Ground Jerky (need a little help)

[Quadman750]

I am doing a couple batches of ground jerky (Nesco brand). Instructions tell me to mix 1 pack of cure & 1 pack of seasoning with 1 pound of ground beef & put in dehydrator for 5+hrs. It does not tell me to let it cure for any amount of time because I'm sure it will cure in the dehydrator. No instruction for smoking temp & times

My 1st question is how long do I let cure for being that I am hot smoking it & not using a dehydrator

My 2nd question is what temp do I smoke at (using a Memphis Elite) lowest setting is 180*

And final question is how long to smoke, not sure how to tell if it is safely done or not, it will be too thin to get a temp reading.

 

[TentHunter]

1) Modern cures are so fast acting that you can see them working as you mix the meat. It will take on a tan-ish gray off color as the sodium nitrite oxidizes with the myoglobin. As far as safety, it kills the C. Botulinum bacteria pretty quickly.

You just need to be sure it's mixed thoroughly, and the best way to do that with ANY cured sausage is to first mix the cure/salt with 1 ounce of filtered or distilled water per pound of meat. When it's completely dissolved, stir the seasonings in, then pour the slurry over the meat and mix it in by hand (use gloves). Keep mixing until you can see the color is even and there are no pink splotches left in the meat mix.

In this photo you can see how the meat's color changes from the oxidation that takes place.

By the time you get the jerky meat rolled out (or the sausage stuffed into casings) it's ready to go into the smoker.


2) A smoking temp of 180° is perfectly fine. Since it's a cured product you are safe smoking it at whatever temp you want. You can even cold-smoke it for a while if you want.


3) 152° should be your target minimum temp. That will NOT be a problem since it's so thin and you'll be smoking it at 180°. SO... smoke it until it looks good and dry and has rendered as much of the fat as possible. Use paper towels to dab the fat off.

Hope this helps!

Cliff

 

[Quadman750]

Thanks Cliff the directions were not very specific, I would have bet my pay check it was going to be you replying to this post. Thanks a bunch.