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Jerky

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45man

32 Cal.
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I took 2 days to make a batch. Store bought mix. it has a cure and seasonings but says it is good for only 2 weeks in the fridge. Seems to me it should last forever. Indians dried meat in the sun or over a smoky fire and now we stuff with chemicals. They ground the meat and added fat and berries to make pemmican. It would take them across the country.
What is your experience with shelf life?
Mine is sure good and I can't go past without some and I dried some plain for the dog and she runs to the fridge first thing. If I give her cooked venison or beef she will get the trots but dried agrees with her. I had to find a package of ground to thaw and make her more. You should see her eyes!
I ground 6# of last years deer roasts for the jerky shooter. My dehydrator only holds 2# at a time so I need larger.
I would appreciate any tips or recipes.
 
I make bunches of venison jerky up a couple times a year. It doesn't last a long time around here when friends figure out you made up some more. Once I get it dried good in the dehydrator, and cooled down...I bag it up in zip locks and put it in the freezer for long time storage. It doesn't take long to defrost when I want some and seems to last a long time.
 
Since companies have to list the major ingredients in the food they produce and saying, "Wood smoke" doesn't fit the governments idea of listing what is in the food, they have to show the chemical compounds using chemical terms for them.

Wood smoke can contain,
" Aldehydes found in wood smoke include formaldehyde, acrolein, propionaldehyde, butyraldehyde, acetaldehyde, and furfural. Alkyl benzenes found in wood smoke include toluene. Oxygenated monoaromatics include guaiacol, phenol, syringol and catechol. Numerous PAHs or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found in smoke. Many trace elements are released." https://www.thoughtco.com/smoke-chemistry-607309

Then, if they have added anything to keep the food from spoiling they must list them too.

Of course, something like jerky can't be good for you. It's a modern proven fact, anything that tastes good will be harmful to the human body. The better it tastes, the worse it is. That's why "health food" tastes like cardboard or worse.

In the meantime, remember, no one gets out of this life alive so, go ahead and eat those good tasting foods and enjoy them. You'll be glad you did. :):thumb:
 
Yes it's salted, and it's dried. The salt and the lack of moisture help to keep it from having anything grow on it. If I'm not going to freeze it, I put it into a vacuum bag, then seal it up. I have a friend who puts his under UV light when he's done sealing. Mine doesn't seem to go bad over about 6 months time.

LD
 
When my son was in high school I got a road killed moose. About 350-400 pounds of pure meat.

We jerked it all in our big Cabala's dehydrator. That was in September. It was all gone in March.
(by him and friends at school who some asked do you know the street value of that stuff?)

None was refrigerated after making just sealed in quart vacuum sealer bags. Not a very good test of aging.
 
We make a lot of jerky using beef roasts when they go on sale. We use our own recipe and a dehydrate right. We use a mix of soy sauce, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce to marinade and then sprinkle a spice mix on the meat before dehydration. As others note it usually doesn’t last long. We also ziplock bag it and freeze it.

I had it lay in a bag in the truck for a month or longer without going bad. We dehydrate it pretty dry. If you leave more moisture in it so it is soft it might be more prone to spoil.
 
I have a 5 lb. batch in the fridge marinating right now, since I found a deer leg in one of my freezers left from last season and decided it was time to use it. It will hit the dehydrator later today...Jalapeno seasoning that I think will get my attention !
 
Just got my batch finished and into the dehydrator..I should have it ready to light someone up by 8:00 or so tonight.
MpD3JUSl.jpg
 
I've always wondered about natives making jerky, They didn't usually have salt did they?
 
You can dry just in the sun, although I make my jerky in a dehydrator I don’t use salt.
It takes three or four days in a warm sun to do.
After the first day flys won’t bother you, but on the first day you have to keep a smoky fire around it to keep flys off, or do it when it’s too cool for flies.
When I had a tipi I strung strings around and kept one small fire going with the flaps near shut in summer and the jerky dried enough to hang outside with out a problem the next day. It was goat in that case.
Salt spreads it a bit.
 
You can dry just in the sun, although I make my jerky in a dehydrator I don’t use salt.
It takes three or four days in a warm sun to do.
After the first day flys won’t bother you, but on the first day you have to keep a smoky fire around it to keep flys off, or do it when it’s too cool for flies.
When I had a tipi I strung strings around and kept one small fire going with the flaps near shut in summer and the jerky dried enough to hang outside with out a problem the next day. It was goat in that case.
Salt spreads it a bit.

I guess I was kind of comparing the difference between smoking without using salt , and the more modern marinading. Marinades are usually salt laden.

Just gets my wheels turning, that's all.
 
I guess I was kind of comparing the difference between smoking without using salt , and the more modern marinading. Marinades are usually salt laden.

Just gets my wheels turning, that's all.
If you make a plain smoked or just dried jerky you can eat it as a snack or for a meal, make it in to a good soup, make it in to pemmican, and eat that plain or as a soup.
 

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