13
Drying Jerky
Jerky is a favorite snack for school, lunch, trail or just about anywhere!
It is made by seasoning raw meat and then drying it without cooking.
You won’t have to pay the exorbitant prices for jerky slices or sticks at the
supermarket. Most lean meats will yield about 1 pound of jerky from
2 pounds of fresh meat.
Selection
Jerky may be made from a variety of different meats. When purchasing
meats for making jerky, choose lean meats with minimal fat, as fat tends to go
rancid during storage. A lean cut of flank steak or round steak makes
excellent jerky.
Using the Nesco American Harvest
®
’s Jerky Works, you can make delicious
jerky from ground meat. Use ground round or extra lean ground beef.
Season with a
Nesco American Harvest
®
Jerky Seasoning Mix
and follow
package directions.
Preparation
If you are making jerky from a ground meat, add one package each of Nesco
American Harvest
®
Jerky Spice seasoning and cure per pound of ground
meat. Mix well and form strips by using the Jerky Works press or a cookie
press. Place on trays in your dehydrator and dry. See detailed instruction on
page 15.
If making jerky from meat, remove all fat and cut into cubes or thin strips
1
/
4
" to
3
/
8
" thick. It is easier to slice partially frozen meat for jerky. If meats are
cut on the cross-wise grain, jerky is less chewy than if meats are cut on the
lengthwise grain.
Marinate cut meats in store-bought or your own recipe marinade for 6 to
8 hours in the refrigerator before drying. If you are using your own recipe,
be sure to include 1 teaspoon of salt for each pound of meat. The salt slows
surface bacterial growth during the initial stages of drying.
Drying and Storage
Depending on how thick the meat is cut, how heavily the dryer is loaded and
the humidity, it will take from 4 to 15 hours to dry.
Pat jerky with clean paper towels several times as it dries to remove the oil
which accumulates on the top of the jerky. When removing jerky from the
dryer, wrap it in paper towels and let it stand for a couple of hours prior to
packaging. Beef jerky that is stored on the shelf will start to go rancid at
room temperature after 3 or 4 weeks. Refrigerate or freeze for longer storage.
Note: After drying poultry, pork or fresh game, heat them in your oven at
160°F for one hour to avoid the risk of salmonella.
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