Jerky Safety Questions

[pmad]

I've made jerky a few times and thought I was doing it correctly.
I started watching 2 Guys and a Cooler and now I am very confused.

When I make jerky, here are my steps

Slice beef
Soak 24 hrs in marinade which includes either MTQ or Cure 1 (usually MTQ as it is easier)
Place on racks and let sit in fridge overnight to create tackiness.
Cold Smoke
Dehydrator
Store in zip lock in dark pantry.

I've never had any issues.

But I've watched a few 2 Guys and a Cooler videos now and they talk about safety and cures when low oxygen and warm temps.

I figured cold smoking provides both low oxygen and warm temps.
so I add MTQ.

However, watching the videos, they do not use any cure in their jerky recipes.
Nor do they let get tacky
Additionally, they do a pasteurization step (270° 10min)and store in refrigerator.

My questions:

Is what I'm doing harmful?
Do you use cure in your jerky? at what ratios?
Do you pasteurize? (it seems this would hurt the texture)
Do you refrigerate or store at room temp?

My jerky is usually gone within 3 weeks.

Thanks

 

[Itsdone]

Q: Is what I'm doing harmful?
A: No

Q: Do you use cure in your jerky? at what ratios?
A: Yes. 156 PPM is recommended. Here is a calculator to determine how much cure per weight ( if using wet brine you must add meat + water to the total weight) http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html

Q: Do you pasteurize? (it seems this would hurt the texture)
A: No. It would only hurt the texture if you use higher temps for long periods of time ( example would be sous vide for 12 hours at 132F+ might turn to mush )

Q: Do you refrigerate or store at room temp?

A: Vac pack and Freeze, lasts for years, even decades. ( if it doesnt get eaten by then )

 

[txsmkmstr]

I've never used cure (been thinking about it but still no).
I store at room temp and have never pasteurized.
I rarely if ever cold smoke - I try to avoid liquid smoke.
I like to have my dehydrator pre-heated to 165*.

I also went over those videos and the two step check list makes me think I don't need any cure. The only part of your process I would double check is the cold smoking part. With that said if you're cold smoking for 2 hours or less it won't really matter. Have you put a candle in your cold smoking environment like he suggested???? If I were to cold smoke it would be with an AmazingTube and my offset - which has plenty of airflow.

Looking forward to more responses by others. :thumb:

BTW - If you have a link to their jerky vids I'd like to check them out.

 

[pmad]

BTW - If you have a link to their jerky vids I'd like to check them out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0grqfQE7y28

https://youtu.be/FkTcahT8GYQ

https://youtu.be/WdCbPma5vOk

 

[SmokinAussie]

You are fine. Carry on.

 

[Smoke Dawg]

24 hour salt and spice brine
Rinse and 2-24 hour flavor brine (usually a teriyaki blend)
Hang in smoke house
Add course black pepper
Smoke with fire at ~150° for 4-6 hours sometimes going up to 200°
Smoke until dry but pliable
I freeze most of it to avoid eating it all at once and store in refrigerator at home but no problems at room temperature. Take lots of it to hunt camp for pocket food.

 

[IamMadMan]

Keep in mind that there are many ways to make jerky.


The basics of using a cure for jerky isn't to cure the meat, but rather to inhibit bacterial growth on the surface while smoking and drying.



Also keep in mind that a 3% salt solution also inhibits bacterial growth. That is why you see packaged meat with various labels implying tenderness. Looking at the label you will see it contains a saltwater solution 3% or higher. The solution is used to extend shelf life of the product in the vac-sealed package (oxygen free). While tenderness is a byproduct of the salt solution, the shelf life extension is the desired result. For marketing, tenderness sounds better than an extended shelf life.


Once the jerky begins to dry, the amount of remaining moisture in the dried jerky can prevent bacterial growth, just like dried fruits.



However with even though the small amount of moisture won't support bacterial grown, the surface of the jerky can attract moisture (because the surface has become hygroscopic in the drying process). With moisture forming on the surface it can attract mold spores; and mold can form on the surface over extended periods of time.


When I make large batches of jerky I prefer to vac-seal it in small packages and keep it in the freezer until I'm ready to use a package or two. For smaller batches of jerky, it just doesn't last long enough to worry about it.



I don't cook my jerky, only dry it at lower temperatures, therefore my jerky isn't pasteurized. I don't care for the change is texture when it is dried at higher temperatures.


Find what works best for you.... and above all common sense should prevail.


Even with curing meat recipes, or sausage recipes, some of these found on the internet are really questionable. I'm sure jerky recipes also have some of the same.