Getting jerky to 160

[fstr21]

160 is the magic number the FDA recommend for killing off all the nasties

What are the thoughts on getting that in the dehydrator, vs cooking it first. I have never cooked it first. Not even sure what you'd do. Just 275 in the oven for 10 mins pre marinade? Post marinade? Then dehydrator for 4ish hours at 140?

 

[dr k]

160 is the magic number the FDA recommend for killing off all the nasties

What are the thoughts on getting that in the dehydrator, vs cooking it first. I have never cooked it first. Not even sure what you'd do. Just 275 in the oven for 10 mins pre marinade? Post marinade? Then dehydrator for 4ish hours at 140?

I think 160 is if you don't use cure 1 in a homemade recipe or the kit doesn't include cure 1 since jerky is sliced so thinly there is a large surface area to mass of the slice ratio so no longer intact meat and should be cooked at 225+ and get from 40-140 in 4 hours but cooking thin jerky to 160 is very quick . I prefer to dry jerky at 145 and dried beef vs over cooking meat so I cure these two and dry vs over cook even though 145 is safe it takes close to 24 hours to get chunks of eye of round to 145 at 145-155 smoker temp. Intact chunks should be fine without cure but with dried beef it's the color, texture and taste of preserving food before refrigeration. All food is room temp stable below 4.2 ph or .85 or lower water activity. It's the time it takes to dry without cure for foodbourne pathogens and no smoke for spoilage pathogen growth at warm temps when just dehydrating. Then jerky marinades are high in sugars and salt which are preservatives and alcohols and acids. USDA FSIS and FDA put out stock papers that conflict with each other, therefore two federal agencies and they conflict with themselves and they don't add variables of food preservation. They don't know if your food is cured, intact or not but we know that cured meat has no time limit to get cooked when in smoke or back in the fridge over several days. If there is cure in your recipe then you have no foodbourne pathogen issues or even liquid smoke, then no spoilage issues from the acidity.

 

[fstr21]

I think 160 is if you don't use cure 1 in a homemade recipe or the kit doesn't include cure 1 since jerky is sliced so thinly there is a large surface area to mass of the slice ratio so no longer intact meat and should be cooked at 225+ and get from 40-140 in 4 hours but cooking thin jerky to 160 is very quick . I prefer to dry jerky at 145 and dried beef vs over cooking meat so I cure these two and dry vs over cook even though 145 is safe it takes close to 24 hours to get chunks of eye of round to 145 at 145-155 smoker temp. Intact chunks should be fine without cure but with dried beef it's the color, texture and taste of preserving food before refrigeration. All food is room temp stable below 4.2 ph or .85 or lower water activity. It's the time it takes to dry without cure for foodbourne pathogens and no smoke for spoilage pathogen growth at warm temps when just dehydrating. Then jerky marinades are high in sugars and salt which are preservatives and alcohols and acids. USDA FSIS and FDA put out stock papers that conflict with each other, therefore two federal agencies and they conflict with themselves and they don't add variables of food preservation. They don't know if your food is cured, intact or not but we know that cured meat has no time limit to get cooked when in smoke or back in the fridge over several days. If there is cure in your recipe then you have no foodbourne pathogen issues or even liquid smoke, then no spoilage issues from the acidity.

Hey, thanks for the reply. Im going to ask a huge favor and have you kind of explain that again because my brain was a bit all over the place there. But maybe I can help you out with some more details on my end. Heres what I got goin on
-EVENTUALLY (but for the sake of this and to be in good practice lets do it as if I am intending on selling it regulated) I would like to go pro.
-I just bought a water activity meter
-I have 1 Prague powder salt. Have yet to use it
-Typically for my science I will do 3 pounds (1pound finished product) at a time. I believe .75(?) tsp of the #1 curing salt mixed in with the marinade is good for that measurement

The reason I am here is because Ive shipped out a ton of samples over the past few months, people love it but the number 1 complaint is too dry. Being paranoid I purposely made it too dry and both of my home dehydrators wouldnt get the meat to 160 unless it was at their highest temps for about 7 hours. Which..obviously is why it was so dry. the wa was .63

Sooooooo now my problem is getting that 160, but using a 145ish dehydrator for 4hours that is essentially what I'm asking.
I hope this context helps

 

[Steve H]

With using cure. You can use the dehydrator fine for this. Run until the jerky bends with slight cracks. But doesn't break in two. 145 for 4. Or more hours is fine.

 

[thirdeye]

I use a 24hr dry cure and slices that are 1/4". These are smoked for roughly 2 hours then moved into my dehydrator starting at 145°, then ramping up as needed. I can see the fats rising to the surface and use that as a guide since I'm trying to dry and cook at the same time. I've never taken an internal temp, and not sure I could get an accurate one.

On thicker jerky like this, I can get an internal and it's usually in the mid-150°s, which is fine because the dry cure has nitrites.

 

[fstr21]

With using cure. You can use the dehydrator fine for this. Run until the jerky bends with slight cracks. But doesn't break in two. 145 for 4. Or more hours is fine.

And we are talking, for about 3 pounds just stir in about 3/4 teaspoon Prague powder #1 in with the marinade, and at 145 for 4 or 5 hours will negate the dangers ?

 

[SmokinEdge]

I just bought a water activity meter

Wow! An AW meter. That’s interesting, can you give details on brand, model and cost? Thanks.

 

[fstr21]

Wow! An AW meter. That’s interesting, can you give details on brand, model and cost? Thanks.

$499 from Amazon brand is goyojo. I'll be honest they all seem prettttty genericly branded and sketchy quality on Amazon. So far I've used it about 5 times. Handful of batches I've made in the past... Expectedly super dry at .65ish. And to test the other extreme I soaked a tiny amount of that same batch in water for like 5 mins and it went to .91. Which in my insanely amateur opinion and having just bought the machine seems odd. If it's recommended that .88 is ok (for no air) and my water logged jerky test was .03 away. I dunno how I feel

 

[dr k]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Im going to ask a huge favor and have you kind of explain that again because my brain was a bit all over the place there. But maybe I can help you out with some more details on my end. Heres what I got goin on
-EVENTUALLY (but for the sake of this and to be in good practice lets do it as if I am intending on selling it regulated) I would like to go pro.
-I just bought a water activity meter
-I have 1 Prague powder salt. Have yet to use it
-Typically for my science I will do 3 pounds (1pound finished product) at a time. I believe .75(?) tsp of the #1 curing salt mixed in with the marinade is good for that measurement

The reason I am here is because Ive shipped out a ton of samples over the past few months, people love it but the number 1 complaint is too dry. Being paranoid I purposely made it too dry and both of my home dehydrators wouldnt get the meat to 160 unless it was at their highest temps for about 7 hours. Which..obviously is why it was so dry. the wa was .63

Sooooooo now my problem is getting that 160, but using a 145ish dehydrator for 4hours that is essentially what I'm asking.
I hope this context helps

I'd definitely cure the batch and 160 won't be the issue like Jack's tender cut jerky. Just meeting the water activity requirements and a dessicant in the bag to keep dry by regs. By volume 1 tsp cure 1 per 5 lbs of meat and liquids so weighing is mandatoty at .25% (multiply batch by .0025) the whole batch not just meat. Convert batch to grams to get .25% grams in cure 1. You need to find out if your making it at home if you need a Cottage license and a food handlers license for the county health department to inspect, A lady locally makes gluten free desserts out of her home and needs both licenses. This is usually a deal breaker when folk's realize the legality and strict shipping requirements of food. even when room temp stable. Then there's the insurance etc. It's a lot of reseach.

 

[fstr21]

I'd definitely cure the batch and 160 won't be the issue like Jack's tender cut jerky. Just meeting the water activity requirements and a dessicant in the bag to keep dry by regs. By volume 1 tsp cure 1 per 5 lbs of meat and liquids so weighing is mandatoty at .25% (multiply batch by .0025) the whole batch not just meat. Convert batch to grams to get .25% grams in cure 1. You need to find out if your making it at home if you need a Cottage license and a food handlers license for the county health department to inspect, A lady locally makes gluten free desserts out of her home and needs both licenses. This is usually a deal breaker when folk's realize the legality and strict shipping requirements of food. even when room temp stable. Then there's the insurance etc. It's a lot of reseach.

From what I understand I can't do anything at home... Period. Cottage doesn't cover this. My next step is to find a kitchen to rent (I'm not converting mine) then I have to talk to the local health dept for whichever county that kitchen is in.

.25% (multiply batch by .0025) the whole batch not just meat. Convert batch to grams to get .25% grams in cure 1.

Can you explain that more? Not sure what you're saying with the .0025 math and curing



Edit... Just ran what you said through AI ... Lol don't judge I've got Asperger's I need it explained a certain way to me. Yes, I understand what the instructions mean. Let me break it down for you.
.

Let's say you have a batch weighing 10 pounds (including meat and liquids). To calculate the weight of cure 1 in grams, you would do the following:

Batch Weight in Grams = Batch Weight in Pounds * 453.592 (1 pound is approximately 453.592 grams)

Cure 1 Weight in Grams = Batch Weight in Grams * 0.0025

For example, if your batch weighs 10 pounds (4535.92 grams):

Batch Weight in Grams = 10 * 453.592 = 4535.92 grams

Cure 1 Weight in Grams = 4535.92 * 0.0025 = 11.34 grams

So, in this example, you would need approximately 11.34 grams of cure 1 for the entire 10-pound batch of jerky (including meat and liquids).




--so essentially it's to get realllllly specific with the amount of cure. That, I believe is on one of the "variations" the health department needs me to submit if I plan to use cure

 

[fstr21]

With using cure. You can use the dehydrator fine for this. Run until the jerky bends with slight cracks. But doesn't break in two. 145 for 4. Or more hours is fine.

Now when you say 145 for say 5 hours. Are you talking once the meat gets to 145 then 5 hours? It's taking forever to get the meat there with my dehydrator set to like 159

 

[fstr21]

Damn. More science needed. Still somehow hitting .66 water activity even from 5 hours at 150

 

[Steve H]

Never really got into it this far. I've always marinated with whatever spices/liquids I wanted with the proper amount of cure. Then. Boom. Into the smoker/oven/dehydrator until done.

 

[dr k]

From what I understand I can't do anything at home... Period. Cottage doesn't cover this. My next step is to find a kitchen to rent (I'm not converting mine) then I have to talk to the local health dept for whichever county that kitchen is in.

.25% (multiply batch by .0025) the whole batch not just meat. Convert batch to grams to get .25% grams in cure 1.

Can you explain that more? Not sure what you're saying with the .0025 math and curing



Edit... Just ran what you said through AI ... Lol don't judge I've got Asperger's I need it explained a certain way to me. Yes, I understand what the instructions mean. Let me break it down for you.
.

Let's say you have a batch weighing 10 pounds (including meat and liquids). To calculate the weight of cure 1 in grams, you would do the following:

Batch Weight in Grams = Batch Weight in Pounds * 453.592 (1 pound is approximately 453.592 grams)

Cure 1 Weight in Grams = Batch Weight in Grams * 0.0025

For example, if your batch weighs 10 pounds (4535.92 grams):

Batch Weight in Grams = 10 * 453.592 = 4535.92 grams

Cure 1 Weight in Grams = 4535.92 * 0.0025 = 11.34 grams

So, in this example, you would need approximately 11.34 grams of cure 1 for the entire 10-pound batch of jerky (including meat and liquids).




--so essentially it's to get realllllly specific with the amount of cure. That, I believe is on one of the "variations" the health department needs me to submit if I plan to use cure

Yes 11.34 grams of cure 1. You can also go by pounds and oz at 1.13grams per pound of cure 1 or just use the digging dog farms calculator set to 156ppm. All three are the same result for cure 1.

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