I am going to attempt to make a batch of jerky on my GMG Daniel Boone. Using a marinade recipe I found on here and plan on smoking at around 180 deg. My question is...do I need to add cure to my marinade. I'm finding all sorts of different recipes but not many have cure in them. Am I missing something? All help and assistance is greatly appreciated.
jerky help for a newbie
- Thread starter Sooner78
- Start date
TentHunter
Moderator
First, the reason for cure #1, in this case, is to kill any potential C.Botulinum.
If you ever plan on cold smoking your jerky, ESPECIALLY if using ground beef, then you definitely need to add Cure #1, period (even if hot smoking it later)!
Since you will be hot smoking (165° - 185°) you are above temps at which C.Botulinum can survive, so cure #1 is not needed. But it does help preserve the color, if you care about that.
If you do use Cure #1, be sure you are adding NO MORE than 1 level teaspoon per 5 lbs. meat (or 1/2 tsp per 2.5 lbs meat). DO NOT go over that amount!
One more thing. Keep in mind that Cure #1 does NOT kill E.Coli or Salmonella, so be sure your final internal temp is 160°+ (especially if using ground beef to make your jerky). With Hot-smoking this is not a problem since jerky is thin and will be in temps above 160°
If you ever plan on cold smoking your jerky, ESPECIALLY if using ground beef, then you definitely need to add Cure #1, period (even if hot smoking it later)!
Since you will be hot smoking (165° - 185°) you are above temps at which C.Botulinum can survive, so cure #1 is not needed. But it does help preserve the color, if you care about that.
If you do use Cure #1, be sure you are adding NO MORE than 1 level teaspoon per 5 lbs. meat (or 1/2 tsp per 2.5 lbs meat). DO NOT go over that amount!
One more thing. Keep in mind that Cure #1 does NOT kill E.Coli or Salmonella, so be sure your final internal temp is 160°+ (especially if using ground beef to make your jerky). With Hot-smoking this is not a problem since jerky is thin and will be in temps above 160°