Ground Beef Jerky question

[atrdriver]

Every winter I make a bunch of ground beef jerky. I currently use Nesco spices, which I have always had good luck with. For those that don't know, they come in 2 packs of dry spices, one for the flavor and one for the cure, and they season 2 lbs at a time. But they stopped making my favorite flavor, which is Fajita. I would like to mix up my own fajita flavor and give that a try, but I am stumped on the cure. I know I can use prague powder #1, but can I use that dry and just mix it into the fajita mix? I don't add any liquid to the meat at all, just the dry spices, and as soon as I mix the meat and the spices it is shot through a LEM gun onto the dehydrator. Any idea how I can get the cure in without having to use liquid or having to have it sit for a day before putting it on the dehydrator? Thanks :)

 

[dward51]

Yes, you can use Cure #1 or "Prague Powder #1" (same thing) to add to a spice mix you put together. Use it at a rate of 1.13 grams per pound of your meat.

And if you are mixing your own spices, spend $25 on Amazon and get a scale that will weigh with a resolution of 0.01 grams (1/100th of a gram). A bigger scale will be off up to anywhere from .5 ounces to 2 ounces on micro small amounts like used with spice mixes. That like 14 grams to 68'ish grams error which with cure is way way too much. I have 2 scales. One for spices with the 0.01 gram accuracy, and another for meat that goes up to 55 pounds.

Even when dehydrating extruded (casingless) sticks, I still add some water. I like to put all the spice mix, the cure, and some water in a bullet type blender and mix to a slurry. Then I mix it with the meat to stuff or extrude into sticks/flats. Just don't go more than 10% of the weight of your meat in water or other liquids. 10% is a normal target for sausage that is stuffed, but you need some liquid to loosen up the mix to make it easier to stuff or extrude for sticks even if you are dehydrating them.

Normally you will want to let the meat/cure/spices mix sit in the fridge overnight for the cure to do it's thing, and let the spices meld with the meat for better flavor. You can do it right away, but you need a cure accelerator to make that work. Check online or your local supplier for cure accelerators as there are different brands and options. I just let it sit overnight, so much easier.

 

[dward51]

Here are the scales I have. My Spice and cure scale is an "American Weight Scales Scalemate SM-501". I also have their 100 gram calibration weight. My process is turn on the scale, put the weight on the plate, if it weighs 100.00 grams, good to go. Weigh all my spices, then at the end, put the weight back on the plate and it should still show 100.00 grams. So if it was spot on calibrated before I weighed my spices, and spot on after, I know all the weights are 100% correct. It's overkill, but it only takes a second. If it's off at the beginning, there is a process to re-calibrate to that weight, then start the check again before weighing spices/cure. It's not a big deal to be off a little with your spices, but cure is another story. Too much or too little cure can be dangerous.

They don't make my exact model anymore, but here is one the same company currently makes and it will weight up to 150 grams with the 0.01 grams accuracy. $19 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/American-Scales-Digital-Stainless-SteelAC-650-BLK650G

This is my bulk meat scale. It weights up to 55 pounds and the front display can be detached so you can read it with a big bowl of meat or a meat lug on the weight plate. It is an "Ultra-Ship Ultra 55" and was made to be a postal weight scale. Works fine for meat though! They still make this model, but they are WAY more expensive than when I bought mine. Any general kitchen or postal scale will work for bulk meat weight. The precision is for cure and spices!

 

[JckDanls 07]

As Dave suggested about the cure accelerators... Yes, these will have to be used to go straight in the dryer from mixing... Otherwise a minimum of 5 hours under refrigeration...

Myself I like my cure #1 diluted ... So I will use about a 1/4C- 1/2C of water per 5lbs of meat... Just enough water to put my weighed out cure#1 in and let dissolve...

and one for the cure,

Does it have the ingredients on the cure packagec ??

 

[JckDanls 07]

OH... Forgot to say Welcome to the forums.. I see this is your first post.. When you get a minute stop by roll call and introduce your self...