Ground Meat Jerky Tips and Recipes page

[JeffC]

So I have made about 20 batches or so of ground meat jerky. I have a Nesco dehydrator and a jerky gun I got at Bass Pro. The capacity is about 3.5 lbs of raw meat. I use buffalo meat I get at my farmer's market. I dehydrate it at 160F and use the flat attachment (not the round one) so that the jerky is flat, I think if it was round it might take longer to cook. At 160F, it is done in about 6 hours. I do not use nitrates or nitrates and refrigerate after making. It is always gone from my household after 5 days so I don't think I have to worry about preservatives or spoilage anyway. Here are a couple tips I have discovered.

Recipes: I've only used spices, never marinades. For the 3 to 3.25 lbs of meat I start with, I've found that I need about 9 TBSP of seasoning to convey taste, so 3 TBSP per lb of raw meat. That's not counting salt. I found that 1 TSP salt per lb of raw meat is about right, anything more is too salty, anything less not enough. I've experimented with different ratios of spices including cumin, white/black pepper, paprika, coriander, curry, turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder, and garam masala.

Recently I've used the recipe from Steven Raichlen's "Barbeque Bible" for the pulled pork rub at p.155 for 1lb of meat. It's fantastic although it does have 2 TSP brown sugar per pound. This is my favorite so far, you should try it if you can.

Some advanced tips:

1) I find that the Nesco unit I have can be a little uneven with drying so after 2 or 3 hours, I gently rotate some of the pieces which just takes a minute or two, although I've skipped this step a lot.

2) After 4 hours, I'll slice up the pieces into smaller bite size pieces and layer them back on the trays, only take a few minutes. This also helps to even out the cooking.

3) After 6 hours drying, I'll lay out the bite size pieces on a paper towel on a plate and stack up layers on the same plate. After an hour or so drying I put them in some smaller tupperware containers and put them in the fridge. After 90 minutes or so in the fridge, I take it out of the fridge, dump out the jerky back on the plate and wipe out the condensation that forms inside the container with a paper towel. I read somewhere that doing this is a good step and preventing spoilage but again since it's gone in a week, it may not be necessary.

Anybody else have tips or recipes to share for ground meat jerky?

[Grol]

Thanks Jeff,

I don't have any tips for ground jerky, because I haven't tried it yet, but I've been making a lot of jerky from cheap tough cuts of beef, while using bison for burgers. I will give this a try. I like my jerky spicy hot and use cayenne pepper with garlic, onion, and salt. Cumin and smoked paprika seem to impart nice flavors too. I do it a little different every time. I have noticed the saltier I make the faster it disappears from the fridge, and that's from other people eating more of it, not me.

I think my favorite so far was marinaded in red wine and diced jalepenos. Go figure.

[cillakat]

Alton Brown's is the best beef jerky recipe I've found. I tend to not like jerky made from ground beef

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

[Grol]

God I love Alton Brown!

Special Equipment: 1 box fan, 4 paper air-conditioning filters, and 2 bungee cords

Thanks cillakat. Now I HAVE to do this crazy thing. I'll pass on the Worcestershire, soy and honey and go with red wine. I love the combo or red wine and beef.

[cillakat]

Thanks cillakat. Now I HAVE to do this crazy thing. I'll pass on the Worcestershire, soy and honey and go with red wine. I love the combo or red wine and beef.

Yeah, it's not difficult to modify. Be sure to add some salt to make up for the missing worchestershire and soy. Thai fish sauce is a great option and is soy/wheat free.

[Katie82]

That recipe sounds good. But, really? beef jerky is RAW dried meat. I always thought it was cooked! Hmmm, all the more reason to eat it then.

[Bushrat]

I didn't know you could make jerky from ground beef. How does you handle all the fat in the ground beef? I thought jerky should be made from meat with as little fat as possible?

[JeffC]

I didn't know you could make jerky from ground beef. How does you handle all the fat in the ground beef? I thought jerky should be made from meat with as little fat as possible?

Ground buffalo meat is around 5% fat according to my vendor. I am not sure where you live and what is available there but in my area, ground beef meat is marketed by percentage of fat, the most fat is around 20%, then 90/10, 93/7 and finally 96/4 or 4% fat which is plenty lean for jerky but the ground buffalo just tastes a lot better to me.

[tamo42]

That recipe sounds good. But, really? beef jerky is RAW dried meat. I always thought it was cooked! Hmmm, all the more reason to eat it then.

Commercially sold jerky has to be heated up to cooking temps before being sold to the public. Essentially, it is pasteurized, and thus not as good as the homemade verison.

[jerky lady]

I make a lot of ground beef jerky. Used to make buffalo as well, but prices skyrocketed. Am looking for a recipe for Honey Garlic Jerky made with ground beef. Any suggestions?