Jerky Newbie Question about Tenderizer I put in

[basmitharizona]

Hello,

I thought I was a member of the site, but I guess I wasn't.  Been reading on the forum for years.  I started marinating/curing two batches of jerky last night.  I could not find Morton's TQ and used meat tenderizer instead, thinking this was the same thing.  I have located some TQ and am wondering if I should add tonight before I start smoking tomorrow, or if this would be too long to cure my meat.  Please let me know your thoughts.  I had the butcher cut an eye of round roast into 1/4" pieces.

 

[basmitharizona]

Someone please help.  I need to know if I should bother putting TQ in at this point.  I don't want it to be too salty.  Please, any ideas as to what to do???

 

[BGKYSmoker]

The tenderizer will not act as a cure like MTQ or cure 1 will.. Im thinking you use Accent? which is MSG or Papya (something like that)

If you add MTQ it will be pretty salty. How many lbs of jerky you making?

 

[jarhead]

You will have to cook it hot. Get the meat out of the danger zone (40-140F) as soon as possible. No longer than 4 hours.

It won't be as good as TQ or Cure #1 version, but it may still be edible.

 

[basmitharizona]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up finding some domestic/wild game salt cure at Sportsman's.  I put in 1/8 teaspoon per pound and let sit for about 12 hours.  The jerky turned out pretty good.  I think next time I will have the butcher cut meat into 1/8" slices as opposed to 1/4" slices.