Jerky shrinkge

[drifterdon]

Well I dug my 6 year old but brand new jerky gun out this weekend and made up some jerky in my dehydrator.

It tastes great but I was really surprised at how much it shrunk and also how much fat came out of it.

I used store bought lean ground beef from a local butcher but I don't know what the fat % was.

I was just wondering if I were to grind my own burger and keep all the fat out that I can, will it shrink less?

Thanks

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Nope. You get about a 60%+ loss in weight when makng jerky, smoked fish etc. your basically sucking all the moisture (weight) out of the meat. Leaner meat will make a better product though. If you are getting white fat on the surface of your jerky you are smoking it too hot.

 

[drifterdon]

Thanks DirtSailor2003,

No white fat on the jerky but sure had a lot drip out while drying.

 

[canadianbacon]

When i use lean i put it in parchment paper and i get a scary amount of fat leakege. Therefor i spend the extra moneny on extra lean and dab up fat as i see it with paper towel. There is a big % differnce from lean and extra lean i bought. Aslo. The extra lean tasted better to me and was easyer and quicker to dry in my smoker. Lean made a mess aswell

 

[falco78]

I like the ground turkey as it is super lean and really takes on the taste of whatever you add to it