Jerky and cure questions

Citizen Q

After sitting down for my weekly review off all things Egg, I notice that we've been heavy on the dehydrator jerky subject as of late which got me to head down cellar to take a look at the one I've had unused in a box on a shelf for about 8 years now (it was a door prize at some fundraiser and Lord only knows how long the guy who donated it had it sitting on a shelf in his cellar before I got it). It's an American Harvest Snackmaster Jr. In going over the directions for jerky, they don't mention cure anywhere except in the recipe for formed ground beef jerky. I'm planning on slicing strips of flank steak or maybe brisket and marinating in a couple of different concoctions, heavy on the salt.
Do I need to use a cure for this method? How about when making jerky on the Egg? What's a good brand of cure? Should I use this 8 plus year old cure package that came with the dehydrator? How do I get this Cure song out of my head? Don't you just hate it when a song keeps going around in your head but you don't even know the right words? DAMMIT!!
Now I'm not even sure if its a Cure song or The Thompson Twins! Maybe if I insert this Polder probe through my ear, it'll go away.[p]Anyway, any help is much appreciated.[p]Cheers,
C~Q

Stogie

Citizen Q,[p]As a 20+ year veteran of jerky making, I use cure in every stick of jerky I have ever made. The reason....to kill off any unwanted bugs. You don't get hot enough in the dehydrators(or smokers for that matter) to kill most bugs, so you need something that will kill them. Many claim if you use enough salt, that it will kill the bugs. Maybe. I like to BE SURE of killing ALL the bugs. PLUS...the jerky needs NO refrigeration.[p]I use TenderQuick, as it is available and a little goes a long way. Use 1 Tablespoon per pound of meat if using in a marinade.[p]One other trick to gauge the correct amount of salt...use my recipe..LOL. Seriously, make a batch of marinade and see if an egg floats. Be sure you have enough marinade so the egg does not sit on the bottom and looks like it is floating. Add salt until the egg floats.[p]If using TQ, this will account for a portion of the OVERALL salt you use. In my experimenting I added the TQ first and then added enough Kosher salt to float the egg.[p]If using any other cure, be sure to FOLLOW the directions on the package. EVERY cure is different in the proportions of nitrates/nitrites to salt, so follow directions.[p]If you need any additional help let me know!