Turkey Jerky

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Deb
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Turkey Jerky

Post by Deb »

This looks good and easy. I'm not sure how shelf stable it is though. They recommend freezing if not used within a week.
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Rosie
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Post by Rosie »

I have tried making my own jerky, both turkey and beef. Originally I was excited about it because I thought that it would provide me with a way to bring some protein with me on trips which I found to be the biggest challenge when travelling. And of course because of all my food sensitivities the commercial jerky wouldn't work. So here is what I found.

1. Turkey and chicken make lousy jerky, in my experience. The texture was "peculiar" for me, and the flavor wasn't very good. Stick with beef or venison. If you want to try that recipe, just test a small amount to make sure you like it before making a big batch.

2. The homemade jerky recipes that don't use tons of salt or other preservatives just don't hold up, in my experience The big problem is that when you remove the jerky from the refrigerator or freezer and let it warm up, even if you think that it was really dry and dehydrated, there still is a bit of moisture that comes out. You can actually see the water moisture collecting on the inside of the plastic bag. So at that point, being moist and at room temperature the jerky will rapidly spoil if there aren't a lot of salt and/or nitrates to retard bacterial growth. I took a bunch of beef jerky on the plane with me to Hawaii thinking that it was clever plan, and ended up having to throw it out. By the time I unpacked at the hotel after the jerky had been in my suitcase for a day, the jerky was getting slimy. I would only feel safe if I took the jerky out of the freezer and ate it within a few hours.

I'm sorry to be so negative....... Maybe others have found a way to make this work better.

Rosie
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time………Thomas Edison
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tex
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Post by tex »

:iagree: with Rosie,

The plains Indians jerked venison and bison, and in later years, beef, but I doubt that any of them ever even considered trying to work with a turkey, because the meat doesn't have the proper texture for making good jerky.

IMO, a lot of salt is essential (unless you want to use preservatives). The salt is there to draw the moisture out of the meat. I used to do some taxidermy work, and unless the temperatures are below freezing, when you remove a cape from an animal to make a mount, you coat the inside of the hide with a thick layer of salt and rub it in, in order to draw out the moisture. If you do it right, and then roll up the cape and hang it so that the moisture can drain out, you can keep it indefinitely that way, without worrying about it spoiling. If you don't use enough salt, you might as well throw the cape away, because the hair will be slipping within a day or so, and it will smell like the proverbial hide-house. :lol:

Tex
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