My whole house smells like jerky!

[SherryT]

Decided to try ground beef jerky again...used the recipe for "Midwest Ground Beef Jerky" at jerkaholic's site.

If it tastes half as good as it smells, I'm gonna be a happy camper! I'm 2 hours in, so I'll let you know later!

 

[boykjo]

Sounds great...........

 

[tbern]

Definitely following along!! Love ground beef jerky and hopefully will be making some next week if the weather will let me

 

[negolien]

LOL love da smell of meat cookin

 

[Fueling Around]

Oh yeah
I last made a ground venison jerky. Sure a lot more friendly on these old teeth to avoid another costly dental trip.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Post up the finish. Heck yeah, love me some beef jerky.

 

[Steve H]

In for the ride! Haven't made ground jerky in quite awhile. Anxious to see how yours comes out.

 

[JLeonard]

Dab a little behind your ears and you'd all them Bama rednecks chasing ya! LOL.

Cant wait to see the finished product.
Jim

 

[Steve H]

Dab a little behind your ears and you'd all them Bama rednecks chasing ya! LOL.

Cant wait to see the finished product.
Jim

That'd work on us Yankee's too!

 

[SherryT]

Dab a little behind your ears and you'd all them Bama rednecks chasing ya! LOL.

Cant wait to see the finished product.
Jim

That'd work on us Yankee's too!

Oh yeah...I can almost hear the conversation:

"Bubba, how did ya'll meet?"

"I was in WalMart and all I could smell was hot smokey meat...I turned the corner and there she was!"

 

[JLeonard]

SherryT I like your sense of humor. your gonna fit in here pretty good!
Jim

 

[tbern]

LOL!!!!!

 

[Steve H]

SherryT I like your sense of humor. your gonna fit in here pretty good!
Jim

True dat!

 

[SherryT]

Time for pics...

Made a 1lb batch using 93/7 GB.

Total time in my somewhat ANCIENT Nesco/American Harvest dehydrator was 5.5 hours.

The flavor was good, but it needs a bit more salt, IMO. Also, even though I cut the cayenne in half (recipe called for 1/2 tsp), it was still a bit too hot for my tastes. Going forward, I think 1/8 tsp/lb would be the ticket.

The chew is a bit rubbery, but I think I left it in the dehydrator too long. I started checking hourly it at 3 hours (it was around 135 - 140). At 4 hours it was 150, and at 5 hours, it hadn't changed, so I let it go another 30 mins and pulled it.

I did the bend test every time I checked and it was "firm" but no cracking...it didn't occur to me that it might need to cool to see it.

Bottom line...as I said, the flavor was good, but lacking something (other than salt...that was apparent). Not sure WHAT it's lacking (it's not the garlic...that was pronounced!), but...I don't know. I usually buy teriyaki jerky, so maybe I'm just missing that flavor?

Next batch I'll pull a piece at 150, let it cool and test the chew.

A question...does it HAVE to "crack"? I used cure#1 per the recipe, so would I be OK at pulling it at that temp? I won't be making big batches...a pound at the time is fine for me, so long-term storage isn't an issue.

 

[gmc2003]

Looks real good from here Sherry.

Point for sure
Chris

The flavor was good, but it needs a bit more salt, IMO. Also, even though I cut the cayenne in half (recipe called for 1/2 tsp), it was still a bit too hot for my tastes. Going forward, I think 1/8 tsp/lb would be the ticket.

Nothing that an ice cold PBR wouldn't take care of.

Chris

 

[tbern]

looks excellent , thanks for sharing it!

 

[JLeonard]

Looks pretty good to me.

Jim

 

[SherryT]

Looks real good from here Sherry.

Point for sure
Chris


Nothing that an ice cold PBR wouldn't take care of.

Chris

You know, I almost feel I never got my "grown up card" because, as hard as I tried (and I DID try!), I could never develop a taste for beer.

Hubs loved it, though (boy howdy!)...I even learned to make beer because he loved it so much (I imagined we could save money if we made it ourselves...figured out right QUICK I was SORELY mistaken!).

 

[Brokenhandle]

Looks great from here as well!

Ryan

 

[tallbm]

Time for pics...

View attachment 651503


View attachment 651504

View attachment 651505

Made a 1lb batch using 93/7 GB.

Total time in my somewhat ANCIENT Nesco/American Harvest dehydrator was 5.5 hours.

The flavor was good, but it needs a bit more salt, IMO. Also, even though I cut the cayenne in half (recipe called for 1/2 tsp), it was still a bit too hot for my tastes. Going forward, I think 1/8 tsp/lb would be the ticket.

The chew is a bit rubbery, but I think I left it in the dehydrator too long. I started checking hourly it at 3 hours (it was around 135 - 140). At 4 hours it was 150, and at 5 hours, it hadn't changed, so I let it go another 30 mins and pulled it.

I did the bend test every time I checked and it was "firm" but no cracking...it didn't occur to me that it might need to cool to see it.

Bottom line...as I said, the flavor was good, but lacking something (other than salt...that was apparent). Not sure WHAT it's lacking (it's not the garlic...that was pronounced!), but...I don't know. I usually buy teriyaki jerky, so maybe I'm just missing that flavor?

Next batch I'll pull a piece at 150, let it cool and test the chew.

A question...does it HAVE to "crack"? I used cure#1 per the recipe, so would I be OK at pulling it at that temp? I won't be making big batches...a pound at the time is fine for me, so long-term storage isn't an issue.

Nice work!

I feel it has to crack a little. Once it cools it becomes even more brittle so while dehydrating if it starts to crack a little then that is the sign to me that it is read to be pulled.

You will be fine at those temps with the cure#1. If it was chicken jerky you would want to ensure it hit 165F by maybe sticking in the oven for a little bit just to make sure all micro-nasties were killed off.

As for missing flavor I looked up that recipe and yeah it's missing some things I think are crucial. Try a batch using soy sauce for part of your salt component and some Worchester sauce. The extra "umami" flavor from those 2 ingredients alone will be a huge improvement!

Most blog website recipes are lacking and the one you followed is clearly a case of that common issue :)

Also at the risk of offending some of the Midwest folks here (because you used a Midwest Jerky Recipe), I am partial to recipes and dishes that are from the Southern, Southwestern, and Cajun/Creole, and Southern border areas of the country.
Having traveled a lot I noticed the areas of the USA not listed, have quite bland and less flavorful tastes.
There are exceptions like very specific dishes but outside those exceptions, pretty bland.

From the Northern parts of the Midwest, I will always give consideration to a soup recipe. Had plenty of good soups in the winter from Chicago to Minnesota :)

I hope this info helps and look forward to reports on your next batch of ground meat jerky. It's the only jerky for me! :D