Dried Meats: Jerky and Pemmican

For Marinades and Dry Rubs see chapter near beginning.

Jerky

Hans' Jerky

-----------

My main food is jerky made from ordinary ground meat ("organic" 10 % fat,

or game) as I buy it in the shop (sometimes frozen). I mix cautiously with

a little olive oil and seasoning (herb) or grated raw carrots. NO SALT.

Then I just spread "meatballs" onto the dehydrator wire mesh with the help

of a fork. Dry at 30 degrees C (=centigrades). Can be stored (above the

fridge) for at least a month without any spoilage.

Cheap, easy, practical, tasty!

From: Hans Kylberg

Hans' Recipe for Dried Meat

---------------------------

You can certainly dry meat in any dehydrator. In fact it is easier than

most veggies/fruits. Just cut thin slices, or do as I do: Buy lean

ground meat, mix with herbal spices (such as thyme), and smear with

a fork directly on tray mesh, making flakes 1 - 2 inches across and

1/16 - 1/8 inch thick.

From: Hans Kylberg

Basic Beef Jerky

----------------

Use lean beef with as much of the fat trimmed off as possible.

(Actually, just about any meat should work -- the original

recipe calls for buffalo.)

Cut into strips about 1/8" thich and 1" wide. (I tend to cut

mine a little thicker. Doesn't really matter, just be

consistent.)

Marinate strips in sauce for at least 30 minutes. This

gives it a slightly salty taste and helps bring out the

flavor when dried.

"Jerk" or pull strips lightly and lay out on an ungreased cookie

sheet in a single layer.

Set oven at the lowest temperature, and keep it propped open

while drying the meat. It should not get above 140-150F

during the drying process. If you have a gas stove, you

might be able to get away with the heat generated from the

pilot light.

Dry the meat until it is tough and chewy. The original recipe

says 12 hours or overnight, but I've found that around 4

hours is sufficient in my oven. The drying time is really

dependent on your oven. I suggest testing a small piece

every hour or so until it gets to the right consistency.

DO NOT over-dry the meat. It tends to powder and loses flavor

if it's over-dried.

I've experimented with spices a little - I've found that a mix

of curry powder, cumin, garlic powder, turmeric, and white pepper adds

quite a punch to the flavor. After marinating, coat the meat on ONE

side ONLY with the spice mix and then place on the cookie sheet.

(Since curry is rather over-powering, dipping both sides loses

the meat jerky flavor and all you taste is spice.)

The jerky keeps very well in an airtight container, or it can

be frozen (make sure it's _very_ airtight).

(The basic recipe is from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American)

From: the rec.food.recipes archives

Beef Jerky recipe

-----------------

For each pound of meat:

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. FRESH black pepper - Fresh flavor is important!

3 tsp. marjoram

Garlic powder - Optional

Sprinkle above ingredients onto a *THICK* steak. Pound in with mallet. Cut

beef into strips and lay on oven rack with aluminum foil underneath to

catch drips (If available, an arrangement like a roasting pan is perfect.

Heat oven to 150 degrees F and open oven door slightly to allow water to

escape. Cook 7 to 8 hours, or until the meat is dry and slightly brittle --

It should "splinter" when bent.

From: rec.food.cooking

Jerky

-----

We've made Jerky for years from beef and venison, and I believe this will

work for almost any kind of meat.

We cut the meat into thin strips, the thinner the strips the crunchier the

jerky comes out, maybe 1/4" thick will make chewy jerky. By the way, cut

all the fat off the meat as you're stripping.

Lay out the strips on a cookie sheet lined with foil, turned up at the

edges so juice won't get over everything. Lay out in rows and a single

layer. Sprinkle liberally with black coarse ground pepper, or spices that

you like the taste of.

Set the oven to WARM, and leave in the oven overnite, or 8-10 hrs. This

causes very slow drying. Store in a plastic container, jar, or can after

well cooled. Too much moisture left in the meat will cause mold, and

putting it away while warm will cause sweating inside the container.

From: moynes_r@qis.dofasco.ca (Richard Moynes) in rec.backcountry

Jerky

-----

To make jerky, take a raw piece of beef round or chuck, quite lean

and slice it thin, across the grain. Lay the slices across the racks

of the dryer for two days and nights -- test it by breaking a piece,

it is dry enough when it cracks in two when you break it. The smaller

and thinner you cut the pieces of meat before drying them, the quicker

they will get tender as you soak and cook them

(remember, its easier to slice thinly if the steak is partially frozen)

One pound of sliced beef dries to 4 ounces of jerky, making

A ratio of undried to dried meat of about 4:1.

Before drying the meat, you can season it with some combination of the

following spices: paprika, pepper, salt, or other concoctions. Garlic is

wonderful on jerky. I recommend

rubbing the meat with cut cloves of garlic before slicing it.

A marinade will change the taste slightly, and cause the meat to take

longer to dry. Marinating tenderizes the meat however.

From: THE HUNGRY HIKERS BOOK OF GOOD COOKING, by GRETCHEN McHUGH

General Jerky Method

--------------------

All recipes use 1 lb lean meat, thinly sliced. (3/16-1/4 in thick)

In a small glass bowl, combine all ingredients except meat. Stir to mix

well. Place meat 3-4 layers deep in a container, spooning sauce mixture

over each layer. Cover tightly and marinate 6-12 hours in the 'fridge,

stirring occasionally and keeping the mixture covered.

I can't really help with drying instructions, but i'd say somewhere between

7-10 hours, depending on how you like it.

From: rec.food.preserving

Salmon Jerky

------------

I slice the filets in 1/2 cm thin slices leaving the skin on (most of the

oil is underneath the skin so you don't waste it neither oxydise it that

way ) put in the drier at body temperature and dry hard for storage and

half dried for delicacy to eat on the spot.

No need for anything else that will spoil the taste that is superb on its

own especially with coho or sockeye (the best species of salmon).

Dried that way the salmon keep its "instinctive stop" sharp and clear. If

your body metabolism don't want salmon you will know it clearly if it want

it the taste is sublime.

When you season you can bypass this instinctive response and eat something

that will become a burden on your metabolism.

I am under the impression that putting salmon in Brine or lemon juice or

whatever which interfere in the osmotic balance between inside and outside

of the cells, will use up Enzymes as well as heat, triggering all kinds of

chemical reactions altering the originel nutrient content. By adding

honey or sugar even more so (proteins and sugars combine)

The oil is highly oxydable, so to store dry salmon keep in air tight jar

inside the fridge in darkness.. (it is why it is so important to leave the

skin on while drying .

Once dried insert a round ended knife between the skin and the flesh, you

can easily separate the two and scrape the skin to get the fat layer. (The

best when you need that kind of fat.)

From: jean-claude on the PaleoFood list

Pemmican

Chicken Pemmican

----------------

Dry chicken in dehydrator, process in food processor; add melted coconut

butter/oil and put in paper muffin cups. I freeze these so I won't eat them

all at once.

From: Susan Carmack

Coconut Oil Pemmican

--------------------

Susan Carmack wrote:

>I think I ate too much pemmican with coconut oil last night!

>But it tastes so good!

Yes it does. It is the most delicious dish I have ever had.

I mix in some thyme or dried lingonberries. Yum.

I can't resist it, so I eat too much.

From: Hans Kylberg on PaleoFood list

Pemmican

--------

2 cups buffalo jerky or beef jerky, shredded

1 cup dried chokeberries or tart red cherries, chopped

6 TBSP tallow (beef fat)

Combine all ingredients and form into 6 patties. Refrigerate until serving.

From: dgkmom@pinn.net (Diane Karnbach)

Pemmican, According to Ray

--------------------------

I make pemmican by grinding up several lbs of dehydrated eye of round

slices with a handfull of dried cherries in a food processor or blender

(or between rocks if you're a purist). The meat should dried until

brittle to facilitate grinding and eliminate any moisture which could

facilitate bacteria or mold. To this I add tallow until the dried

meat is totally saturated. It's then done. Total time (apart from

dehydrating meat) 15 minutes.

I save tallow from broiling (cheap) hamburger during the previous week. I

leave the broiling pan in the oven after the burgers are done for about

10 minutes at 350 then leave it in the warm oven until I do the dishes.

I then srain out the tallow into a bowl. As it now contains no water, it

dries hard and white (it can be substituded for wax in making candles).

If kept dry, pemmican will keep longer than you will live. Beware of

condensation in airtight containers. I keep mine in a cassarole dish

with a loose fitting glass lid on top of (not in) the refrigerator.

From: Ray Audette

Author "NeanderThin: A Caveman's Guide to Nutrition"

MMMMM-----Meal-Master

Title: Hudson Bay Company Pemmican

Categories: Canadian, Info, Camping, Preserving, Meats

Servings: 1 info file

"There is little object in travelling tough just for the sake of

being tough."- The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England

Trading into Hudson's Bay, an early employee manual.

Pemmican: pound a quantity of jerky until shredded. Cut fresh fat

into walnut sized hunks and try out over a slow fire or in an oven.

Pour the hot fat over the shredded jerky and mix into a sausage meat

like consistency [a 50/50 mix]. Pack mixture into waterproof bags.

Add dry berries if desired; do not salt. It takes 5 lb of meat to

make 1 lb jerky so pemmican isn't overly fatty, just concentrated.

From Wilderness Cookery by Bradford Angier of Hudson Hope, B.C.,

published by Stackpole Books, 1961

Also:

Preserving game meat, not jerky: Cut meat into large strips, make a

rub of 3 pounds salt, 4 tb allspice and 5 tb pepper. Drape over wire

and air dry one month. Slice thin and eat raw or use in stews.

From Wilderness Cookery by Bradford Angier of Hudson Hope, B.C.,

published by Stackpole Books, 1961

Pemmican: try adding dried apricots, ground walnuts, allspice or orange

peel to the mix. Small seasoned pemmican balls make interesting

appetizers.

From The Complete Hunter Venison Cookery, Cowles Creative Publishing

Posted to rec.food.preserving by Jim Weller on 31 Jan 99