Storage life of homemade jerky? page

[Tealia]

Say I make beef or turkey jerky in my home dehydrator with nothing but seasonings and plenty of salt... how long is it safe to store? I don't trust my jerky instruction book which came with the unit, since they also gave me packets of nitrites to mix with the meat. Gross.

My Costco sells 85% lean ground beef which I like to turn into rough jerky strips. I might also try super-lean turkey for a switch up occasionally. I know the leaner the meat, the longer it lasts, but about how long is that?

[Lunchbox]

We make homemade jerky and it depends on how you store it. If you vacuum seal and freeze it, it will last a looooong time, like months and months. If you're not freezing, it will last at least 1-2 months. Unfortunately, ours never makes it past that point since by then it's gone.

[magicmerl]

Our kids call the jerky I make 'meat chewing gum'. So it rarely if ever lasts the week.

You don't need to buy special lean beef though. Just buy some steaks like topside or whatever, and cut off everything that has fat (I do it very liberally, including about 1/2 the meat in it). Then throw the fatty half in the crock pot for a dinner in 8 hours time, while you can slice up the 'pure' meat and marinate it for jerky. Dry the jerky in the oven overnight on the lowest setting (we prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon).