Beef Jerky, How much sea salt to be safe in a food dehydrator?

[JohnDS]

Hey guys. I have a RecTec 700RT pellet smoker and I just bought a food dehydrator. This is the first time I started getting into making beef Jerky and because I'm on a weird diet, I can only season with sea salt and also staying away from the smoke for a little while. Also, I can't do the chemical salts either, and prefer not to use them anyway.

So in the past whenever I made dry sausage, the salt rule was 3% to weight of meat. I'm wondering if this is the same for beef jerky because I made a few batches and it just seems a little salty to me. I'm worried that if I add less salt than this, I'm risking the meat being exposed to bad bacteria within the 40°F - 140°F range while dehydrating.

I know usually leaner cuts of meat are used, but I wanted to try brisket as jerky, plus the price was good per LB lol. So I sliced up a full packer brisket and used sea salt at 3% to weight of the meat slices. I mixed well and let it sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours before putting the slices on the dehydrator. The dehydrator recommends 165°F so thats what I set it at. I did notice however with the dehydrator stocked, it takes a while to get to that temp which also is concerning. I tested this with an independent thermopro thermometer. The dehydrator I'm using is a Cosori 600w 6 tray.

So what do you guys think? Am I on the right track here? Is 3% salt what it needs to be to stay safe? It's not easy to find out how much salt because all the recipes I've seen so far have a lot of other ingredients that I can't use. Only sea salt for now. Thanks.

John

 

[Fueling Around]

I'm out of me knowledge base when it comes to jerky, especially whole muscle meat.
A brisket flat actually cuts up fairly lean after removing the surface fat. The point is a noway Jose for making jerky due to all the intramuscular fat.

3% salt on the exterior of an otherwise intact piece of meat is going to kill most pathogens.

I'm going to ask a few questions that have me puzzled.

...
This is the first time I started getting into making beef Jerky and because I'm on a weird diet, I can only season with sea salt and also staying away from the smoke for a little while. Also, I can't do the chemical salts either, and prefer not to use them anyway.
...
John

Are you sensitive to the iodine and or prussiate of soda common in table salts?
What is a chemical salt? Is this cure#1 with pure salt and sodium nitrite or the salt substitutes with potassium chloride?

 

[indaswamp]

Jerky dries so fast that you can get away with less salt than you would think. But it all depends on what temp. you are running the dehydrator at....

 

[Culinary Otter]

If you're really worried about it I would recommend pre-cooking the jerky if you're not adding cure and limited salt.

If you have a thermometer, cook the jerky to 160F in a 300f oven. If you don't, cook for about 10 mins assuming your jerky is 1/4" thick. Season , then transfer it to your dehydrator.

Personally, if you have a dehydrator that hits over 165, pre-warm it, throw in the meat. The surface should hit 140 long before it's an issue.

If you feel it doesn't come up to temp quick enough, throw in one tray at a time with 30 mins in between.

 

[dr k]

Kits usually include a cure pkg. The Usda recommends precooked meat to 160 or using cure #1 based on the weight of the batch not jut the meat. My dehydrators are 150° fixed temp and with the salt, sugar , soy sauce, honey, hot sauces, condiments, garlic etc already room temp stable ingredients you should be fine with all the preservatives used in jerky making.

 

[BarbecueFAQ]

...I would recommend pre-cooking the jerky if you're not adding cure and limited salt.

If you have a thermometer, cook the jerky to 160F in a 300f oven.

Personally, if you have a dehydrator that hits over 165, pre-warm it, throw in the meat. The surface should hit 140 long before it's an issue.

If you feel it doesn't come up to temp quick enough, throw in one tray at a time with 30 mins in between.

So a couple things here because I'm a jerky fiend and I've read the confusing documentation by the FSIS and USDA multiple times.

Culinary Otter 's point about pre-heat treatment is sound advice, especially if you're worried about certain temp. sensitive harmful bacteria.

Documentation I'll be referencing:
FSIS Compliance Guidelines
Appendix A (cooking guidelines for meat and poultry - pg 10.)

Culinary otter notes 160F, but from the documentation above we know that 158F instantaneously kills bacteria. People will repeat 160 or 165F because it's (in my opinion) easier to remember than a random value like 158F.

Going from 158 > 165F also can take a while. I know because I've done so many times.

You may even see the Jerky drop in internal temperature. If your marinade is sugar heavy and you're pre-heat treating with an oven set to 350F, you risk burning the sugars.

Pre-heat treatment also has no downsides - even from a taste perspective. Texture isn't changed, flavor isn't changed, etc.

Quick tips regarding pre-heat treatment:

• Pat drying is a waste of time and money. Marinades are surface treatments at best (aside from salt). When you heat treat, a lot of the marinade will end up on the surface or in your baking pan.
• Invest in wire racks if you opt to heat treat. If you heat treat without them, you risk case hardening the exterior of the meat and it will dry faster than the interior; Wire racks raise the jerky off the baking pan.
• Get a probe thermometer that's accurate at the tip. Thermoworks is a solid brand and has their sensors in the very tip of the probe.
• Ensure your oven is accurate. My oven is off by 20F - I know because I've checked the ambient temperature. When I pre-heat treat I typically want to be at 325F so I'll set my oven to 350F to compensate.
• It takes ~10 minutes of your time.

---

Otter suggests pre-heat treating your dehydrator to 165F.

If I'm honest, most dehydrators suck and can't reach the temperatures they state. Again, verify your dehydrators ambient temperature and tell me if you're actually hitting 165F - I know from experience that mine can and it will cycle on and off within 5F of the pre-sets.

Similarly in the documentation above, the USDA notes that by heat treating first you can dehydrate at a lower temperature - 130-140F.

Which, in my opinion, results in better tasting jerky - The texture is much softer than if you ran at 165F+ (if your dehydrator can even go that high).

---

From commercial beef jerky we know that curing salts aren't entirely necessary and you can quite literally break down their salt usage via the sodium content on a "nitrate-free" brand's label.

Usually that number falls in the range of 2-5% salinity.

Most marinades will throw around soy sauce and add random cup values to certain weights of beef; 1/4 - 3/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce to 1-2 lbs of beef is popular.

Using proportion factors that's around 9.76g to 29.28g of salt for 2 lbs of meat.

Personally, I can't stand soy sauce marinades so I just weigh the meat + water * 2.5% = grams of salt.

Then add your humectants/sugars to deal with the salt.

Way more could be said here.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

No need to pre cook your jerky. If your using a kit just use the cure thats with it.
If your making your own mix or marinade use the proper amount of cure 1 for the pounds your making. I done hundreds of pounds this way and still walking and above the dirt.

Jeebus people this is not rocket science

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Hey guys. I have a RecTec 700RT pellet smoker and I just bought a food dehydrator. This is the first time I started getting into making beef Jerky and because I'm on a weird diet, I can only season with sea salt and also staying away from the smoke for a little while. Also, I can't do the chemical salts either, and prefer not to use them anyway.

So in the past whenever I made dry sausage, the salt rule was 3% to weight of meat. I'm wondering if this is the same for beef jerky because I made a few batches and it just seems a little salty to me. I'm worried that if I add less salt than this, I'm risking the meat being exposed to bad bacteria within the 40°F - 140°F range while dehydrating.

I know usually leaner cuts of meat are used, but I wanted to try brisket as jerky, plus the price was good per LB lol. So I sliced up a full packer brisket and used sea salt at 3% to weight of the meat slices. I mixed well and let it sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours before putting the slices on the dehydrator. The dehydrator recommends 165°F so thats what I set it at. I did notice however with the dehydrator stocked, it takes a while to get to that temp which also is concerning. I tested this with an independent thermopro thermometer. The dehydrator I'm using is a Cosori 600w 6 tray.

So what do you guys think? Am I on the right track here? Is 3% salt what it needs to be to stay safe? It's not easy to find out how much salt because all the recipes I've seen so far have a lot of other ingredients that I can't use. Only sea salt for now. Thanks.

John

Your salt content should be to your taste, if you use anything with added salt you may need to adjust......Your Rectec should put some good smoke to it, keep the heat at the lowest because your going in the dehydrator

 

[BarbecueFAQ]

No need to pre cook your jerky. If your using a kit just use the cure thats with it.
If your making your own mix or marinade use the proper amount of cure 1 for the pounds your making. I done hundreds of pounds this way and still walking and above the dirt.

Jeebus people this is not rocket science

Not everybody likes to use cure though :)

This argument has been around since I started making Jerky like 17 years ago.

His question is super common for someone who doesn't want to use cure and is looking to use salt and certain salinity percentages to kill bacteria.

(People also like to cite water activity/drying time but they aren't measuring that either.)

I have no bias either way; I've similarly done hundreds of pounds both ways - both result in good tasting jerky.

Simply put, Cure #1 helps with shelf stability and color stability.

Which is why all non-nitrite* packages say to consume within 1 week of opening.

The documentation that FSIS provides is hard to digest, I've just read it multiple times (it's above). Some folks are also immuno-compromised and while anecdotes are cool, I'm trying to put out the same product every time I make it.

 

[JohnDS]

Thanks for the recommendations guys.

I wont be smoking this and wont be using curing salts. Just regular pure sea salt. I think I might try one of these two methods:

Drop the salt from 3% to 2% and do 300° for 10min then dehydrate

Or

Drop salt from 3% to 2%, then smoke at 180°(lowest it will go), then dehydrate if it needs.

 

[Culinary Otter]

Thanks for the recommendations guys.

I wont be smoking this and wont be using curing salts. Just regular pure sea salt. I think I might try one of these two methods:

Drop the salt from 3% to 2% and do 300° for 10min then dehydrate

Or

Drop salt from 3% to 2%, then smoke at 180°(lowest it will go), then dehydrate if it needs.

I've made a basic salt and pepper jerky using the 300/10 min method. Works well. Post pics of you results!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Good grief, and to think that my whole life growing up and as an adult we always made Carne Seca. Just salted meat, by eyeball, then hung to dry in the sun. Never a single problem from venison to beef to lamb. Why all the scare about thin sliced jerky? Salt, sugar. Soy and the rest will inhibit bacteria growth until the meat is dry. Which btw is the holy grail of food safety. Thin meat dries very fast, lowering the AW or available water. Without water, no bacteria survives.

 

[Yoder Owner]

I wouldn’t use sea salt. You can get pink curing salt. Pink curing salt is very potent.
It can easily get someone sick if use as table salt. It’s something like 1/4 tsp cures a lot of meat.