# Moist and tender beef jerky



## jerkylover

Does anyone know how to make the beef jerky moist and tender? I'm in Israel and has available shoulder, chuck tender, and brisket... I currently dry it in a dehydrator at 145 F and cut it about 3/8 thick across grain. I've seen jerky that is kind of loose or stringy like cooked brisket, any idea how they do it? Thanks!


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## jerkylover

When I say stringy, I mean a crumbly type of jerky


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## daveomak

jl, morning....  long and stringy comes from slicing with the grain.....   To get the moist type jerky, add a hygroscopic ingredient like honey...  holds onto moisture and remains soft and pliable...  Dave


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## jerkylover

DaveOmak said:


> jl, morning....  long and stringy comes from slicing with the grain.....   To get the moist type jerky, add a hygroscopic ingredient like honey...  holds onto moisture and remains soft and pliable...  Dave



Thanks for the feedback Dave! For some reason it comes out really tough when I cut with the grain like the strands are glued together. How can I get the strands to be more loose like in the following picture? 













image.jpg



__ jerkylover
__ Jul 1, 2013


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## daveomak

That beef is probably machine "manipulated" somehow....  Maybe the meat is cut on the bias to the grain... 10-15 deg off from straight down it..  I don't know....  look at the meat closely, see if you can figure out what has been done to it...  

Looking at the picture, it looks as if it is sliced, then ran through a roller to flatten and tenderize it...  One of the secret things.... u know....

Dave


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## dougmays

One trick i've learned is that if you over dry it it'll be come more crumbly and tear apart more easily...but this goes against your moist request as well. 

If you want most and "loose" meat you might want to try using ground beef and a jerky gun. This will give you what you are looking for because it can be moist and "less dried" but also break apart very easily


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## donr

I have always used the hi mountain jerky cures.  They contain sodium nitrite so you don't have to dry the heck out of the meat.  I use bottom eye round roast, I think that's what they call it.  I cut it into 1 inch long steaks, then cut those into 1/4" wide strips.  Mix on the cure & spices, let cure in fridge for 24 hours per 1/4" meat thickness.  You can cook in oven or smoker. I don't know time & temp's off the top of my head, less than 2 hours though.  Good either way, obviously smoked is much better though.  There is moisture left in it, so it won't last forever in a ziplock bag. Not that it normally has a chance to go bad.


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## fwismoker

I've been using a Alton Brown version and am sold on it.  It does call for liquid smoke so if you're smoking your own you can just eliminate it from the recipe.   If I find the video i'll post it.


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## daveomak

FWIsmoker said:


> I've been using a Alton Brown version and am sold on it.  It does call for liquid smoke so if you're smoking your own you can just eliminate it from the recipe.   If I find the video i'll post it.


FWI.....  Does Alton Brown's recipe call for cure #1 ?????   

please do not post the video......


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## fwismoker

DaveOmak said:


> FWI.....  Does Alton Brown's recipe call for cure #1 ?????
> 
> please do not post the video......


; It was a YouTube video recipe...it wasn't AB's recipe directly...last time I checked we could post embedded videos on here.


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## s2k9k

FWIsmoker said:


> ; It was a YouTube video recipe...it wasn't AB's recipe directly...last time I checked we could post embedded videos on here.



Keith it's OK as long as you embed it and I already know you know how to do that!


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## fwismoker

S2K9K said:


> Keith it's OK as long as you embed it and I already know you know how to do that!


 thanks Dave...the other Dave confused me! :)


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## daveomak

FWIsmoker said:


> *I've been using a Alton Brown version and am sold on it.*   It does call for liquid smoke so if you're smoking your own you can just eliminate it from the recipe.   *If I find the video i'll post it.*


Just so neither of us is confused, I thought you were going to post an AB video recipe for making jerky......   AB does not use cure that I know of....  so my response about not posting the video was in regard to the cure and food safety.... we approach curing, smoking, jerky making with food safety in mind..... AB does not heat his jerky to 160, it's done at room temp.... he doesn't use cure......  we do not condone recipes such as that so a video would be useless since it wouldn't follow the food safety intent we have on this forum.....

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from....    Dave


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## fwismoker

This recipe I do uses a dehydrator and its meat setting is 160..not sure how you can do jerky with out heat and air with out using a cure!

My jerky isn't for long term storage and don't use cure...It'll be lucky if it goes days.


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## s2k9k

DaveOmak said:


> Just so neither of us is confused, I thought you were going to post an AB video recipe for making jerky......   AB does not use cure that I know of....  *so my response about not posting the video was in regard to the cure and food safety*.... we approach curing, smoking, jerky making with food safety in mind..... AB does not heat his jerky to 160, it's done at room temp.... he doesn't use cure......  we do not condone recipes such as that so a video would be useless since it wouldn't follow the food safety intent we have on this forum.....
> 
> Anyway, that's where I'm coming from....    Dave


Thanks for clarifying that Dave! Yea I would not want to tell anyone on here to try and dry jerky at room temp without a cure, that's just scary to me!


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## fwismoker

Yea Dave...I originally said AB "version"  Assuming isn't always good.  One can use a recipe and cook it differently which I was speaking of.

Every one would agree that open air dying with out cure isn't the best idea! :)


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## tromaron

I use ground beef & a jerky gun.  It makes it an easy to bite texture and coupled with Oster brand seasoning and just a little McCormick's Hot Shot, is perfect for my taste. I Dry for 8-10 hours in my MES.


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## hoity toit

S2K9K said:


> Thanks for clarifying that Dave! Yea I would not want to tell anyone on here to try and dry jerky at room temp without a cure, that's just scary to me!


no kidding....it would put you on the commode for a couple days if you got ill....just sayin.


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## neil mcginnis

So Alton Brown's jerky is too dangerous for you?? He seems to know what he's doing so i'm likely to take his advice.

I am not going to use a cure that contains harmful preservatives such as Sodium Nitrate.


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## daveomak

Neil McGinnis said:


> So Alton Brown's jerky is too dangerous for you?? He seems to know what he's doing so i'm likely to take his advice.
> I am not going to use a cure that contains harmful preservatives such as Sodium Nitrate.



So, Alton Brown seems to know what he is doing..  There are many folks on this site the DEFINITELY know what they are doing ...

Like I tell others......  Purposely ignoring food safety is your choice....   
Do not use sodium nitrate, use cure #1 which has sodium nitrite and use it at 120 Ppm....  It is perfectly safe....  In fact, if you don't use it, you could get botulism and some other pathogens.... 

Sooooooooo......   Leave an address where flowers can be sent to you or your loved ones, or friends that have died from the food borne pathogens YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE......  I will send the flowers...

If you are concerned about nitrate....  google nitrates in vegetables.... they are hundreds of times higher in concentration, than in meats....


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## jsk53

I watched the "Good Eats" episode where AB made his beef jerky. He did actually use a home made dehydrator and did not air dry the beef. I don't recall offhand, but he did indicate the beef had to reach a certain temp to dehydrate properly. I don't believe he was using unsafe procedures. In fact, I have made his jerky recipe for the last couple years in my Excalibur dehydrator and it comes out perfectly, just like my own recipes. Just my 2.6 cents......


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## daveomak

The link below contains valuable information for those that wish to produce "SAFE, Ready to Eat" Jerky at home, using dehydrators...  
The method for drying Jerky in a smoker, has the additional complications of botulism, in a low oxygen environment, that are not addressed in the guideline below... 
Page 4 ......   One potential cause of the 2003 Salmonella Kiambu in jerky outbreak was the very slow drying process under low humidity conditions...

FSIS Compliance Guideline for Meat and Poultry Jerky Produced by Small and Very Small Establishments
2012 Updated Compliance Guideline

http://www.meathaccp.wisc.edu/doc_support/asset/Compliance_Guideline_Jerky_2012.pdf


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