Post by: RadioFreeSeaLab on October 16, 2007, 02:02:12 PM
Post by: Regolith on October 16, 2007, 02:50:13 PM
I don't make jerky, but my parents do. My dad uses a smoker, my mom uses a food dehydrator.
Both are good, but the smoker wins in the taste category every time.
Post by: thebaldguy on October 16, 2007, 03:49:55 PM
Homemade jerky doesn't last long; it gets eaten pretty fast.
Post by: K Frame on October 16, 2007, 04:30:13 PM
You can find the recipe and basic instructions at foodtv.com
Post by: brimic on October 16, 2007, 04:38:17 PM
Walmart has everything you need.
Nesco food dehydrator:~$40
Jerky gun and seasoning kit: $20
Lots of cheap, low fat, hamburger meat.
Basically you knead the jerky cure and seasoning into raw hamburger (lowest fat content hamburger you can find, I usually use 97%), load the gun with the meat and squirt thin ribbons of deliciousness onto the screens. Dry it on the highest setting for about 2 hrs, flip the strips over, then dry another 4-5 hrs. Take the strips and pad the fat off with paper toweling.
The smell it makes in the house is devine.
I only use about 1/2 of the recommended amount of jerky cure or else the jerky is too salty.
Kids love the stuff, and I'll sit down and eat it until I'm sick.
Post by: Paddy on October 16, 2007, 04:46:17 PM
Post by: Perd Hapley on October 16, 2007, 04:50:37 PM
Post by: K Frame on October 16, 2007, 04:58:03 PM
Slice the meat thin.
Hang it on bushes, racks, etc. Let nature do its work.
Or, they would build small smoky fires under and around it to help dry it, preserve it, and keep blow flies off it.
Post by: Thor on October 16, 2007, 07:50:55 PM
Post by: Tallpine on October 17, 2007, 07:12:18 AM
Quote
Slice the meat thin.
Actually, I think the original method was to rip the meat into strips - hence the term jerky
Post by: mfree on October 17, 2007, 07:41:59 AM
But you did have to rip a piece off to eat it...
Post by: K Frame on October 17, 2007, 07:42:38 AM
Quote
Slice the meat thin.
Actually, I think the original method was to rip the meat into strips - hence the term jerky
Uh...
No.
Jerky is an Americanized version of the Spanish Charqui, which is derived from Quechua ch'arki, meaning "dried flesh."
This method of preparing dried meat has been observed in the 20th century in stone age tribes (using stone knives) discovered in the Amazon and New Guinea.
The same things were observed in stone age tribes in Australia and Africa when European explorers reached those areas in the 1500s through the 1700s.
Trying to rip the meat into strips is an almost impossible tasts. It's difficult to get it evenly thin enough to allow for proper drying.
Post by: The Viking on October 17, 2007, 07:46:02 AM
Quote
Slice the meat thin.
Actually, I think the original method was to rip the meat into strips - hence the term jerky
Uh...
No.
Jerky is an Americanized version of the Spanish Charqui, which is derived from Quechua ch'arki, meaning "dried flesh."
This method of preparing dried meat has been observed in the 20th century in stone age tribes (using stone knives) discovered in the Amazon and New Guinea.
The same things were observed in stone age tribes in Australia and Africa when European explorers reached those areas in the 1500s through the 1700s.
Post by: Tallpine on October 17, 2007, 07:46:48 AM
Post by: RadioFreeSeaLab on October 17, 2007, 07:48:16 AM
Post by: K Frame on October 17, 2007, 07:48:33 AM
It's a skill.
As for using hamburger to make jerky, to my way of thinking that's more summer sausage strips, not really jerky...
Post by: Tallpine on October 17, 2007, 07:50:07 AM
Post by: RadioFreeSeaLab on October 17, 2007, 07:51:42 AM
Post by: Manedwolf on October 17, 2007, 07:53:14 AM
This method of preparing dried meat has been observed in the 20th century in stone age tribes (using stone knives) discovered in the Amazon and New Guinea.
The same things were observed in stone age tribes in Australia and Africa when European explorers reached those areas in the 1500s through the 1700s.
Trying to rip the meat into strips is an almost impossible tasts. It's difficult to get it evenly thin enough to allow for proper drying.
The same things were observed in stone age tribes in Australia and Africa when European explorers reached those areas in the 1500s through the 1700s.
Trying to rip the meat into strips is an almost impossible tasts. It's difficult to get it evenly thin enough to allow for proper drying.
Many, if not most stone-age cultures most certainly used stone tools, hence the name. Knapped obsidian knives are freaking SHARP. We had to do those in an anthropology class in college, to show how difficult it was to properly fracture the rock into a blade edge, and how much patience it took to do it right. (and bloody knuckles, too). Another group was making spears with various theoretical bindings and throwing them at a dead goat to see which actually held up to impact or affected flight characteristics. That was a fun class.
Post by: K Frame on October 17, 2007, 08:00:23 AM
Hence my point.
Stone age cultures are perfectly well equipped to cut strips of meat.
Because of its molecular structure, obsidian edges can be made FAR sharper than steel edges, to the point where modified obsidian has been looked at as surgical instruments.
Properly knapping stone is difficult... at first. But as with everything, with practice you get a LOT faster and it's a lot easier.
Post by: mfree on October 17, 2007, 09:41:28 AM
Quote
"Knapped obsidian knives are freaking SHARP."
Hence my point.
Hence my point.
Edgy.
Post by: Paddy on October 17, 2007, 09:45:05 AM
Post by: Brad Johnson on October 17, 2007, 09:50:26 AM
Making jerky out of hamburger seems yucky to me. I always thought jerky was thin sliced dried beefsteak.
I was thinking the same thing. Dried ground beef? Something about that just sounds so wrong.
Brad
Post by: ilbob on October 17, 2007, 09:50:55 AM
i soaked it overnight in lemon juice and soy sauce (don't laugh at me - thats what the recipe called for).
the next day I cooked it at the lowest setting in my oven for 2 hours per side as instructed.
it came out as hard, dark brown chunks of something that was inedible. have not tried since.
Post by: Brad Johnson on October 17, 2007, 09:52:45 AM
a long time ago i tried to make some in an oven. i got some cheap steak of some sort and cut it into thin strips.
i soaked it overnight in lemon juice and soy sauce (don't laugh at me - thats what the recipe called for).
the next day I cooked it at the lowest setting in my oven for 2 hours per side as instructed.
it came out as hard, dark brown chunks of something that was basically inedible. have not tried since.
i soaked it overnight in lemon juice and soy sauce (don't laugh at me - thats what the recipe called for).
the next day I cooked it at the lowest setting in my oven for 2 hours per side as instructed.
it came out as hard, dark brown chunks of something that was basically inedible. have not tried since.
Most residential ovens get way too hot, even on the lowest setting. The result is exactly what you described - a partially cooked and completely dry chunk of what used to be decent beef.
Brad
Post by: mfree on October 17, 2007, 09:55:55 AM
Quote
Dried ground beef? Something about that just sounds so wrong.
It is wrong, frankly. Dried meat paste is the stuff you can get in the shrink-wrap packs at the supermarket. If you're making jerky, my god, use MEAT.
Post by: K Frame on October 17, 2007, 09:59:48 AM
Making jerky out of hamburger seems yucky to me. I always thought jerky was thin sliced dried beefsteak.
I was thinking the same thing. Dried ground beef? Something about that just sounds so wrong.
Brad
as I said below, that's really thin summer sausage.
Tain't jerky, though.
Post by: Paddy on October 17, 2007, 10:13:45 AM
Post by: BMacklem on October 17, 2007, 01:54:54 PM
I use stew beef, and that seems to make some pretty decent jerky nuggets. (I know, that sounds wrong, but they are tasty)
I use a simple top down dehydrator with a fan, and that makes the stuff in a couple of hours, versus a standard convection type dehydrator, and the cost was about $45ish at walmart.
First I use a local brand meat marinade from ShoreLunch Brands called Whisky Au Jus.... it is delicious on its own for steak hamburgers, or whatever.
then I add a bit of chopped green onions(with one bulb diced finely, and the rest is about a half dozen or so stalks)
some diced roasted garlic (about a tablespoons worth)
and a bit of mesquite, and hickory liquid smoke.
Let the stew meat marinate for a couple of hours, and then spread the chunks on the trays (putting on a couple pieces of onion on the meat to add flavor as it dries)
put the top on the dehydrator, and a few hours later....viola...really fantastic beef jerky.
I challenge anyone to tell me that that recipie doesn't taste good
