Seasoning ingredients overkill

[Sack1971]

Can you overdo the variety of ingredients in a beef jerky marinade? Will some ingredients offset another ingredient. Looking up ingredients on the internet (at 2 AM) is dangerous. Everything looks interesting, but do I need it as an ingredient? What can I skip?

 

[Fueling Around]

Bumping thread to the top

Yes, it is easy to overpower with a simple (and often single) ingredient.
I don't make much jerky anymore. My favorite though is pretty simple with salt, pepper, and coconut aminoes (basically a very low sodium soy sauce). I don't my recipe book with me.

I do make a lot of fresh sausage so I will use that as an example.
My wife's favorite is a Jimmy Dean clone with 8 flavor ingredients. 0.05% ginger (1/2 gram per Kg) is too much for my daughter but is the secret ingredient that my wife loves.

 

[chopsaw]

0.05% ginger (1/2 gram per Kg) is too much for my daughter but is the secret ingredient that my wife loves.

I made the Ginger salami ( Umai ) from Len Poli , recommended by Rick . I was hooked on ginger after that . I add it to almost all sausage I make , but it is one that can take over . Like White pepper or caraway .

 

[millerbuilds]

Yes, you can easily over power the natural flavors and some flavors don't work well with others. Sweet and Savory work, Sweet and Hot work, Spicy works... but sweet and sweet, spicy and spicy, salty and salty don't work. The biggest failure I have had and many other is adding too many flavors that bring too much salt to the brine. IMHO when it comes to salt, use the bare minimum and watch the flavors and the amount of salt the contain. And for gods sake, leave the Liquid smoke on the shelf!

- Jason

 

[zwiller]

I would say most online recipes are mediocre at best. I just laugh at recipes with like 20 spices. Nope. I like running my own stuff when I can but was turned on to Owens jerky mixes and never looked back. Total pro results.

 

[Chasdev]

I can testify that newbie seasoning overkill is a thing.
I ruined $100 worth of wallyworld sliced round steaks with too much soy, too much salt, too much honey, too much garlic too much onion etc...and marinating overnight (probably the later as the culprit).
I don't waste money on meat, so I'm slowly grinding away on it (got it in the freezer) and the more I eat, the more I regret it.
My brand new Corsi dehydrator is gathering dust and I'm thinking on how to improve.

 

[jcam222]

I like to keep the number of ingredients for anything I cook as low as possible. As zwiller said some recipes with close to 20 spices and flavors are likely just overly complex. If you are new to jerky and want to make your own marinades I would recommend you start with recipes folks have posted here. You can see feedback on many of the threads where others have made it and commented as well. From there you can add / subtract spices to your own personal taste until voila you have your own creation.