Drying Meat
Dehydrating meat can be as simple as slicing up some lunch meat from the deli and drying it for a few hours in a food dehydrator. Once dehydrated, strips of deli ham, turkey, and roast beef can be eaten like beef jerky, or broken into pieces for use in a backpacking meal.
With a little more effort, you can also dry ground beef, turkey, or chicken. Read on for pictures and instructions. First we’ll cover deli meat, followed by ground beef, shrimp, and tuna.
Only Dry Meat in an approved Meat Dehydrator!
How long will dehydrated meat last?
Dehydrated meat will last at least two months if stored in a low humidity environment or up to a year if you use a vacuum sealer.
Dehydrating Meat: Deli Style
Choose lean ham, turkey, roast beef, or chicken with fat content less than 10%. I prefer dehydrating meat that has not had any “solutions” injected into it, because that usually means high sodium. Ask the server to slice your deli meat thick, around 1/16 of an inch.
Cut deli meat into one inch strips and place on the dehydrator trays. Dehydrating meat takes about six hours at 125° using my Excalibur Dehydrator. If any oil droplets form on the outside of the meat, blot off with a paper towel. When the meat is completely dry, you will easily be able to break the strips into smaller pieces for use in backpacking recipes or leave as is for snacking.
Try munching a few slices of dehydrated deli ham with your oatmeal when backpacking. You can eat it cold and crunchy, or put it in your pot with a little water and heat. After a few minutes of warming and rehydrating, you’ll enjoy a chewy, near bacon experience. The photo at right shows how I include dehydrated ham in my recipe for Ham and Vegetables with Rice
Dehydrating Meat: Ground Beef & Turkey
The one problem with dehydrated ground beef and turkey the meat didn’t fully rehydrate. It was tough-- so the secret to dehydrating meat so that it turns out tender every time… bread crumbs! When you add bread crumbs to ground meat before you dehydrate it, more liquid will penetrate the meat when you cook it in your pot, resulting in tender meat.
Use only lean or extra lean ground meat. Meat with high fat content produces beads of oil as it dehydrates which you have to blot off throughout the dehydration process. Also, fatty meats may spoil, so stick with the skinny stuff. Pork is not recommended for dehydrating, with the exception of lean ham, because of its high fat content. Ground turkey breast is naturally low in fat. Check the labels for ground beef and shoot for a fat content less than 15%, preferably in the 7% to 10% range.
For each pound of beef, sprinkle ½ cup of bread crumbs evenly over the meat. Work the bread crumbs into the meat with your fingers. Unseasoned bread crumbs work well, but if you plan to use the beef in a pasta recipe, try Italian seasoned bread crumbs..
Break the meat into small pieces and stir continuously in a skillet over medium high heat until the beef turns slightly pink or brown depending on your taste. Remove from heat and blot off any remaining liquid with paper towels.
Place small pieces of ground beef on the dehydrator trays. Set the thermostat at 145° for the first two hours and then reduce the temperature to 125° for another six hours. There should be no moisture remaining in the meat when you break a piece in half.
Dehydrating meat with bread crumbs following these instructions will yield 2 ½ cups of dried meat per pound processed.
Dehydrating Shrimp
To save time, buy frozen, pre-cooked and peeled, medium shrimp. Thaw shrimp, pinch off the tails, and rinse. Slice each shrimp into four or five pieces, arrange in a single layer on dehydrator tray, and dehydrate at 145° approximately six hours until hard and firm. There should be no moisture remaining when you cut a piece in half. Store shrimp in an air-tight container or refrigerate until ready to use.
Dehydrating Tuna
Dehydrated canned tuna for tuna casserole recipe. Use only Solid White Albacore Tuna packed in water. Fattier varieties of tuna and tuna packed in oil may spoil. Break the tuna up into small pieces and spread out in a single layer on the dehydrator tray. Dehydrate at 145° for six hours until crispy. Dehydrate tuna on the front porch during the day to avoid stinking up the house. Don’t try it at night or a raccoon might steal your tuna. Six ounces of tuna will weigh a little over an ounce when dry and yield about half a cup.
MAKING SAFE JERKY IN A HOME DEHYDRATOR
Dried meat, commonly called jerky, has been a popular food for thousands of years. Jerky has traditionally been made by drying meat at low temperatures (130°F ‐170°F) for a long period of time. These processing conditions can make it difficult to manufacture a safe product, especially using a home dehydrator. It is important to reach a sufficient temperature in the jerky‐drying process to kill pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 which may contaminate the product.
Based on research begun at the University of Wisconsin in
1998 and continuing in 2009, the University of Wisconsin‐Extension recommends
that manufacturers of jerky using a home dehydrator follow these guidelines:
Preparing the Meat
Use
only lean meat in excellent condition.
For jerky prepared from ground meat, use meat that is at least 93% lean. For
whole muscle jerky, trim meat of excess fat and slice no thicker than ¼”.
Partially freeze meat to make it easier to slice. Slice the meat with the grain
if you wish to prepare the chewy jerky preferred by most mid-western consumers.
Always choose clean, non‐damaged meat from deer or other wild game.
Maintain
meat under refrigeration or keep frozen
until use. If marinating meat, do so in the refrigerator. Whole
muscle jerky is most often marinated in an acidic mixture containing spices and
seasoning. Jerky made from ground meat is not marinated, but is mixed with dry
spices and cure before forming into strips. Research has shown that the spice
and cure (nitrite) in marinades and dry seasoning mixes will help in the
destruction of pathogens.
Keep raw meats and
their juices away from other foods.
Store raw meats on a plate or bowl in the refrigerator to catch drips. Wash
hands and surfaces with hot soapy water, and rinse with warm water, after
handling raw meat. Sanitize cleaned and rinsed cutting boards with a solution
of 1 teaspoon bleach per quart of water. Allow to air dry.
Setting up the Dehydrator
• Determine the true temperature
of the dehydrator or oven when it
is operating empty.
Do not rely on the dehydrator’s temperature settings.
Determine your dehydrator’s drying temperature using a dial‐stem thermometer as
follows:
o For an oven or a
horizontal air‐flow dehydrator, place the thermometer inside the unit and close
the door.
o For a vertical air‐flow
dehydrator, stack 2 to 3 trays on the base and place the thermometer between
the top 2 trays such that the dial is sticking out between the shelves.
o Turn the dehydrator on to its maximum setting; set your
oven to
Dial Stem Thermometer
155°F. Record the
temperature once it has stabilized. In order to safely dry meat at home, your
oven or dehydrator must be able to maintain a temperature of at least 145° to
155°F (see below).
o Do not test the temperature when the dehydrator or oven
has product in it. Evaporative cooling occurs as the product loses moisture and
this will give you an inaccurate temperature reading.
• Use only dehydrators with temperature
control. Do not use dehydrators with factory preset temperature that
can’t be controlled. Recent research at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison
(2008) has shown that dehydrators with factory‐set temperatures that can’t be
adjusted, such as Nesco’s Jerky Xpress, do not reliably produce a
safe product and are not recommended.
Safe Drying Methods
In our research we tested 3 home‐style
dehydrators: the Gardenmaster (#1010) and Jerky
Xpress (#28JX), both from Nesco/American Harvest,
and the Excalibur (#3900).
Choose one of the following recommended drying methods:
Dry
meat at 145° - 155°F for at least 4 hours
followed by heating in a pre-
heated 275°F oven for 10
minutes. Drying meat at a temperature below 145°F will produce a
product that looks done before it is heated enough to destroy pathogens, and
before it has lost enough moisture to be shelf-stable. Only a few dehydrators
currently on the market will maintain the necessary temperature of 145° -
155°F: the Gardenmaster by Nesco/American Harvest and the Excalibur are
two such units. Each of these units has a large heating element, strong air
flow, and adjustable temperature setting. Dry for at least 4 hours (6 hours is
preferable) and remove jerky from the dehydrator. Place dried strips on a
baking sheet, close together but not touching or overlapping. Heat in a
pre-heated 275°F oven for 10 minutes to an internal temperature of 160°F –
strips thicker than ¼” (when raw) may require longer to reach 160°F. In our
research, strips removed from the oven were sizzling hot. Remove oven-heated
samples from the oven, cool to room temperature, and package. Always include
the post‐drying oven‐heating treatment as a safety precaution.
Steam or roast meat
strips in marinade to an internal temperature
of 160°F before drying; heat poultry to
165°F (internal temperature) before drying.
The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline currently recommends this method for making
safe jerky. The pre‐heating step assures that any bacteria present will be
destroyed before drying and a lower dehydrator temperature (130° to 140°F) can
be used. After boiling, dehydrate meat for 4 to 6 hours. No post-dehydration
oven-heating is necessary. Since it can be impossible to accurately measure the
internal temperature of a thin strip of meat, consumers can boil meat in
marinade (or water) for 5 minutes before drying. Unfortunately, this USDA‐recommended
method produces a dried, crumbly product that would be judged inferior by
Wisconsin standards for chewy, flexible jerky.
Dried jerky
can be stored for 1 to 2 months at room temperature; in the freezer for up to 6
months. Vacuum package jerky to extend the shelf life of jerky. Barbara Ingham,
University of Wisconsin Extension Food Scientist. bhingham@wisc.edu March,
2009.
Geanie
Matthews
Use this
recipe on beef, venison or other game meats.
Jerky
4 Tbs. soy
sauce
4 Tbs.
Worcestershire sauce
1 sm. can
grape juice concentrate
1/2 tsp.
black pepper
1 tsp.
liquid smoke
1 tsp.
curing spice (salt & Sodium nitrate)
2 cups water
Marinate the
sliced meat 4-6 hours.
Place on
trays to dry.
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