What Temperature Should Beef Jerky Be Internally

Jerky is a very versatile product. It can be fabricated from a broad range of meats using various combinations of spices and seasonings to attain the desired flavor. For thousands of years, civilizations have been drying meat as a manner to preserve big animals that could not be consumed at one time.

When jerky is made safely, it is nutrient dense, shelf stable and light weight. Specifically, jerky is meat that has been preserved by dehydrating, or removing moisture, at a depression temperature for a long time. One time dried, a pound of meat is typically reduced to about 4 ounces.

The biggest safety concern when making jerky is the risk of allowing bacteria that can cause human disease to grow to loftier levels in the warm, dry environments of a food dehydrator or oven drying procedure. An added pace of heating the meat either before or later drying is needed to destroy these bacteria.

Nutrient Rubber

Safe handling and preparation of meat products requires the following practices:

Wash hands thoroughly with lather and water before and later working with meat products.
Apply clean equipment, utensils and work surfaces. A sanitizing solution can be made from 1 quart of warm water and 1 teaspoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach.
Refrigerate meat and poultry at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or slightly below.
Use ground beef and poultry within two days; whole red meats, within three to five days or freeze for later use.
Defrost frozen meat in the refrigerator, not on the kitchen counter.
Marinate meat in the refrigerator. Don't save marinade to re-utilize.
Avoid cantankerous contamination from raw meat juices and marinades used with raw meat.
Dry meats in a food dehydrator that has an adjustable temperature dial and will maintain a temperature of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the drying process.

Meat Selection

Jerky tin can be made from just almost any meat, poultry or game. Meat selections should contain less than 10 per centum fat. Fattier meats may become rancid quickly.

Meat

Beef, pork and lamb are popular choices for jerky. Starting time with a lean cut of meat, with petty marbling, and trim backlog fatty from the outside of the musculus. Your trimmed meat should contain less than 10 percent fatty. Ground meat can also be made into jerky. Select basis meat that is 93 percent lean or higher.

Poultry

Smoked poultry can exist used to make jerky. Raw poultry does not produce a satisfactory product.

Wild Game

When making hasty from game harvested in the wild, information technology is possible that the beast may exist conveying the Trichinella parasite. To destroy the parasite, meat can be frozen in small portions (no thicker than 6 inches) to nothing degrees Fahrenheit or below for at least 30 days.

Game meat may as well be contaminated with fecal bacteria depending on the location of the wound and field dressing practices. Carcasses should be rapidly cooled and care should exist taken to avoid damaging the gastrointestinal tract.

Preparing the Meat

One of the toughest things to get right when preparing hasty is cut the meat into those "perfect" long thin strips. Since fresh meat is typically quite pliable, slightly freeze the meat prior to cutting. This will give you a firmer product that is easier to cutting. Recollect to trim as much fat from the surface of the meat every bit possible before slicing into jerky strips. Backlog fat can quickly plough rancid and develop "off" odors during drying.

To make chewy jerky (the kind nigh of the states like) slice the meat along the grain. For more tender jerky, slice across the grain. For best results, meat should exist cut no more than ¼-inch thick. Strips should also be about 1 inch to 1½ inches broad. The more even the thickness of your slices, the more even the drying time volition be.

At this betoken, the meat can be dried as is or it can be tenderized using a marinade or a commercial meat tenderizer. Marinades usually include an acid ingredient, such equally vinegar, teriyaki sauce or juice, combined with spices and other seasonings. Meat strips should be marinated in the refrigerator for safety.

When using ground meat to make jerky, the meat is mixed with a dry out spice and curing mix instead of a marinade.

Jerky Marinade

(This marinade recipe is from the National Centre for Home Food Preservation)

1½ to 2 pounds of lean meat (beefiness, pork or venison)

¼ loving cup soy sauce

one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon each of black pepper and garlic pulverisation

½ teaspoon onion powder

one teaspoon hickory fume-flavored salt

Combine all ingredients. Place strips of meat in a shallow pan and cover with marinade. Comprehend and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or overnight. Products marinated for several hours may be saltier than some people prefer. If you cull to heat the meat prior to drying to decrease the adventure of foodborne illness, exercise and so at the end of the marination fourth dimension. To heat, bring strips and marinade to a boil and boil for 5 minutes earlier draining and drying. If strips are more a ¼-inch thick, the length of time may need to be increased. If possible, bank check the temperature of several strips with a metal stem-blazon thermometer to determine that 160 degrees Fahrenheit has been reached.

Destroying Microorganisms in Jerky

The temperatures of dehydrators and oven dehydrating are not high plenty to destroy harmful microorganisms that are typically present in raw meat. Fifty-fifty though fully dried jerky may appear done, information technology is non safe to eat unless it goes through an additional heat handling. This tin be done before or after the meat is dried.

Pre-Cooking

This method is currently recommended by the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline equally the safest pick. Meat that is pre-cooked will take less time to dehydrate and may exist dissimilar from traditional jerky in color and texture.

Heat the meat strips to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (165°F for poultry). Meat is marinated outset and then pre-cooked. This tin be done by simmering or steaming the meat in the marinade or by baking in the oven. To bake, adapt meat strips on wire racks placed on blistering sheets and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a bi-metallic stemmed food thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat strips.

Post-Drying Heating

Hasty should accomplish an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (165°F for poultry). Accommodate stale jerky strips in a single layer on a blistering sheet, not touching or overlapping. Place in an oven preheated to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Begin checking the temperature using a bi-metallic food thermometer at x minutes. Jerky that was more than ¼-inch thick when raw may have longer to reach the correct temperature.

Drying the Meat

Jerky tin be dried in an oven or in an electrical dehydrator. It is not recommended to use sun-drying for making jerky because of the risk of contamination and unsteady heat source.

Oven Drying

When oven drying, it is important to continue your oven at a abiding low temperature, between 145 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit, and to keep air circulating in the oven. You can encourage good air flow past propping the oven door open a few inches and placing a fan nearly the open door. This will help evacuate the moisture being released from the jerky.

Electric Dehydrator

When using an electric dehydrator, the unit of measurement should be tested, using a bi-metal stemmed food thermometer, to determine its truthful operating temperature when empty. Even if the unit has temperature control settings, they may be inaccurate.

Use these steps to determine the dehydrator'southward internal temperature:

For a dehydrator with a fan in the back of the unit, creating horizontal air flow, place the thermometer within the unit of measurement and close the door.
For a dehydrator with a fan on the tiptop or lesser, creating vertical air flow, identify 3 trays on the base of operations of the unit. Insert the thermometer stem between the top 2 trays with the dial held outside of the unit. Add the cover.
Begin operating your dehydrator at its highest/hottest setting.
Expect several minutes for the temperature to steady, then record. If your dehydrator has multiple temperature settings, you lot may desire to repeat this test for each setting.
If a dehydrator does non accept various temperature settings, check if yous tin can increment/decrease the amount of ventilation. This tin can allow you to keep more heat in or let more rut escape, as a fashion to accommodate temperature.
The dehydrator must reach a minimum of 145 degrees Fahrenheit to safely be used for making jerky.

Preparing the Trays

Brainstorm by preheating the oven or dehydrator to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove meat strips from marinade and identify on newspaper towels to remove backlog moisture. Prevent sticking by lightly coating trays (for your dehydrator) or wire racks on blistering sheets (for oven drying) with vegetable oil or non-stick pan spray. Transfer slices to trays, arranging strips closely together, but not touching. Allow approximately 25 percent open space on each tray to allow air to menstruum freely betwixt trays during drying. Place trays in preheated oven or dehydrator.

When making jerky from footing meat, the seasoned meat is formed into strips or logs past hand or using a special press. Similar to whole muscle cuts, the meat strips should not be more than ¼ inch in thickness. Accommodate in a unmarried layer on trays.

For best results in dehydrators with vertical air catamenia, rotate trays at to the lowest degree every 2 hours, moving the tray closest to the heat to the position farthest abroad from the heat.

While jerky will typically take many hours to dry out fully, begin checking it subsequently well-nigh 3 hours to avert over-drying. To test for doneness, remove a piece of jerky from the tray and allow it to absurd to room temperature. Once cooled, the hasty should crack slightly but non interruption completely when bent.

Storage

When it's finally all done, press hasty between clean paper towels or napkins to absorb any excess fat. Let the jerky to cool to room temperature, and so bundle in air-tight containers. Examples of air-tight containers include plastic zipper bags, glass jars and vacuum-sealed containers.

Properly stale and treated (pre-heating or post-heating) jerky can safely be stored for up to 2 weeks at room temperature or three to six months in the refrigerator. For highest food quality, store in a cool and dry location.

References

Sant, Laura L., Carol Hampton, and Sandy M. McCurdy. Making Hasty at Home Safely. 632nd ed. Vol. PNW. Pacific Northwest Extension Publication, 2012.

Andress, Elizabeth L., Paulette Williams, Judy A. Harrison, and Susan J. Reynolds. And so Easy to Preserve. Athens: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia, Higher of Family unit and Consumer Sciences, College of Agronomical and Environmental Sciences, 2014.

"Drying Hasty." Home Food Preservation (Penn State Extension). November 17, 2012. Accessed October 04, 2016. http://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/news/2012/drying-jerky.

"USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service." Jerky and Nutrient Safety. November 2011. Accessed Oct 04, 2016. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-rubber-pedagogy/ge....

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Source: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5362#:~:text=Jerky%20should%20reach%20an%20internal,165%C2%B0F%20for%20poultry).