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erky is a favorite snack for school,
lunch, trail or just about anywhere!
It is made by seasoning raw meat in
a salt mixture, and then drying it
without cooking. The finished product
is an exercise in chewing and ever
so delicious!
Meat Jerky
You won't have to pay the exorbitant
prices for jerky slices or sticks at the
supermarket. Most lean meats will yield
about 1 pound of jerky for 3 pounds of
fresh meat.
Selection
Jerky may be made from a variety of
different meats. When purchasing meats
for making jerky, choose lean meats
with minimal marbling (fat), as fat
tends to go rancid during storage. A
lean cut of flank steak or round steak
makes excellent jerky.
Using the NESCO
®
American Harvest
®
Jerky Works
™
kit, you can make deli-
cious jerky from ground meat. It’s best
to use ground round or lean (or extra
lean) ground beef. Season with
NESCO
®
American Harvest
®
Jerky
Seasoning Mixes.
When making jerky from pork, chicken
or turkey, use precooked and processed
meat. Be sure to dry it at the highest
temperature setting. After drying, heat it
in your oven at a minimum temperature
of 160°F (71°C) for at least 30 minutes
as a precaution against the risk of sal-
monella. When you are jerking game
meats, freeze the meats for at least 60
days at 0°F (-18°C) before drying, as a
precaution against any diseases the
animal might be carrying. Lean ground
meats can also be dried. Add season-
ings. Then press or form into strips or
sticks, and place on trays to dry.
Preparation
Remove all fat from meat and cut into
thin strips 1⁄4" to 3⁄8" thick. It is easier
to slice partially frozen meat for jerky.
If meats are cut on the crosswise grain,
jerky is less chewy than if meats are cut
on the length-wise grain.
Marinate cut meats in store-bought or
your own recipe marinade for 6 to 8
hours in the refrigerator before drying.
If you are using your own recipe, be
sure to include 1⁄2 to 1 teaspoon of salt
for each pound of meat. The salt slows
Drying
Jerky