From: "Roger 
Subject: Drying meat
Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010 7:30 AM

Greetings!

This summer I dusted off my food dehydrator and started making jerky again.  It 
occurred to me that information about drying meat might be due to be repeated 
here.  With care and planning, you can dry any meat.  You want to choose a lean 
piece (with minimal fat that may go rancid with time) and partially freeze it to 
make cutting easier.  


Remove all fat from the edges and any fat within the piece that is large enough 
to warrant trimming.  Cut the meat into cubes or thin strips from 1/4" to 3/8" 
thick.  If you cut across the grain, the jerky will be less chewy.

Marinate the meat for at least 8 hours in a seasoning solution that includes, at 
a minimum, 1 teaspoon of salt for every pound of meat in your batch.  You can 
marinate longer (I let it go for 24 to 36 hours) and you can use sugar in the 
solution as well, though I always include the salt to prevent surface bacteria 
growth during the initial stage of the drying process.  The other seasonings 
should be according to your taste (try thyme, pepper, liquid smoke, 
worchestershire sauce, dried jalapenos, etc.)

You can also use ground meat to make jerky, just use the above rule of 1 
teaspoon of salt per pound of meat and mix the seasoning solution into the 
ground meat very well.  You can then form strips of the meat and press it to the 
1/4" or so thickness.  When dried, it will hold the shape fairly well and will 
be very easy to chew.

Drying time is dependent on drying conditions and thickness of the meat.  If you 
are using a food dehydrator, it will typically take from 4 to 12 hours.  You can 
also use your oven, just set it to the lowest temperature setting (usually 160 
or 170 degrees F).  Place the meat on a cookie sheet to avoid the little stuck 
bits on your oven racks.  If you are drying poultry (any bird meat) or pork, 
heat your jerky in the oven at the lowest setting for at least one hour whether 
you dry it completely in the oven or not.  This will help avoid the risk of 
salmonella poisoning.

Once dried, the jerky should be patted with a clean towel (preferably a paper 
towel) to remove any oil that has accumulated on the surface of the jerky.  You 
could also lightly wrap the jerky in paper towels and let it stand for a hour or 
so before packaging it.  Once the jerky has cooled to room temperature and you 
have removed the excess oil, it is ready for storage.  Depending on how lean the 
meat was, your jerky may begin to go rancid after about 3 or 4 weeks of storage 
at room temperature.  If you want to store it longer, just refrigerate or freeze 
it until you are ready to start eating it.

Best wishes,

Roger


