Jerky making experiences so far

[ErikAlan]

So, my uncle bought me a dehydrator (Cabela's Pro Harvester 5 Rack) for Christmas and I've made a few batches with varying results/success.

First few times, I used one of the recipes that came in the dehydrator's manual:
2lbs Beef round
1/4 Soy sauce
2 tbls Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbls Brown sugar
2 tbls Liquid smoke
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Onion powder
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Meat tenderizer
1 tsp Black pepper
2 tsp Salt

End result: Amazing. Everyone loved it, especially my aunt and uncle. Lots of flavor to it and we quickly ate the entire batch over the weekend.

One issue for me however, I started getting headaches after eating the jerky (usually after a few pieces) and couldn't figure out why. So I tried a different recipe (can't remember every seasoning off hand, but this is the bulk of it)

2 lbs Beef round
3 tbls Instant espresso
2 tbls Chipotle powder
2 tbls Paprika
2 tsp Kosher salt (will not be using this again, too strong)

Came out fairly decent, first attempt at dry rub. Similar results for me however, headaches after a few pieces, and it came out a lot tougher. Used the same meat, same slicing style as well and about the same thickness for each batch.

So, I have a few questions because I am still new to all this.

1. How do I get my jerky to be more tender without compromising food safety? (Reaching 160 temp isn't an issue with this dehydrator thankfully).
2. Can I decrease the salt in these recipes and still keep the benefits of the salt, i.e., flavor and preservation?
3. The only ingredients that are the same in both recipes is the Paprika and salt (though both use different types), yet I'm getting headaches from both. I've heard different theories as to why, but any additional advice would be amazing.
4. My jerky is generally finished (the way I like) around 3 hours give or take (15-20min differences in the batches) as I don't like my jerky really dry and am still experimenting how long is too long to keep them in the dehydrator. Is this advisable?
5. When it comes to marinated jerky and dry rub jerky, I'm correct in assuming that the final result will be different for each batch? (i.e., one foster and chewier vs soft and yet somehow, tough to chew)

Sorry for all the questions, but this seems to be the place for the best info.

 

[crazymoon]

EA,IMHO you should add some cure #1 to your recipe to be safe. That said did you have meat tenderizer in both batches? Meat tenderizer has MSG in it and you could be having a reaction to the MSG? Salt would be the other ingredient which could be bothering you?

 

[motocrash]

crazymoon is probably right on the MSG giving you a headache.It bothers some people and some people not.
Sounds like you used Morton's Kosher salt.Don't be turned off by Kosher salt,use Diamond Crystal.

 

[Silverado]

I agree with crazymoon on using cure #1 for making jery. There are a lot of factors that can cause a tuff chew. If you slice across the gain it will be esier to chew. With the grain for more chew. I use my smoker to make jerky (personal preference). As it is close to being done I will take a piece out and let it cool then test for doneness. Do this at different times til you find how you like it. Keep trying you will get it down. Jack

 

[SonnyE]

Hi Erik!
Welcome to

You are probably like me. Once you start knawin on some Jerky, you can make a meal out of it.
I'd bet your headache is from your jaw chewin.

So, I have a few questions because I am still new to all this.

1. How do I get my jerky to be more tender without compromising food safety? (Reaching 160 temp isn't an issue with this dehydrator thankfully).

Tender comes in the meat you use. Jerky meat needs to be very lean. Lean can also be tough. Are you cutting your meat Across the Grain. Because cutting your jerky meat can make it chewy (Along the grain), or easier eating (cutting across the grain.)

2. Can I decrease the salt in these recipes and still keep the benefits of the salt, i.e., flavor and preservation?

Salt is important, but it need not be obnoxious. I will typically look at the total saltyness of the things going into the batch. If a recipe is salty first time around, I cut the salt first. Sometime flat in half. (1 tsp instead of 2, for example)
Salt can be adjusted, no harm.

3. The only ingredients that are the same in both recipes is the Paprika and salt (though both use different types), yet I'm getting headaches from both. I've heard different theories as to why, but any additional advice would be amazing.

Can't help you with the headaches, other than maybe the strain to your jaw from chewing. If you have a sensitivity to certain things, you probably need to adjust those for your particular metabolism. Or find substitutes.

4. My jerky is generally finished (the way I like) around 3 hours give or take (15-20min differences in the batches) as I don't like my jerky really dry and am still experimenting how long is too long to keep them in the dehydrator. Is this advisable?

I'm very "Old School". I've made jerky much of my life. I always dried to where it brakes when bent, Crispy. Some say Yuk. I say saliva and Beer reconstitutes it. Besides, Cowboys didn't have baggies in their saddle bags. If they had the cloth off a flour sack they were Affluent.

5. When it comes to marinated jerky and dry rub jerky, I'm correct in assuming that the final result will be different for each batch? (i.e., one foster and chewier vs soft and yet somehow, tough to chew)

Open to see specific answers... ^^^

The only "Dry Rub" Jerky I've made concerned Ground Beef. Back in the day, my Jerky was strips of Round Steak, Salt and Pepper like as if I was seasoning a steak to eat it. Then dried crispy (overnight) in an oven with a Pilot Light as the heat source. I learned to go heavy on the pepper and liked the Pepper Jerky I made.
I did the same thing with Venison as well. Just dried out, Salt and Peppered meat.
I tasted fine to me, but was lacking something I liked in the taste of most commercially made Jerky...
Flash forward several decades....
After a bit of hanging out here at Smoking Meat Forums, I learned about Cure. Or Prague Powder #1.
So I ordered some from Amazon, a 1 pound jar of it. I know that one day I might use it up. But it, amoungst other things, is the missing link between my O..K.. jerky, and Wow! That is good Jerky!
Truth be told, Cure is a good thing to use, most processed meats have some cure used in them. Besides helping with -isms, it wakes up the flavor in the meat. Any label you read for meat products will likely have Sodium Nitrate as an ingredient. Ta-Da! There's the cure used to make the meat safer.
So try some cure to wake up, and help make your jerky safer. But don't use it haphazardly, especially if you suspect certain things are giving you headaches.

I'm a heart patient, so my Doctors want me to be a vegetarian. Sorry, ain't gonna do that. I gave up my Rib-eye Steak obsession. I use Salmon as my Substitute. Thrills the Doctors!
But I am very conscience of what I eat, so we tend to eat Chicken and Pork a lot. I actually like pork a lot. My Wife could eat Chicken everyday of the week. Me, not so much.
So I gravitated towards Pork for my Jerky. And lean Pork Loin is as good as anything I've chewed.
Might work for you, too.
I tried real hard to like Ground Beef Jerky. I made many pounds. But it just wasn't doing it for me. And Beef is getting ridiculously expensive.
So I worked towards making Pork Loin my Jerky Meat of choice, and it's easy eating as well. Cut across the grain.

How do you tell? Muscle has fibers, and with the grain leaves those strands running long. Makes chewy hard to eat Jerky. Fine of you want some "cud" to chew while hiking or working outdoors.
Across the grain is like, Take a loin, and cut across it. That's across the muscle fibers, and it is easier to eat. Especially after you dry the heck out of it.
I like to get a big healthy Pork Loin at Sam's Club. I will cut that in half, then make quarters out of it. There you go, that is cutting Across the Grain of the muscle.

Then I package up in Vacuum Bags, and freeze for storage.
If it has a layer of fat on it, I like to filet it off for Jerky use. It doesn't hurt as much to cut off 1/4 pound of $1.30 a pound of Pork fat, as it does to cut cut off 1/2 Pound of $$$ beef fat.
Fat does not make good Jerky. So I trim it.

If you don't have a slicer yet, I'd suggest you think about getting one. I use my slicer to cut the frozen Loin into 1/4" "steaks" that I marinade overnight, then dehydrate the next day.
No matter what meat you choose, a slicer is advantageous to work it down.
After my Jerky is done, I cut it into pieces with kitchen scissors into baggies.

But it gone in less time than it takes to read this....

 

[ErikAlan]

Thanks for all of the replies.

For the initial batch, yes to the meat tenderizer, no to the cure in all of the batches due to the short time it takes for us to finish off all of the jerky. I do have cure now however and will begin using it.
The meat tenderizer I used doesn't list MSG as an ingredient, would it still have it?
For the 2nd batch I listed, no meat tenderizer, but yes to the Morton's kosher salt (how'd you guess lol).

I do have a slicer and am curious on that for slicing the meat for the jerky. Reading online, people say freezer for an hour, then slice, but I've noticed that it isn't frozen enough, how frozen should it be?

Slicing against the grain is what I do when slicing by hand which is what I did with the 2nd batch. The pieces were thicker and chewier. The other batch I used a slicer and slice, longways I guess would be the best way to describe it, along the grain of the meat so I would have long, thing and wide slices (about 5-6 slicer using the slicer to cut the meat).

That said, I think I am slicing correctly, but not positive.

When it's finished, I'll generally wrap it in paper towels and put it in a food saver bag if not immediately using. Have noticed that it sweats a lot and am wondering if this is contributing to the toughness.

 

[solman]

MSG has many different names nesides "MSG" you can Google it to see if any of it is one of the ingredients used. But with that said, it's also in a LOT of foods you probably already buy and eat, so unless you get a headache after eating almost anything else it's probably not MSG related.

 

[SonnyE]

I've gone to slicing right out of the freezer, Frozen solid. It works for me.

I was using the wife's Tupperware Marinading thingamajigger. She told Me I could and she never hardly used it.
Then I got a Vacuum Sealer machine, then I got a Vacuum marinader chamber.
Well, I got to use the Daughters chamber to make Jerky for her in Washington. Then I knew I wanted one.
I had tried bags, and the Tupperware, but the Vacuum chamber is hands down the best. Once it is sealed up, you can roll it like a tumbler and get all the meat mixed up. It just works gooder.
Always go across the grain, unless you are making Dog Jerky. Then cut with the grain. They love to gnaw.

 

[crazymoon]

EA,I'm at a loss about your headches if it wasn't from MSG.I do not freeze the meat I'm slicing (usually London Broil steaks) and cut with the grain which I believe makes it chewier than cutting cross grain.I am using a Cabelas jerky slicing machine that you just drop the steak in and crank the handle.Perfectly even strips drop out the bottom ready for the marinade.

 

[Braz]

About the headaches, try just leaving the tenderizer out of your next batch. None of the jerky recipes use it and I don't see the need for it.