Jerky Safety Question.

[smokin monkey]

So this weekend I had it all planned out. Wife was going Christmas shopping on Saturday so I decide it would be a good time to get some sausage and other things made.

Started prep on Friday afternoon.

Got Beef all sliced up.

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• smokin monkey
• Nov 13, 2016

i

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• smokin monkey
• Nov 13, 2016

Using a LEM marinade

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• smokin monkey
• Nov 13, 2016

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• smokin monkey
• Nov 13, 2016

In the fridge for an early start Saturday morning.

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• smokin monkey
• Nov 13, 2016

As you can see fridge full of meat for sausage etc.

THEN BANG

Friday night came down with the sickness bug, In bed all day Saturday.

Dragged myself down to my kitchen to see what I could salvage.

All meats not opened went straight into the freezer

Now the Jerky Question, I have not got the time to finish the Jerky as I am flying out on business very early Monday morning.

I have frozen the meat, would it be OK to defrost and continue with the Jerky, as theoretical is not being cooked and will be vac sealed and frozen once completed. OR

Use the sliced Beef up in Tacos and Stir Frys etc.

 

[dward51]

Unless I'm reading your post wrong,  You started this on Friday, sliced the meat for jerky, mixed it with cure and spice as per the LEM directions and it has been in the refrigerator since.  Correct?

If that is so, I would just leave it in the fridge until next weekend and smoke/dehydrate like normal.  If it's going to be much longer than a week, I would probably freeze the meat/cure/spice mix until I could smoke/dehydrate it.

If you have slice beef that has not been mixed with cure & spice, you can keep it refrigerated (up until the "sell by or use by date" would be fine) or go ahead and freeze.  There is also no reason you cannot use the frozen meat to make jerky later (both the sliced or unsliced).   I will suggest one thing, and that would be to the let the frozen meat defrost slowly in the refrigerator (may take a few days depending on thickness of cuts) instead of defrosting it on the counter or in a water bath.  You will loose less moisture by defrosting slowly.  This is because of the way the cell structure reacts to freezing. It gives the cell structure of the meat time to rehydrate from being frozen and absorb the liquid.  Rapid defrosting can cause damage to the cell structure of the meat and this is why you would get more liquid loss.

So no reason to panic.

 

[smokin monkey]

Unless I'm reading your post wrong,  You started this on Friday, sliced the meat for jerky, mixed it with cure and spice as per the LEM directions and it has been in the refrigerator since.  Correct?

If that is so, I would just leave it in the fridge until next weekend and smoke/dehydrate like normal.  If it's going to be much longer than a week, I would probably freeze the meat/cure/spice mix until I could smoke/dehydrate it.

Its been marinated and cured overnight it the fridge.

I have frozen it in small batches, so I can dehydrate at a time to suit me.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I don't see an issue with the cure and marinade. Defrost in the refer and heat to 160 then proceed...JJ