Anyone have experience with making gound beef jerky?

nolaegghead

@blind99 I forgot to add in my list of ingredients, the ratio recipe I was following, listed brown sugar.  I normally eschew sugah in my jerky, but it does wonders in the way it looks and the surface texture.  So in the spirit of that, I added a big squirt (probably a couple ounces) of agave sugar. 

In conclusion, if I didn't state it earlier, I was very pleased with the final result.  Good tenderness, spice, perhaps a tad on the salty side, but perfectly acceptable.  The only thing I would changes is maybe a tablespoon less of salt and it lacks the heat to keep the wusses from eating more than once piece, and that's usually trademark for me. 

I think it took about 5.5 hours, give or take, in the dehydrator.  I set the timer for 4 in case I forgot about it, then checked it and at one point it was off, turned on again and kept checking every 30 minutes (I think I ate a couple ounces during this phase) until I thought it was done.

As we all hear, and nothing is more true, time and temp is totally the wrong way to check if something's done.  Eat some of it.  It's done when you think it's done. Jerky is one of those things where you want uniform thickness so you don't have to pick some out before other stuff.  If you're in the ballpark, it will equalize in storage after the dehydration step.  But you can't have a lot of variation in thickness because wet meat does not store well.

blind99

@nolaegghead nice. I've mostly just used teriyaki sauce or bulgogi sauce from a bottle. Maybe I'll try amping it up with a little pink salt and cayenne. 

RRP

OhioEgger said:

nolaegghead said:

PS PS - and for some heresy - I put in a couple ounces of applewood liquid smoke. 

Agree. Jerky is one of the few (IMHO) legitimate uses for liquid smoke. It definitely improves the product.

Me too. For years now I have made a favorite BBQ sauce recipe called Wild Boar Soul Sauce. It is NOT my recipe, just one I have shared! Amongst the many ingredients it calls for a mere one half cup of liquid smoke in a sauce that  ultimately cooks down to a mere 2 quarts. In the many years and times sharing that recipe I recall one dude who went ballistic saying he would NEVER use that ingredient nor follow ANY recipe that had that nor EVER even taste it! 

Guess maybe he's one of those crazy uncles we have somewhere on this forum from time to time!

nolaegghead

Soylent Green is People and Liquid Smoke is Smoke.  Totally natural.  In both cases.

Teefus

nolaegghead said:

Indeed.  Many time's I've needed/wanted some viscous goop-injection tool.  I have a SS injector but it has a needle.  Injecting bread, pasta like manicotti, chicken breasts with cheese/prosciutto/mushroom glop, etc.  Seems like a 1.5 pound capacity tool that I'd really use for other stuff that I normally wouldn't have the tech to do.  I'm buying one today. 

viscous goop-injection tool sounds like a punk band name. Just saying.

Legume

Teefus said:

nolaegghead said:

Indeed.  Many time's I've needed/wanted some viscous goop-injection tool.  I have a SS injector but it has a needle.  Injecting bread, pasta like manicotti, chicken breasts with cheese/prosciutto/mushroom glop, etc.  Seems like a 1.5 pound capacity tool that I'd really use for other stuff that I normally wouldn't have the tech to do.  I'm buying one today. 

viscous goop-injection tool sounds like a punk band name. Just saying.

Or maybe a crawfish boil team.  Hmmm.

nolaegghead

nolaegghead

Got a LEM Jerky Cannon and made turkey and beef jerky last night.  Came out delicious.  5.5 pounds total.

Legume

That looks really good.  You must eat a bunch of jerky.

nolaegghead

Legume said:

That looks really good.  You must eat a bunch of jerky.

I give 90% of it away.

hondabbq

@nolaegghead

Obviously those have no casing on them. Do you think you could use collagen cased meat sticks in the dehydrator?

Cant wait for holidays to get on this project.

nolaegghead

@hondabbq Yes.  I made 15 pounds of beef/pork snack sticks a few months ago using the small collagen casings.  Beef and pork.  There's a whole process to them that involves cold water quenching, etc. 

This is way easier, I think I'm going to go commando on these from now on.

hondabbq

nolaegghead said:

@hondabbq Yes.  I made 15 pounds of beef/pork snack sticks a few months ago using the small collagen casings.  Beef and pork.  There's a whole process to them that involves cold water quenching, etc. 

This is way easier, I think I'm going to go commando on these from now on.

I have made meat sticks dozens of times with great results. I just wanted to get away from the constant checking the fire, be it in the propane smoker or the oven. I was hoping of a more just turn it on a check it occasionally not constantly.

hondabbq

First batch of jalapeño jerky is in the dehydrator. 

Heres a pic of the first tray I processed. I have 5 more drying with it. 

I have the dehydrator set or 160f and it's hovering there give or take a few degrees. 

My question, how do you know when it's done? Hard to take a temp as it's thin my thermapen seems to be able to do it but u sure if it's proper. 

I have it set for 5 hours. 

@nolaegghead any tips for checking doneness?

hondabbq

Well here is the finished product. 2.26 kg starting weight down to 1.02 kg 

Started with 5 trays like the above post. 

nolaegghead

I read at some point there's a test where (something like) if you can bend it and it doesn't break, it's done. 

I just go by intuition.  There's no correct "done", if you want to store it at room temp, you gain shelf life by drying it more.  But it tastes better with some moisture. 

Dropping the weight by 50-60% seems to be in the ball park based on my experience and research.

blasting

@nolaegghead would foodsavering it and storing in the fridge be good?

nolaegghead

blasting said:

@nolaegghead would foodsavering it and storing in the fridge be good?

Sure, it would stay fresher longer.