Water needed? 5lb meat
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Good evening. From what I’m reading, for 5lb of meat only 1/2 cup of seasoning (roughly), and 1 1/4 tsp of sure cure is needed. No water?
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GalvanAP i always use refridgerated distilled water to dissolve the sure cure before putting in the meat and mixing. I would use 3/4 - 1 cup of water for 5 pounds.
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thanks for the reply. With only that much water, how would I ensure all 5lbs get marinated? I do not have one of the marinate machines, so I either use bags or containers.
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GalvanAP what are you making? I assumed ground meat for jerky
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GalvanAP Yes, what product you are making is key here. Id say a different amount for Jerky than I would for Snack Sticks and different than Brats or Breakfast sausage. If you are talking about using a marinade then we need to know you are injecting or letting it sit in a solution.
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Eye of round 1/4" cuts on the slicer - letting it sit in solution.
Previously, I would slice the meat and let it sit in a solution for 24 hrs.
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GalvanAP I’d add your cure and seasoning to just enough water to cover your Eye of the Round then. If you are using a big bowl and it is going to require more than 1 qt of water to fully cover your meat then I would say you should add more seasoning, but not more cure. For a 5 lb eye I would imagine you would not need more than a qt though. Putting your meat in a bag is a good way to use less water as it only has to fill the bag and not the entire container.
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GalvanAP I exclusively use eye of round for my jerky and generally use 1 cup of water or vegetable glycerine per 5 lbs… I will massage the ingredients in a bowl for a few minutes to incorporate and then seal in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Every few hours (or any time I walk through the kitchen) I will flip the bag prior to smoking/dehydrating. I’m looking for just enough liquid to coat everything well but not leave much liquid in the bag after removing the meat.
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GalvanAP i like to vacuum seal it just enough so the liquid doesnt get into the vacuum chamber by stopping the vacuum and going right to seal. The meat will absorb the seasoning better then just putting in a ziplock bag but if your putting the whole eye in i suggest injecting as well. Typically i grind meat and form with jerky shooter but now that i got new smoker been trying whole muscle
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twilliams On my last run I did about 15 lbs using Eye of Round and bypassed the smoker entirely. I used the racks from my Westin 80L Pro and a sheet pan to heat the meat to 160 in the oven quickly (350 for 10 minutes) and then went straight to the dehydrator until I was happy with the moisture content. I cut down my processing time by at least 6 hours and ended up with a better product. Using this method was a game changer!
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Joe Hell i will have to try it, thanks for sharing
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GalvanAP So, you are making jerky? I don’t know why I didnt really pick up on that…I am slow today. Qt would be too much then but everything else I said still holds true in my opinion. Just enough water to cover the meat. Also, what Joe Hell says about the Glycerin is true, we did a few batches here with Glycerine and it worked out really really well, added sweetness without the sugar and it helps keep the jerky nice and moist while still maybe being shelf stable.
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Thanks for all the information.
Because of this page I was introduced to the Vacuum Express Tumbler, which I intend to purchase. From what I took from the videos I viewed, I would just need to add the spice, water or glycerin, and the meat to the drum and sit back and wait? Also, I remember seeing the post or review on the Glycerin but cannot locate it now. Would the added amount be the same as if it were water?
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GalvanAP I use the same amount of glycerine that I would normally use for water. 8 oz. per 5 lbs… It only adds a slight sweetness to the product so depending on the spice mix it may vary in perceived ‘sweetness’. My theory on the water addition is that the least amount of liquid left over in the bag is a good thing and ensures the maximum amount of flavor in the meat.
I recently started using a tumbler to better incorporate my spices. I have been adding the spices to the meat in a bowl and distributing as evenly as possible before adding it to the tumbler. I add any liquid I might be using before sealing and tumble for one hour. Depending on how much I’m making that day I will then transfer to sealed bags or simply put the tumbler drum in the fridge.
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GalvanAP Here is one of the posts about it with a TON of information/experiences https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1047/soft-beef-jerky-without-sugar/
and here is pretty much just Joes https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/1203/soft-beef-jerky-with-glycerine-and
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This is all starting to become more clear! Thanks. If i am not expecting to make any more jerky that day, I should be able to start the drying process after the tumble is complete, correct?
thanks Jonathon
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GalvanAP When using sure cure (in addition to the jerky seasoning) you want to hold at least 12 hours or overnight.
This thread has great info!
https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/178/how-to-make-homemade-jerky-recipe
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Previous process:
sliced eye of round 1/4"combine spices and Allegro marinate for 24 hrs
(would submerge meat in solution)once removed from solution, would damp and place on dehydrator at 160 degrees for 4-5 hrs
-The jerky tastes great and really not complaints, but I am trying to experiment with the method listed in this discussion. For some reason, I feel that the meat HAS to be marinated in solution or it will not turn out properly. As I mentioned before, I do have a Vacuum tumble on order, and will try using glycerine with the meat, but still am second guessing myself. :confounded_face:
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GalvanAP I had a similar issue trying to convince myself that when you pull a sausage product like summer sausage out of the smoker and finish it up in hot water that it had to be vacuum sealed. No matter how many times Parksider told me it didnt need to be vac sealed I kept doing it!
When you are marinating the meat you are giving the solution time to penetrate into the meat and that takes time. However, when you put it in a vacuum tumbler you are doing two things to vastly speed that process up. First, you have the mechanical impact energy of the meat being brought up to the top of the chamber and being dropped, the more it does this the more the fibers of the meat will loosen up and deeper anmd faster the solution will be able to get into the meat. The second thing you have working for you is that it is under a vacuum which by its very nature will slightly seperate the fibers of the meat. So with those two things you can go from needing hours of marinating time down to 20-30 minutes of tumbling and achieve the same or better results.
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Jonathon On the subject of time in the tumbler…Do you think that tumbling for an hour is too much? Unnecessary? Overkill?
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