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Ground jerky question (cure)

I’m going to make 5 lbs of jerky using my jerky gun. If made it a few times and don’t like how salty it is with the cure. I use an oven set to 170 with the door cracked just a tiny bit. Can I skip the cure and just use the spice packet? Or maybe only use some of the cure? Does the cure add flavor or just salt?

Cure helps it not spoil. I would use it if going to keep at room temp. If you are going to eat out of the fridge and within a couple weeks you could probably skip some or all of the cure. I would probably do at least half the called for cure. That would help with the salty taste.

The other thing to keep in mind is meat should stay below 40 or above I think it is 140. No longer than 4 hours between. Making jerky it will likely be between that for long than that when in oven. I would think the cure help during that time as well.

Having the shits on a hunt is not fun.

Hey Ucsdryder...be very careful skipping "cure" when preparing meat in a smoker where the meat may not reach high enough temperatures to kill bacteria. Cure is not simple salt...sodium chloride. Cure is about 93% salt and roughly 6% nitrite. It's the nitrite that will kill harmful bacteria without reaching traditional "cooking" temperatures...like the lower temperatures often achieved in a smoker. Only you can determine if the meat product from your smoker has been "cooked" enough to be safe if cure is not used. If you are not sure about the temperature reached by the jerky in your smoker, it would probably be wise to follow the curing instructions that come along with the curing salt. Since cure (salt with nitrite) can be harmful to eat in large quantities, it is important to follow the instructions closely (by weight or volume) to assure a safe food product. A good book on the subject is called Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking & Curing, by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. Good luck on your jerky! Kevin

We have been eliminating the cure for a few years now. I'm sure it is the wrong thing to do but we do not care for all the salt in jerky. However, we keep our jerky in the freezer until we are going to use it. We do take it on extended hunts (3 to 7 days) but make sure it stays cool, which is generally easy as I live in Alaska. For hunts longer we do add the cure.

Doing it in the oven, can I heat the jerky to 165 at the end and then call it good? Keep it in the fridge and eat within a few days?

I've made plenty of ground jerky in a dehydrator without nitrate, just spices and salt to taste. Add a little liquid smoke for flavor. I prefer to leave it a bit chewy and refrigerate it. I've had no trouble with spoilage after several days in a pack. But then, I'm the guy that can eat the greenish pork chops at the end of a camping trip.

I've been making jerky for about 25 years and I've tried just about every way possible. I grind and then use a dehydrator set at 165 degrees for 4 1/2 hours. The last couple years I make it a bit thicker when shooting it out of the jerky canon and go 5 hours. The thicker jerky does not get so tough when thicker. Both my dehydrators have 5 trays, that take 4 pounds of raw grinding per, 8 pounds total. I rotate the trays every hour. After dehydration I end up with about 5 1/4 pounds of jerky. I use only meat (ie: don't mix any pork or other additives) and I grind it course.

By following the mixing instructions .... yes, its a bit salty.

Cut the cure (salt) in half .... good, not as salty, keep frozen until you are ready to eat.

No cure (salt) .... tastes awful!

I vacuum seal it in small portions so when I'm setting here on Bowsite, I can have just the right amount to munch on.

Exactly the info I was looking for. Thank you EVERYONE! I’ll report back tomorrow with how it turns out. I need to get rid of the last 2017 burger!

FIve pounds never goes as far as it seems like it should!

I use about 1/4 of the cure with mine done in a dehydrator. Doesn't last long enough around here to spoil.

Morton Tender Quick

X2 Axle.....this is very risky. You may have gotten away with it in the past but the one time you screw up it`s a death sentence. These low temps are the "perfect storm" to incubate Botulism.

Same thing goes for smoking....never "smoke" anything if you don`t use cure in it. Now this doesn`t pertain to "hot smoking" where you are actually cooking the meat.

I guess the question is whether the oven with a door cracked 1/8” set at 170 for 4 hours will cook everything to 165. After that it’ll keep in the fridge until it’s eaten in a matter of a couple days. I ended up using about 3/4 cure so either way I think I’m good.

As mentioned, do not skip on cure and it doesn't add an appreciable amount of saltiness but the seasoning does.

"An ounce of prevention (of cure) is worth..."

This thread needs a drool warning!

I make a lot of jerky. I slice the meat & brine it for 24 hours in 1/2 cup Morton tender quick and 2 cups water. I then rinse the meat thouroly & let sit another 24 hours in 1 cup brown sugar & 2 tablespoons black pepper. then I smoke useing lump wood charcoal & maskeet chunks @ roughly 200 for 3 hours but it varies depending on atmospheric conditions. this is not to salty & keeps for several days unfrigerated. the only safe methods to do meat without salt cure is to use a culture like when making old world type salami however you need a climate controlled environment to do this. Google salami & educate yourself a bit for more options

How many lbs. of meat is that for Timex ?

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