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So, I made jerky this weekend using the Alton Brown recipe. It came out quite yummy, and was a fun little project. Next time I want to try for a teriyaki flavoring.
Some lessons:
You really want lean cuts. I wasn't able to find flank steak, so I used some promising looking sirloin. It came out just fine, but if forced to again I'd trim the fat beforehand much more aggressively. It ends up pretty nasty if you don't, and you'll waste less meat if you trim it before drying.
A little desk fan really isn't big enough. It took at least 24 hours to really dry, and I left it going for another 10 just to be sure. Next time I'll use fewer filters and pack the meat tighter.
Fiberglass filters worked just fine, but I did have to be careful to remove some wayward fibers that stuck to the drying meat. Possibly this could be prevented through better surface drying before placing the marinated meat on the filters, but I ran out of paper towels.
Some lessons:
You really want lean cuts. I wasn't able to find flank steak, so I used some promising looking sirloin. It came out just fine, but if forced to again I'd trim the fat beforehand much more aggressively. It ends up pretty nasty if you don't, and you'll waste less meat if you trim it before drying.
A little desk fan really isn't big enough. It took at least 24 hours to really dry, and I left it going for another 10 just to be sure. Next time I'll use fewer filters and pack the meat tighter.
Fiberglass filters worked just fine, but I did have to be careful to remove some wayward fibers that stuck to the drying meat. Possibly this could be prevented through better surface drying before placing the marinated meat on the filters, but I ran out of paper towels.
no subject
no subject
Having read the USDA page (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Jerky_and_Food_Safety/index.asp) on the subject, I'm not sure what to think. Having used a curing mix on non-ground beef, it seems like I'm pretty safe. But I still might go ahead and heat it to 160 next time, to see what that does to the final product.
no subject
On the drying rig - I'm seriously considering opening up my existing dehydrator and putting a toggle switch on it to turn off the heater but allow the dryer to run. That should give me a similar effect to Alton's setup. If you know how to use a soldering iron it should be damn easy.
BTW...
http://shorterlink.org/4101
I was home *ahem* sick a week or so ago and now I'm add^H^H^Hup to season 7. ;-)
Re: BTW...