# Trying my hand at ground beef jerky today



## thehoz (Apr 18, 2015)

I bought the LEM jerky gun and 4 of  the Masterbuilt fish and veggie mats. I am doing 4 pounds of 93/7 and I used the jerky mix and cure that came with the gun. I'm doing this in the MES 30. I hope it works. I am also using the technique my buddy sent me from the back of  a package of Con Yeager mix. It goes like this... 
1  1 hour @ 180 no smoke damper closed
2 1 hour @ 150 smoke damper 1/4 open
3 1 hour @ 140 smoke damper 1/4 open
4 @ 130 no smoke damper 1/4, until shrinks by 50% weight

And some pics













IMG_20150418_081308.jpg



__ thehoz
__ Apr 18, 2015


















IMG_20150418_085947.jpg



__ thehoz
__ Apr 18, 2015


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## crazymoon (Apr 19, 2015)

TH, looks good, I think your first hour w/out smoke should have the dampers wide open to let the meat air dry and remove moisture? Show us a finished pic and please send samples.


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## daveomak (Apr 19, 2015)

FWIW..
When making jerky, the USDA recommends heating the jerky to 160-165 while it is wet.....  The last paragraph is key...  evaporating moisture cools the meat...  If the exhaust is closed, that in itself reduces the cooling effect of evaporation...


Why is temperature important when making jerky? Illnesses due to Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 from homemade jerky raise questions about the safety of traditional drying methods for making beef and venison jerky. The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline's current recommendation for making jerky safely is to heat meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F before the dehydrating process. This step assures that any bacteria present will be destroyed by wet heat. But most dehydrator instructions do not include this step, and a dehydrator may not reach temperatures high enough to heat meat to 160 °F or 165 °F.

After heating to 160 °F or 165 °F, maintaining a constant dehydrator temperature of 130 to 140 °F during the drying process is important because:
•the process must be fast enough to dry food before it spoils; and
•it must remove enough water that microorganisms are unable to grow.

Why is it a food safety concern to dry meat without first heating it to 160 °F?
 The danger in dehydrating meat and poultry without cooking it to a safe temperature first is that the appliance will not heat the meat to 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F — temperatures at which bacteria are destroyed — before the dehydrating process. After drying, bacteria become much more heat resistant.

Within a dehydrator or low-temperature oven, evaporating moisture absorbs most of the heat. Thus, the meat itself does not begin to rise in temperature until most of the moisture has evaporated. Therefore, when the dried meat temperature finally begins to rise, the bacteria have become more heat resistant and are more likely to survive. If these surviving bacteria are pathogenic, they can cause foodborne illness to those consuming the jerky.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...at-preparation/jerky-and-food-safety/ct_index


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## beartoo (Apr 19, 2015)

Thanks for posting your buddies smoking time/temp for smoking jerky.I am going to try it as soon as  the weather gets better again.


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## dartguy (Apr 25, 2015)

Mixed up a batch of ground goose jerky tonight.  Will sit in the fridge tonight and then I will shoot it with my jerky gun in the AM, then into the MES using the temp methods described here.  I've only done this jerky in the oven before so I am excited to add some smoke flavor.  Thanks, Dave for the USDA link - VERY informative!!!!!!


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## beartoo (Apr 25, 2015)

I also have my first batch of ground beef jerky in the fridge waiting for smoking in my MES in the am.

Can't wait for the smoke to come out of the vent.

Take Care

Beartoo


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