Beef Curing salt for beef jerky?

[samus79]

So I picked up a cheap dehydrator to make some jerky. I’m planning on using ground beef for the first test run. The instructions with the dehydrator say to add the curing salt (potassium/sodium nitrate) to prevent bacterial growth while it dries out.

Is it really necessary to use the curing salt? The dehydrator will dry the ground beef at 160 degrees which is enough to kill any bacteria and I’m planning on storing it in the fridge. Anyone have any experience with this? Any good recipes for ground beef jerky?

Also wondering about the fat content of the beef, I realize you want the leanest ground beef to prevent it going rancid, but I’m planning on eating it all long before it would go rancid, especially being that it will be stored in the fridge. Would it be alright to use beef with a higher fat content to possibly improve the flavor? My only concern with higher fat would be it dripping into the internals of the dehydrator and having to clean it out.

 

[Melodi]

No on the fat content (it goes rancid - you don't want it in your jerky) but you do not need to specifically use canning salt but you do need some salt.

I usually just use a combination of soy sauce and red wine (or vinegar) because it is so salty on its own no added salt is required; when I do use salt I just use table salt - there are lots of good books and resources online.

If you want to make jerky for long-term prep storage you need to dry it to rock hard, but if you are going to eat it within a month then it can be softer and stored in the fridge (or the freezer, I freeze some as well).

Freezing any meat jerky for 48 hours is a good idea anyway because it kills a lot of nasties (after the jersey is made).

Again, fat will just congile on top of the jerky while it is drying it will not "improve" the flavor just make something you have to wipe off every few hours (with some meats like pork this is just going to happen in many cases).

If you enjoy this, you might want to consider a more expensive dehydrator that has temperature control (if yours does not) as it does much better vegetables, fruit and even herbs (we have an Excalibur).

I'd also suggest first starting with cut up round roasts (sliced thin) or round steak; that tends to be easier than hamburger for a first try.

 

[samus79]

Thanks for the advice. I bought a cheap Nesco dehydrator that has temperature control (up to 160f) in case I ended up not liking the home made jerky and we are going to make some dried fruit in the next days. If it all works out and we like it, I already have a larger Excalibur model in mind.

I went ahead with a half pound 80/20 grass fed ground beef test run, I used the included seasoning and curing salt just to be safe and added a bit worstershire sauce for flavor. It turned out great and since at this time I’m not planning on using it for storage food I’m not worried about it going rancid the few days it will be in the fridge before we eat it.

But I will definitely use a leaner ground beef in the future as this has a rather fatty flavor/texture. I was actually thinking about using some soy sauce but I figured I’d save that for the next batch.

 

[Melodi]

Sounds good, the really cheap dehydrators over here don't have the temperature control so they are pretty useless for anything but jerky or tomatoes - I couldn't figure out why nothing tasted right except those two items and it is because both vegetables and fruit need lower temperatures (most of them).

Your probably OK for now with one that does and you can get a better one later; my husband loves the jerky even though I only recently found out that I didn't have to make it rock hard to be safe as long as it was eaten fairly quickly (like in a month) or frozen.

I really love having carrots, potatoes, onions etc at the touch of my fingers to make quick soups and stew; you don't even have to rehydrate you just throw them into the hot liquid - very nice.