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge or vacuum package it. Shop waltonsinc.com for Jerky Seasonings Shop waltonsinc.com for Vertical Smokers Shop waltonsinc.com for Weston Dehydrator 160L Pro Series
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  Jerky 102 - Equipment Needed To Make Jerky
  • Jonathon  

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  Jerky 102 - Equipment Needed To Make Jerky Attend this entry-level class from Meatgistics University by watching the video, reading the article and post any questions you have! What is the Most Important Piece of Equipment? Whether you are making whole muscle meat or restructured you need a way to thermal process it. If you want to go the dehydrator route then you really do need one that will run at least 160° for food safety. The Weston 80L or 160L Pro Series Dehydrator are both great dehydrators that will allow you to fully cook and dehydrate it at the same time. However, this will not add any smoke flavor to you Jerky, which we like. When we make Jerky here we are lucky enough to use our Pro Smoker 500T HVE Smokehouse but this is simply not going to be an option for most people. With some experimentation, you can get similar results with a Pro-Smoker PK-100 and controlling the dampers. Do You Need A Slicer? When making Whole Muscle Jerky one of the most important things you can do is to cut it all to a uniform thickness as this will help cook and dry at an even rate. The slicer we use is the Weston 10" Slicer but you absolutely can get by without one, IF you have steady hands. Both the Precise Slice Adjustable Knife and the Weston Jerky Slicing Board and Knife Set can give you uniform slices of meat. Do You Need A Stuffer? If you are going to make restructured jerky then you need some way to extrude it into strips or sticks. I would recommend a Sausage Stuffer and an All-Around Jerky Maker as this will give you the ability to make many types of sausage as well! You can get similar results Dakotah Sausage Stuffer or a Jerky Gun though. Best Dehydrator For Beginners The Weston 6 Tray Digital Dehydrator is an inexpensive ($80) dehydrator that will get up to 160° and can run for over 24 hours at a time. This should give you all the functionality you need to make quality jerky. $500 Budget for Equipment In my opinion, I would spend the majority of my budget on a slicer the Weston 10" Slicer has a hefty price tag of $400 but it will cut evenly and can also be used for so much more than just jerky. Then I would spend the remaining amount on the 6 Tray Digital Dehydrator. Now, another, and equally valid way to go would be to spend the bulk of your money on a Weston 80L Pro Series Dehydrator ($350) and then buying a Weston 9" Slicer, don’t let the 1 " difference between these slicers confuse you though, the 10" is extremely well built and could be used in a semi-commercial environment whereas the 9" is only for home use. Other Equipment Or Supplies A Smokehouse will give you a lot more versatility and can obviously be used for so much more than jerky. Shop waltonsinc.com for Vertical Smokers Shop waltonsinc.com for American BBQ Systems Smokers
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  Jerky 103 - Best Cuts For Jerky
  • Jonathon  

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  Jerky 103 - Best Cuts For Jerky Attend this entry level class from Meatgistics University by watching the video, reading the article and post any questions you have! What Are Desirable Qualities? With Whole Muscle Jerky, you are looking for a cut with low levels of intramuscular fat. This mean cuts that do not have a lot of fat inside the muscle of the meat, when you look for a good steak you want to see some nice marbling in the meat, for Jerky you want the exact opposite. If the cut has a large fat cap on it, like an Eye of the Round then that is easily cut off. If you are making Restructured Jerky this is a little less of a concern, just again, make sure you are removing any fat cap from the meat before grinding it. Best Cuts For Whole Muscle Eye of the Round - Eye of the round is a smaller muscle in the hindquarter that is usually very tough. It can have a larger grain to it but it works well to cut into strips for making jerky, as long as you cut across the grain. If this has a fat cap on it, it must be trimmed before using to make jerky. Since this is a round cut after slicing into thin pieces it is a good idea to cut it again after slicing it to form a more classic jerky shape. Flank Steak - Flank Steak comes from the abdominal region of the cow, it is low in fat about 3 oz has about 6 grams of fat. The muscle is a heavily used one during the cow’s life so it is a tougher cut so it will usually be a little less expensive at your butcher. It will rarely have a fat cap on it so you should not have much that needs to be trimmed off. After slicing this you can cut it width wise again to form a more classic jerky shape. Silver Tip - Silver Tip is taken from the shoulder and has a very fine grain. Because it is a heavily used muscle it can be fairly tough, which is a good thing for making jerky as it makes it very lean and less expensive. All around this is an excellent cut for making whole muscle jerky. Hangar Steaks - Hangar Steaks were very inexpensive until somewhat recently, Americans became aware of this tasty cut and started looking for it in more than just restaurants. The problem with that is unlike other cuts like filets and rounds there is only 1 hangar steak per animal and it is fairly small. So it can be difficult to keep enough in inventory, especially since it is a very tender steak, for this reason, the price has increased year over year and what was once a great choice for jerky is starting to price itself out of the game, which is a shame as this is an excellent cut for jerky. Restructured Jerky If you are wanting to make a reformed Jerky you will need to have some form of ground beef. The problem is that ground beef from the store is going to usually be 80/20 lean to fat ratio and that is higher than we would like. Your best bet is to grind a leaner cut yourself at home through a 1/8" plate. If you don’t have a way to do this look for 93/7 ground beef and make sure it is freshly ground. Shop waltonsinc.com for Jerky Seasonings Shop waltonsinc.com for Vertical Smokers Shop waltonsinc.com for Weston Dehydrator 160L Pro Series