# do you need to precook chicken for jerky?



## sabomnim (Jan 26, 2014)

I already started making chicken jerky without precooking. Will it be safe to eat?

my dehydrator is set to 150-155 F and I plan to start checking it after about 4 hours (this is my first attempt so I do not know how long it will eventually take)

but all I did was cut into about 1/8-1/4 inch strips (hand cut) and marinated overnight. I never precooked it before placing into the dehydrator?

because it is thin and cooking for so long, should I not be worried?

I know any official site will make sure it is very clear to have it reach 160F but thats often a precaution (i assume). In all reality is that necessary or just over doing it to be safe for an official site?


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## sb59 (Jan 26, 2014)

It all depends if you have anything to live for! Hopefully you at least have a cure in the marinade.


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## meddling kids (Jan 26, 2014)

I wouldn't eat it without cure.


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## sabomnim (Jan 26, 2014)

no cure. the marinade was just a wing hot sauce (cayenne pepper, water, vinegar, salt)

any post-dehydrating tips to make it safer? though i may just eat it anyway...


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## sb59 (Jan 26, 2014)

Consumer Reports: Potentially Harmful Bacteria Found on 97% of Chicken Breasts Tested ! Salmonella found in almost all farm raised chickens. Why play Russian Roulette with a pound of chicken. Toss it!


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## sb59 (Jan 26, 2014)

sabomnim said:


> no cure. the marinade was just a wing hot sauce (cayenne pepper, water, vinegar, salt)
> 
> any post-dehydrating tips to make it safer? though i may just eat it anyway...


You may as well save some time and put a soft pad in front of your toilet now. Farm raised chickens and turkey are probably the worst meats to chance without a cure.


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## sabomnim (Jan 26, 2014)

Yea but salmonella dies at 140F,  right? 
E coli would survive (160F) providing the chicken was infected. Worst case scenario i get diarrhea? 
Im not trying to be a pain, i just really want to eat it and don't want to waste potentially good jerky.  Plus I won't have a chance to make more until Friday


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## jerky nut (Jan 26, 2014)

Yea, about the only thing you can do is put your marinade in a sauce pan add water if it's thick. Bring your marinade to a boil and then trow the strips of chicken in the boiling marinade. Bring the marinade back to a boil and let the strips in the pan for at least 1 minute. Then dehydrate. Next time you should search around the site a little bit before you start something like this. You should use cure but the only thing helping you is the vinegar in the marinade and the salt.


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## meddling kids (Jan 26, 2014)

If it hasn't been in the dehydrator very long you could throw it in the oven and still eat it.


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## sb59 (Jan 26, 2014)

sabomnim said:


> Yea but salmonella dies at 140F, right?
> E coli would survive (160F) providing the chicken was infected. Worst case scenario i get diarrhea?
> Im not trying to be a pain, i just really want to eat it and don't want to waste potentially good jerky. Plus I won't have a chance to make more until Friday


If it takes too long to reach those internal temps the bacteria become heat resistant. It doesn't kill them it makes them stronger! I don't know your dehydrator but at 150 155 setting it may never really get hot enough. You need to insert a probe to check. Go to HI Country web site and watch their jerky videos for some good tips.


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## timberjet (Jan 26, 2014)

sabomnim said:


> Yea but salmonella dies at 140F, right?
> E coli would survive (160F) providing the chicken was infected. Worst case scenario i get diarrhea?
> Im not trying to be a pain, i just really want to eat it and don't want to waste potentially good jerky. Plus I won't have a chance to make more until Friday


Worst case scenario is paralysis and a painful death. I would not chance it. You probably could just pull it out and use it in a stirfry. IE cook the crap out of it. Providing it hasn't been in the danger zone for over a few hours.


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## timberjet (Jan 26, 2014)

sabomnim said:


> Yea but salmonella dies at 140F, right?
> E coli would survive (160F) providing the chicken was infected. Worst case scenario i get diarrhea?
> Im not trying to be a pain, i just really want to eat it and don't want to waste potentially good jerky. Plus I won't have a chance to make more until Friday


The rule of thumb is that you need to reach 140 in under 4 hours or yes you just made your bacteria into super bugs that multiply like crazy with heat. 40 to 140 in 4 hours. Uncured poultry should be cooked to at least 160.


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## sabomnim (Jan 26, 2014)

Fine you guys win. Ill dump this batch and try again with precooking or cure. Thanks for the advice


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## sabomnim (Jan 26, 2014)

For my future attempts,  how do you recommend precooking the chicken? 

Should I do the same for turkey??


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## sb59 (Jan 26, 2014)

Here you go .  http://www.hicountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/WholeMuscleJerkyInstructions.pdf

But 165 for poultry!


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## sb59 (Jan 26, 2014)

Here is the same for fowl,

http://www.hicountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/WholeMuscleGameBirdJerkyInstructions.pdf


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## shtrdave (Jan 26, 2014)

Don't precook it makes horrible jerky, when I got my cabelas dehydrator long ago the recipe was to bake the turkey breast and then dry, nasty stuff. USe a good jerky kit they usually have cure in them, and marinade for an extra day or so to get better flavor and then dry. this is the way I have been doing it for years and have never has any issues.


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## diggingdogfarm (Jan 26, 2014)

In spite of what's commonly believed, nitrite isn't reliably effective in controlling Salmonella and Escherichia coli...so proper temperature is critical.

*"The inhibitory mechanism which results in the 
effects nitrite has on some bacteria likely differs among 
bacterial species (Tompkin, 2005). For example, nitrite 
is not generally considered to be effective for controlling 
gram-negative enteric pathogens such as Salmonella 
and Escherichia coli (Tompkin, 2005). Even though the 
specific inhibitory mechanisms of nitrite are not well 
known, its effectiveness as an antimicrobial is dependent 
on several factors including residual nitrite level, pH, 
salt concentration, reductants present, iron content, and 
others (Tompkin, 2005). As an example, nitrite inhibits 
bacteria more effectively at low pH (Roberts, 1975; 
Allaker et al., 2001)."*

Source: *Sodium Nitrite in Processed Meat and Poultry 
Meats: A Review of Curing and Examining the 
Risk/Benefit of Its Use*
by Jeffrey J. Sindelar and Andrew L. Milkowski


=Martin=


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