Good books for someone of a technical bent?

[imvirgo]

Going to DIY a dehydrator (will post CAD previews here) and jerky will be one of the first projects. Any books you guys recommend, hopefully something that leans into the technical aspects (chemistry etc)?

Thanks so much

Joe

 

[indaswamp]

Not really about jerky per say, but about salami. The drying technology is the same....

The Art of Making Fermented Sausages by Adam and Stanley Marianski. About $15 bucks.

 

[tallbm]

Going to DIY a dehydrator (will post CAD previews here) and jerky will be one of the first projects. Any books you guys recommend, hopefully something that leans into the technical aspects (chemistry etc)?

Thanks so much

Joe

Hi there and welcome!

I don't have any technical jerky books to suggest but a very great read and often detailed if not technical, is the Aaron Franklin bbq book.

Avoid the book "Smoke & Spice", it is pretty much the opposite of anything technical, detailed, or in depth. It's pretty much a summary of smoking recipes.

Actually let me summarize every recipe and bit of info from Smoke & Spice for you now, and suggest you don't follow any of it. This forum is the best source of BBQ info in the world so please don't use the following lol:

• Smoke everything at a smoker temp of 225F
• Use some kind of smoking wood (I think if it ever suggests any it says use hickory). It will not make a suggestion of how long to apply smoke for anything you make.
• Cook everything by some amount of time depending on the recipe, many times seem to be similar
• Use all of these extra unnecessary ingredients for this recipe with no good explanation as to what certain spices might be adding to the dish (surprise, not adding much, the dish will be great without most of them lol)

I hope this info helps :D