My jerky often tastes off

[Josh]

When I make jerky it's really random. About 50% of the time it's nice, and the rest of the time it tastes 'off'...hard to explain but it's not pleasant to eat...a slightly unpleasant taste that puts me off. Sometimes this happens within a batch and sometimes a whole batch is fine and then another one's bad.

I've used commercial lean roasts and ones from my grass fed supplier and they're both inconsistent.

Someone suggested ventilation before, but I can't see how it couldn't be ventilated enough. The hole is slightly bigger than Lex's if anything (but not too much). Have also tried 100 and 150w bulbs. I think the 150w was cooking the meat and spoiling it in the hot weather, but the 100w jerky can still taste bad.

Is jerky just inconsistent in taste?...should I eat it?...or do you have any ideas?

[ForTheHunt]

It has to be 110% lean or else the fat will go rancid.

It doesn't need much ventilation in my experience. It has never been inconsistant for me.

[Josh]

Thanks. It's not rancid fat I mean, as when it goes wrong it tastes bad straight away.

If I have a good batch I can taste the fat getting a bit more rancid, but it doesn't bother me.

What are good cuts out of interest? I usually get topside or steaks.

[donrad]

I'v been making jerkey for over 40 years. I started by pinning strips of meat on the clothesline in Arizona. That only works in a hot dry climate.

Start with large chunks of meat, the fat content doesn't matter much. The interior on the large roast will not have been exposed to knives & air and will have the natural antibiotics of the animal intact. A rump or round roast is perfect.

Invest in a dehydrator that has a thermostat and fan. The cost spread out over a lot of years and tons of meat is well worth it. You can now set the temp at 100 degrees which will not harm the enzymes and vitamins. The fan will help dry the meat quickly before spoilage set in. Slice the meat thin.

Don't soak the meat in marinade or saltwater like some recipes suggest but do sprinkle with salt and pepper and your favorite spices. The salt and spices help control spoilage. The marinades draw out flavor and nutrients.

If you dry the meat to a crisp it will last forever without spoiling, however it is not very palatable. I dry my meat half way and store in the freezer, taking out a day's supply as needed. Chewy tender tasty.

I now use run of the mill ground beef with ground heart added. I can mix in spices and some dried fruit. You can buy these "jerkey guns" that squeeze the ground meat out in different shapes. This is cost effective and quick. I now have handy raw meat for snacks and meals while away from home; and it is socially acceptable.

If you do some web research and learn to cold smoke the meat is adds a lot of flavor and also retards spoilage.

Nature naturally nutritously nurturing nice nerds

[raw-al]

Donrad,
What dehydrator do you suggest?

What gun do you suggest? What is the name of it?

[Josh]

Thanks for the reply. I'll add a question if you don't mind.

I now use run of the mill ground beef with ground heart added. I can mix in spices and some dried fruit

When you say ground beef, do you mean what we call 'mince' in the UK..i.e. meat mixed with fat.

If so this seems to be and easy way to get meat and fat when you're on the road. Can I ask how long it lasts?

[donrad]

I use two Nesco fd-75pr dehydrators with extra trays. A Google search brought up a lot of merchants with prices of from $47 used on Ebay to $70.

The ground beef is beef ground with fat attached. Depending on the cut of meat it can range from 30% to 10% fat in the stores. My butcher mixes the heart in with it when he grinds it. The higher the fat content the less the cost. In feedlot finished cattle the fat is bad for you so order lean. If it is grass finished beef the fat is good for you so order the less expensive fatty grind. Heart is very lean so it brings down the fat %. I tried coarse grinding my own with a lot of extra fat once but did not like it much.

My last purchase I paid $2.49 per pound for grass finished ground beef and $1.00 per pound for the heart. I am in the Kansas City, Kansas area. I have to drive out to a small town in the country to get to this butcher so I stock up and do a big batch of jerky. I also eat the ground beef just warmed up with salt & pepper, tastes great.

The jerky will last a year or longer if you dry it all the way to crunchy. I dry mine about half way while it is still soft and store it in the freezer, removing a day's supply at a time. In the freezer it will last a year also. If I vacuum sealed it, it would go a couple of years or more. If I don't dry it completely and store it in the frig it will get moldy. The mold is probably not bad and it does not smell bad.

For the jerkey gun, look on Amazon for: Metalware Open Country Beef Jerky Works Kit. It is also branded Nesco. Sells for about $15. I tried a similar larger plastic product once which did not work so I trashed it. I see on Amazon they have a big metal one for about $50 that looks interesting. I also noticed Amazon has 3 different models of Nesco dehydrators. Nice.

[raw-al]

Thanks Donrad,

That beef jerky gun looks like a gun I have for dispensing sealant. If I can make it food safe I will try it.
Appreciate the help. I travel a bit and taking b. jerky sounds like a good idea.

Have you tried other meats? If so how did they work out?

[Josh]

thanks, looks like an easy cheap pemmican substitute. I think i'll try it.

[raw-al]

Here is a link from another forum re dehydrators.
http://www.outdooradventurecanada.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2114

[donrad]

Have you tried other meats? If so how did they work out?

I have done a lot of shell-on shrimp. I read that our ancient ancestors ate insects and shrimp are a close relative. I mix the shrimp with spices and half-dry it. I eat everything but the tail. I have plans to cold smoke and dry salmon. When killing a large game animal, drying is the most logical and natural choice.

This is how Native Americans preserved buffalo and salmon. Pemmican translates to "travel food" which was eaten while moving to new hunting grounds or to better weather.  It is interesting that the native Americans would not eat a female buffalo in the spring because they did not have enough fat. A high protein low fat diet will make you sick.