Some Jerky Questions

[Max]

I've been looking through various beef jerky recipes on the web. Some call for a cure to put in the marinade and some don't. I want to do my first beef jerky attempt in the OBS. I'm going to cut thin strips from "London Broil" steaks, which are really a Top Round Roast cut into about 2" thick steaks. I'll marinade in soy sauce, salt, black pepper, garlic and onion powders, and a little brown sugar. Should I use a cure in this marinade? I have a package of LEM Backwoods Cure, sodium nitrite based. Is this a good cure to use for jerky? In general, what are the pros/cons of using and not using cure?

On a somewhat related topic, I also plan on getting a meat grinder. Tonight I saw a "jerky extruder" for sale at a hunting store. This thing looks like a caulk gun with two different tips. One is flat for jerky, and the other is round and looks like it would pump out some Slim Jim style sticks. Has anyone here used one of these? How are they? Does the "processed" meat hold its shape even without casing?

Max

[KevinG]

The cure is used to prevent botulism, which thrives in low oxygen, moist, and warm temperatures. If you plan on smoking the jerky, it would be wise to use the cure, if you are just dehydrating, you can probably get away with not doing it since you are not cutting the oxygen (no smoke). I've been reading some recent new changes the govt. is recommending and they are now saying the IT needs to get to 160 F to prevent E Coli.

http://www.simplesurvival.net/jerky.htm

I have not tried drying at this temp yet, and suspect the meat will pretty much get brittle, but the next site had some recommendations of using boiling water or brine.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/safefood/newsltr/v3n3s10.html

Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable treat!

[sueblazer03]

The jerky shooter works good if you add enough liquid to your ground meat. That is why most ground jerky recipes call for water. (I learnt this the hard way by converting a solid meat recipe to a ground meat recipe. I didn't have the muscle power to shoot it out.)

The jerky shooter is also good with deer meat since you get so few roasts and steaks from a deer you can use smaller stewing type pieces and grind them up. You can also get a special nozzle for them that will allow you to load casings on it to make snack sticks.

Depending on how you move while triggering the shooter you might get gaps in your jerky but I have not had a problem with them falling apart.

I always dehydrate or smoke my jerky at 160 degrees since I'm not too keen on the raw taste of just dried jerky. 

[RAF128]

I've been looking through various beef jerky recipes on the web. Some call for a cure to put in the marinade and some don't. I want to do my first beef jerky attempt in the OBS. I'm going to cut thin strips from "London Broil" steaks, which are really a Top Round Roast cut into about 2" thick steaks. I'll marinade in soy sauce, salt, black pepper, garlic and onion powders, and a little brown sugar. Should I use a cure in this marinade? I have a package of LEM Backwoods Cure, sodium nitrite based. Is this a good cure to use for jerky? In general, what are the pros/cons of using and not using cure?

On a somewhat related topic, I also plan on getting a meat grinder. Tonight I saw a "jerky extruder" for sale at a hunting store. This thing looks like a caulk gun with two different tips. One is flat for jerky, and the other is round and looks like it would pump out some Slim Jim style sticks. Has anyone here used one of these? How are they? Does the "processed" meat hold its shape even without casing?

Max

Salt is a cure and Soy Sauce if full of salt.   I don't think you need to add anything else.
You must have seen the Hi Mountain jerky gun.  I have one and it works great.   Once the jerky has dried hit holds together just fine and is firm and tough and won't fall apart.   Just be careful not to over dry it or it will be brittle.

[classicrockgriller]

The nice thing about a jerky gun with ground meats is you can make jerky art.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=13164.0

[Indy Smoker]

I have used the Lem package mix and it turns out really good.  I use it with strips, I have used Jack Links recipe for ground jerky and it works well with that.  I've got the Cabelas grinder and the jerky attachment to either grind the meat or slice in strips.  The ground product is a totally different consistancy than the strips.  The strips are similar to what you would purchase prepackaged at a store and will stay with you for a while, give you some chew.  The ground priduct is exactly that - ground - and you will consume faster because it doesn't have near enough chew.
I always add about a cup of fresh ground peppercorns to the recipe also to kive it a little kick in the pants.

How's that for something to chew on ??