Pork Loin Jerky

[frigidaire48]

Hello All,

I posted this in pork but think this would be a more apropriate place. I want to make pork jerky from the loin. I have a lot of access to inexpensive loin. I was trying to avoid curing it but it really seems that's a foolish way to go. I only wanted to avoid it because I don't like extremely salty food. I bought some Mortons TQ and I need a little clarification on the instructions. It says to dry cure for up to 24 hours. I thought curing is supposed to take quite a while. Wet curing didn't give a time frame. Does anyone have specifics on that?

I also want to marinade for various flavors. I want to try a buffalo style and sweet (apple cinnamon nutmeg) marinade. Would I do that at the same time as curing or after it has been cured? Obviously I would need to wet cure if at the same time.

Now if I can skip curing I would like to know. My plans are to marinade, smoke then finish in the dehydrator. I would smoke it to an internal temp of 160. My dehydrator ranges from 155 to 162 so the internal temp would get back to 160 in the dehydrator also. Thank you everyone in advance for your help.

 

[frigidaire48]

In case anyone gets to this I asked my local butcher about this. He said that cure is going to be mandatory with pork if you're not going to cook it very well which drying is not cooking very well. He said for jerky that he mixes the cure with his marinade and soaks it for a full 24 hours. I made 3 marinades.

A buffalo style marinade.

I never measure so I don't have a very specific recipe but I mixed:
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Tumeric
Paprika
Oregano
Cayenne pepper
Chipotle
Black pepper
sugar

I mixed that all with a half cup of apple cider vinegar.

The cure called for 4 cups water to one cup cure so I added 3 1/2 cups of water to that sauce to marinade.

I make a homemade pork rub for my pulled pork and anything pork really. I mean no offense but it is my goal to start a food truck/catering company and selling that so I will not post that recipe but it is a standard pork rub. I added 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar to that and 3 1/2 cups water with the cure.

Last one is a bit of an experiment. I simmered one apple about a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg with 2 tablespoons honey. I didn't add a lot of honey because the cure has a lot of sugar. I left the apple chunks in the marinade to soak also.

I will follow up with the end results. I plan to smoke them with a wood blend of oak, hickory, mesquite and apple. Heavy on the apple and light on the oak and mesquite, medium on the hickory.

Have a great weekend all.

 

[frigidaire48]

Well this was quite a fail! I added the cure to the marinade and soaked it for 24 hours per the instructions. It only took about 5 hours to dry in the smoker and 2 hours were at about 120º. When I opened the smoker the jerky actually had a scale of salt and the marinade was undetectable. I am going to try it one more time with seasoning and dry brine to see how that works.

 

[sodak]

I would be very interested if you ever get anything that you think is worth trying again.  I have been playing around with beef jerky lately.  I tried it in my electric MES and decided to invest in a dehydrator because I figure it had to be cheaper for the electricity bill using a small dehydrator for 10 hours than using a big smoker for 6 to 8 hours.  

I had wondered if you could do pork like that also, but pork and chicken both scare me cooking wise because of how you have to cook to certain temps.  If you do it a again, make sure to post.  I will keep an eye out for it.

Sodak