The Art and Science of Jerky Making

Jerky is a popular snack that has been around for centuries, originating from the indigenous peoples of North America who would dry and preserve meat to make it last longer. The process of making jerky involves several steps, including preparation, marination, and dehydration. In this article, we will explore the art and science behind making jerky at home.

Making Jerky: A Dehydrating Process

Dehydrating is a critical step in making jerky. It involves removing the moisture from the meat to prevent bacterial growth and spoilage. The dehydrating process can be done using various methods, including sun drying, air drying, or using a food dehydrator. In this article, we will focus on the use of a food dehydrator to make jerky.

Dehydration time is an essential factor in making jerky. If the jerky is not dried long enough, it may not be tender and flavorful. On the other hand, if the jerky is over-dried, it can become tough and chewy. The ideal dehydration time will depend on the type of meat being used and the desired level of tenderness.

Airtight Containers: A Secret to Making Great Jerky

Once the jerky has been made, it needs to be stored properly to maintain its flavor and texture. One secret to making great jerky is to store it in an airtight container. This helps to keep the moisture levels consistent and prevents the jerky from becoming dry or stale.

Marination: Adding Flavor to Your Jerky

Marination is another important step in making jerky. It involves adding flavorings, such as soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, to the meat before it is dehydrated. This helps to add depth and complexity to the jerky, making it more flavorful and enjoyable to eat.

One tip for marinating your jerky is to use a combination of dry and wet ingredients. Dry ingredients, such as paprika and cayenne pepper, can help to add flavor and texture to the jerky, while wet ingredients, such as soy sauce and brown sugar, can help to keep the meat moist and flavorful.

The Benefits of Homemade Jerky

Making jerky at home has several benefits. For one, it allows you to control the ingredients and flavorings used in your jerky. This is especially important for those with dietary restrictions or preferences. Additionally, making jerky at home can be a fun and rewarding experience, allowing you to experiment with different flavors and ingredients.

Another benefit of making jerky at home is that it can be more cost-effective than buying pre-made jerky from the store. When you make your own jerky, you can use high-quality ingredients and control the amount used, which can result in a more flavorful and nutritious snack.

A Conversation with Rachel Carton

Rachel Carton is a major jerky fan and was interviewed by Brad about her favorite type of jerky. She prefers thicker cuts of meat, such as the high round, which provides a good balance of flavor and texture. She also likes to use a variety of seasonings and marinades to add depth and complexity to her jerky.

Brad and Rachel discussed the benefits of storing jerky in a zip-top bag or container, which helps to keep it fresh and prevent moisture from accumulating. They also talked about the importance of not over-drying the jerky, as this can result in a tough and chewy texture.

A Conversation with Vince

Vince was called by Brad to taste his latest batch of homemade jerky. He found that it was a bit too dry, but still enjoyed its flavor. Brad explained that he had let the jerky sit for a longer period than necessary, which may have contributed to its dryness.

Vince offered some advice on how to make better jerky in the future, including using less moisture and avoiding over-drying the meat. He also suggested that Brad try using different types of seasonings and marinades to add more flavor to his jerky.

Fermentation: A New Twist on Jerky Making

Fermentation is a new twist on traditional jerky making. It involves adding bacteria or yeast to the meat, which helps to break down the proteins and create a more complex flavor profile.

The process of fermentation can be similar to dehydrating, but it requires more care and attention. The meat needs to be kept at a consistent temperature and humidity level to prevent contamination and ensure that the fermentation process proceeds smoothly.

Some benefits of fermentation include the creation of new flavors and textures, as well as the preservation of nutrients and vitamins in the meat. However, fermentation can also be unpredictable, and it may take several attempts to get the results right.

Conclusion

Making jerky at home is a fun and rewarding experience that allows you to control the ingredients and flavorings used in your jerky. By understanding the dehydrating process, marination, and storage techniques involved in making jerky, you can create delicious and nutritious snacks that are tailored to your taste preferences.

Whether you prefer thicker cuts of meat or more tender strips, there is a type of jerky out there for everyone. With a little experimentation and practice, you can become a master jerky maker and enjoy the many benefits of this popular snack.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou ever eat heart before events hey guys today on it's live we're going to be doing a little beef jerky um okay you don't want a piece of meat that's real marbly and fatty because in the drying and preserving which essentially is what we're doing with jerky fat will go rancid so you want to get like a nice lean cut of beef this is called um an eye round of beef i'll trim off this little fat cap and then we'll slice that up we're gonna make two types of jerky today vince um we're gonna make a traditional one which i like to call the old timer and then we're gonna make another one it's a little funkier it's got some different flavors going on and we're gonna call that one bringing the funk we'll get into that let me trim the fat vinny you know what i mean a lot easier trimming fat off this than this you know what i mean nice so very important vince come on in here bud so as you can i look jesus so you can see even i don't know if you can check this in zoom in but so you can see the grain on the meat just like when you're cutting the steak you want to cut it against the grain so it'll break apart easier instead of having to shred long that's the way i like it if you feel like cutting it the other way knock yourself out but i highly recommend going against the grain delaney smells great so look i like to cut about an eighth of an inch thick because it's going to shrink when it dehydrates i don't want something real thin you know that's going to dry out and turn into cardboard so we're going to cut this up into equal parts i'll put half into this one the old timer and half into bringing the funk all right salt bae we're coming for you salt bae he's better yeah this is cutting up real nice i mean other than this if you wanted to get nutty you can go cutting that out because it will but it's fine i mean it's fine i grew up making jerky vince i don't know about you but my dad we always used to make venison jerky because he was a deer hunter and uh so was i i'm starting to get back into it now but i got out of it for a while we'll save that for another campfire story vince what what'd you say no i said or not oh yeah whatever that means i wish i could speak know your language huh then this one's for you salt bae i'm never doing that again all right here we go it means focus in jersey oh look at this vinny i did this for you oh so we got two flavors like i was saying we're going to do first let's do the old timer so i'm doing a little riff on like the traditional kind of flavor that i used to do with my dad back when i was younger so this is about this is one quarter cup of worcestershire sauce we'll go ahead and pour that right in okay ah yeah quarter cup maple syrup okay oh okay this here i got a teaspoon and a half salt fresh ground telecherry black pepper sprinkle that right in there onion and garlic powder big fans all right chili powder love this stuff a little cayenne pepper for some kick a little dried oregano and now here's for the wild card vinnie i got some capers all right kind of like getting into like a little tart i pulled this from like tart like a tartar beef tartare recipe kind of thing just gonna chop those up real nice i love capers that'll bring a nice little flavor to it too nice little funk and then for the last secret ingredient i got a little bit of the caper juice we're gonna pour that right in there all right so we'll just give that a good mix and this meat just soaks up the marinade it's such a flavorful recipe all right so that's the old timer oh that's the stuff recipe number two bring in the funk i got one fresno chili i took the top off i'm gonna leave the seeds in uh am i gonna leave the season yeah we'll leave the seeds in i'm just gonna give it a crush just to get things opened up a little all right i'm gonna throw that right in the meat okay let me get rid of that real quick then right why don't you take two get a glass of water so we got our fresno i got like an inch and a half two inch piece of ginger just gonna crush it oh it's dead all right here we go just gonna bruise it up a little all right love that ginger in there nice i got some garlic that i already alicified uh just crushed i got about three and a half four cloves alcifie oh you know what it means since so it's when you crush the car don't make me do this when you crush the guard like no i'm not doing it oh it's spicy next little chinese five spice powder tata it going great work yesterday quarter cup soy sauce next honey two quarts of honey no i'm just kidding we're gonna put you know let's say let's say two and a half three tablespoons oh it's that good stuff that'd be local baby oh that's the gold yeah it was a bloodhound right or basket hound one of them hound dogs with big ears freaking i want a dog so bad all right here we go we're gonna add that right two in here right two in here next little gojujeng good stuff it's a korean condiment you can get this actually you can get this online or in like um some asian markets by you or supermarkets they they usually have them in there it'll give it some color it'll give it some body it's just it's great on something like this we're going to add a quarter cup of the gojiji four tablespoons vince i know you were wondering all right next this is why we call it bringing the funk a little fish sauce because this stuff is it's got a you know it's fermented fish and the liquid that comes with salt and what comes off is this liquid i'm gonna do ten dashes you ready one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven one more for good measure and then we're just gonna mix this up right what am i doing with this all right let's do it by hand the hell out of here oh that's the stuff so that's a new angle for us vince like i don't know if i can i feel like i do it sometimes ah today we're gonna be making you said brief said babish i wasn't british store in fridge for 24 hours it's for you baby we're gonna throw this in a ziploc i like to just take all the oxygen out and just keep it real nice let me go grab two bags right manny hate to break up party you're missing out bud am i this goes into the fridge overnight i don't like to do more than overnight because it can start to get a little weird and melee it just doesn't need it to the walk-in vinny they're after you don't touch anything just don't go here you know so tune in tomorrow vinnie come back and throw it in the dehydrator cover all that temperature time etc except you can go home you did great today no no no no there's a lot of stuff in here morocco ah damn son a whole lot of chicken in there a freaking half a ham i guess he's aging it i don't care anymore i don't care anymore no i do i care a lot i love caring all right our jerky i pulled it out of the fridge i wanted to let it come with room temp a little bit you don't have to do that but i got a little excited as one does when making jerky come on then check it out that's the stuff now we got that fancy dehydrator everything let me show you something you can use any kind of dehydrator some ovens even have some of these newer ovens even have if you go looking at the settings they have a little dehydration setting yeah so we got this nice uh it's all right this dehydrator i really need a new one i want a nice one where i can get real technical with the temperature so i got it set up i'm trying to dial in all it has is low and high that's not very helpful so i'm trying to figure out my own temperatures i like about you know 140 is what what i've been doing i don't want it to get real leathery and dried out too fast it's like a nice and slow we're in the market for a new one vinnie but this will do for now oh this is under under tight wraps it's going to be black garlic see in a month yeah and then i got this little temperature gauger in here i think they call them thermometers let's go load up the trays vinny when you go laying these out on your racks you don't want them to be touching no overlaps no little shingling effects all right we're not roofing houses oh yeah vinnie this is it well that's a lovely bag of debt all those little grains everything's just kind of soaked up all that all that moisture and flavor all that marinade like a little sponge yeah the vibe down here pretty nice you know it's thursday summer's winding down we're just kicking up whatever you're into always been a glass half full kind of guy himself you know you know no we don't need in jerky making it's negativity all right saying saying that self self health video actually yeah it kind is fermenting stuff we're helping you we're helping out yeah this is definitely a self-help video self-help what did i say self-help self-help this is definitely a self-help video self-help where my english has never been my strongest language oh yeah ed gean or gein what was his name like crazy cereal that dude that was killing people back in the day and like making lamp shades and out of the skin masks and stuff anyway don't do that so on the gojijang fish sauce funk master i'm just going to put a little sesame seeds on this and i didn't want him to end up on the old timer he's a little cranky he don't like sesame digestion issue all right salt bam a sesame bay i'm gonna go throw this in the um here watch i'll show you never mind guys explain everything look so the po when i'm putting this on the next layer look all the little runoff doesn't end up on the old timers i'm gonna throw these into the old dehydrator vinny look at that baby there's your thumbnail jerky all right fooling around we don't play with our food oh it's dead i really wish sometimes i had like three arms great 140 degrees about three four hours it's uh time is it okay it's 10 40. that took a while it's 10 40. i'll call you come back down was maybe we'll check it out at around you know uh three o'clock 2 30. all right i'll give you a call call me oh yeah mama yeah nice that's what i'm talking about here let's bring him over to the let's bring him over to the spot chris how you doing the thing with jerky when you're dehydrating it is you know you might think it's not done because it's still hot and kind of pliable but um once it cools off it usually will firm up i like to keep them in like an airtight container so that the little bit of moisture even though we dehydrated them they're not completely dry so some of that moisture will help just kind of like mildly rehydrate it in a very nice way yeah let's pull these off and if there's any thick ones that don't seem done we'll pop them back in yeah this is looking good marination just kind of penetrated all the way through oh meow what's up you like jerky jerky oh so we got two different types here obviously yeah mouthful yeah you really went for it so it's gonna get the fish off a little bit great flavor delicious thanks bud now hear me out real quick off the bat maybe a little dry you throw them in a ziploc they give off a little bit of their own moisture and it'll be a whole different texture those are the first jerkies that i've really really loved it was good brad we're not banging him we did a good job yeah proud of you thanks bud thanks for playing hey baragoni these are good i think they went a little too long well hear me out i was just i tried right but you tried them out of the bag in a couple hours i should just get a little recording saying this agree it probably could have went 30 minutes less flavor's great thank you all right thanks for playing vince to the telephone you call one miss rachel carton i heard she's a major jerky fan all right let's call her what's her number um okay she better pick up hey rachel it's brad down from the test kitchen you might know me from great hits from series it's alive so let me just give you the quick spiel okay i'm gonna do this one we should have let everyone taste it after the bag it's very dry it's not that dry all right it's a little dry this one's good you like you like that better that's the old timer i like it how long does it last oh for a good good while i've been eating the same batch i made last week still here you know that's this is an ancient method of preserving meat you throw it in your saddle while you're crossing the uh great divide back in the day yeah lois and clark they had jerky louis as i said like i said maybe we'll get a little i'll have vinnie come down in an hour or so and we can do a real quick out of the bag comparison vinnie can you hear me wink if it's a yes wink twice if you need help oh so we put our the jerky back into our they went into our bags remember when it came out it was a little a little darker you definitely couldn't do that remember yeah oh home run derby all day baby it's gone no no no no all right mr editor look old timer was a little drier remember on the outside now look at that you like that that's good yeah it's got a good bit of chew right but it's not like it's not cardboard by any means reflection sure is so good it's so good right especially because like it's such a lean cut this is the high round yep it's such a lean like you need to add a lot of flavor famous words of chris morocco flavor's got nowhere to hide great so yeah keep it in a bag you know store it you don't want to put it in the fridge and then take it out for two days put it in the fridge take it out because it's gonna sweat and i don't know things that go a little funky just eat it or you know keep it at room temperature or google it i'd love to know if you guys are willing to share some of your uh secret ingredients or preferred flavor profiles for jerky or anything like that or anything else you'd like to see us fool around with ferment time's flying bud we gotta go so uh jerky bon appetit claire's in alaska lucky dog i remember alaska hey guys today it's live we're gonna oh god okay jerry likes jerky i don't know he's dead didn't get a chance to ask him yeah ben edgevale boom jerry toney whoa whoa get out of there lau yeah you can't just go shopping they're saying they say he's got no respect oh i get no respect vinnie said i sounded like ronnie dangerfield once or twice too i don't know if that's an insult or not is he dead of course he's dead what do you mean of course and we can have time for a weekend nature don't care about the week you know what happens to the week damn man these supposed to be this is a self self-help video\n"