Brined Jerky 1st attempt

[NDKoze]

Since you are looking for the chewy yet not tear off pieces, the extrusion jerky with the Jerky Cannon may be the ticket for you.

 

[DivotMaker]

Tom, a lot of the commercially-produced jerky has MSG, as a flavor enhancer and tenderizer (like Accent!).  Personally, I don't like the soft texture of over-tenderized jerky - I like the "chew!"  Also, if you (or anyone who eats it) is sensitive to MSG - which many people are - watch the ingredients in the tenderizer you use.

 

[Tom]

Tom, a lot of the commercially-produced jerky has MSG, as a flavor enhancer and tenderizer (like Accent!).  Personally, I don't like the soft texture of over-tenderized jerky - I like the "chew!"  Also, if you (or anyone who eats it) is sensitive to MSG - which many people are - watch the ingredients in the tenderizer you use.

Thank you all. I certainly like a good chew, I just like to avoid the boot leather my dad used to make Hence my point about not really wanting to go down the Jerky Cannon route just yet.

And, as a newbie, I want to make sure I don't come across as disagreeable, but MSG allergies have been rather unanimously debunked as bad pseudo-science based on little other than second hand accounts.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=msg+allergy+fake&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 

[Plan2build]

Tom,

Try the brine recipe I used in this post and the calculator (selfishly adapted from Gregg, Tony and others input) and make a test batch of jerky.  Like you, I really do not like the boot leather jerky, but the two batches I have done to date are great and the perfect chew in my opinion.  As mentioned, it does have vinegar in the Worcestershire sauce which is a tenderizer in its own right.  My 12 year old daughter loves the jerky, so not much work required to enjoy it!!  All you really need to monitor is the amount of dryness after about 6 hours (2 hour smoke and then the jerky dryer running)...I think you will be pleasantly surprised and will not need to goof around with tenderizers.

Let us know how you progress.....

 

[NDKoze]

That's a good point Gregory. Everyone has a different preference on how dry they like their jerky. You dry your jerky until it reaches the dryness that you prefer.

The other thing with whole muscle jerky is whether you slice the jerky against or with the grain of the meat. If you like to gnaw on your jerky a bit, cut with the grain. If you want an easier to chew product, cut against the grain.

 

[DivotMaker]

And, as a newbie, I want to make sure I don't come across as disagreeable, but MSG allergies have been rather unanimously debunked as bad pseudo-science based on little other than second hand accounts.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=msg+allergy+fake&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Tom, your link talks about MSG "allergy;" I don't know anything about that, and that was not my point.  What MSG has been proven to be is an excitotoxin (a substance that can penetrate the blood/brain barrier), and is a migraine headache trigger for many.  My wife suffers from migraine headaches, and MSG is a trigger.  It took her years of food diaries to find her "triggers," and MSG is the worst, for her.  It's in a lot of packaged products, and we have to check labels.  Sometimes, she gets surprised, and eats something with unknown MSG in it....boom!  Within an hour, she has a migraine.  Don't know much about MSG allergies, but know - first hand, from seeing it happen - that MSG can and will trigger migraine headaches in some folks.  Only reason I mentioned the sensitivity issue.  I don't want to make a big deal out of it, just wanted to share something with you that you probably didn't know.

Here's an article that explains the excitotoxin effect, and debunks many of the studies you cited (the "placebo" used in the studies was Aspartame, also an excitotoxin).  Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills

Now...let's get back to BBQ and jerky!!

 

[Tom]

And, as a newbie, I want to make sure I don't come across as disagreeable, but MSG allergies have been rather unanimously debunked as bad pseudo-science based on little other than second hand accounts.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=msg+allergy+fake&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Tom, your link talks about MSG "allergy;" I don't know anything about that, and that was not my point.  What MSG has been proven to be is an excitotoxin (a substance that can penetrate the blood/brain barrier), and is a migraine headache trigger for many.  My wife suffers from migraine headaches, and MSG is a trigger.  It took her years of food diaries to find her "triggers," and MSG is the worst, for her.  It's in a lot of packaged products, and we have to check labels.  Sometimes, she gets surprised, and eats something with unknown MSG in it....boom!  Within an hour, she has a migraine.  Don't know much about MSG allergies, but know - first hand, from seeing it happen - that MSG can and will trigger migraine headaches in some folks.  Only reason I mentioned the sensitivity issue.  I don't want to make a big deal out of it, just wanted to share something with you that you probably didn't know.

Here's an article that explains the excitotoxin effect, and debunks many of the studies you cited (the "placebo" used in the studies was Aspartame, also an excitotoxin).  Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills

Now...let's get back to BBQ and jerky!!

I just noticed this reply when I realized I can click and see quoted replies. While I entirely empathize with your wife and believe what you're describing; if we're having a friendly debate on the topic (likely not the purpose of a BBQ forum so I won't beleaguer the point beyond this and consider the topic unfruitful) I'd counter that the chief physician cited in most of that link you've provided is also widely known as fraud who claims things like vaccines causing autism and alzheimer's disease and that there was a government conspiracy that lead to Gulf War Syndrome in veterans who received such vaccines as well. (http://w3.newsmax.com/blaylock/11.cfm). As well, his claim that aspartame being a neurotoxin has been wholly refuted as a completely unsupported notion.



And the Nutrition For Optimal Health Organization, now called the American Nutrition Association is also quackery concealed as a legitimate peer reviewed professional scientific body.(http://quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/nonrecorg.html)

 

[DivotMaker]

We'll agree to disagree, Tom!   Now, as I said before, let's get back to jerky & BBQ!   Sorry for letting your post get off-topic, Gregor! :-[

 

[SmokedGouda]

I revised the Cure Calculation sheet in the earlier post.  I edited some of the calculations for clarity, and locked some cells.  You can unlock any of the red or grey cells as you see fit.  I am attaching again to this post.

I know this is an old post, but it's got some great info that I'm going to be taking into account for my upcoming jerky smoke. I have a question regarding the spreadsheet, specifically relating to cells F17 & F19. Should the additional salt needed cell (F17) formula also be subtracting the amount of salt added from other liquids(F19)? Or are you adding the additional salt ON TOP of the salt from the liquids? My mind is telling me to subtract the liquid salt number from the additional salt number.

Thanks for the help! Can't wait to make the jerky!

 

[Porkchop]

Hey folks....Have not posted on the forum for a long time and have been busy perfecting my smoked salmon....getting bored I wanted to expand to more stuff, so last week I started some Capicola (curing at the moment but will add some photos later) and also have a hankering for some Jerky.  So just started some Jerky in an equilibrium brine for smoking and drying on Sunday.  I have the James Jerky Dryer and Auber on my #2.  Following Tony's guidance  8) with some modifications, I hope this will turn out.  This is what I did:

In purchased two Eye of Rounds on sale for a total of 2289 grams (a hair over 5 pounds all trimmed up and cleaned).  Using Diggindogfarms cure calculator I created my own Excel spreadsheet to calculate the equilibrium brine components.  I did this so that I could toy with the numbers and see how things interact.  I did verify the calculations through multiple models before making my brine.

Using a cool jerky slicing jig I got on ebay (included a really sharp knife and made in USA) I sliced (with the grain) the two rounds down to 1/4" thick sections, and then cut into strips (again with the grain).  If anyone wants the source of this slicer, let me know.  It is cheaper than an electric slicer and is fast to use and easy to clean...again Made in USA so what's not to love....

From the calculation table I created the brine.  I deviated from Tony's recipe in that I used 140ppm of Cure #1, full strength soy sauce which is about 6% sodium content, and used ground black pepper and paprika.

Meat:  2289 g (~5 lbs)
Cure #1:  6.25%
Salt %:  1.5
Sugar %:  2.5
ppm cure:  140

This gave me,
Cure #1          5.1g
Salt                29.3g
Brown sugar    57.2g

Additionally I added 2 cups soy sauce, 1 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tablespoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, ground black pepper, paprika.  Once all the measured ingredients were added, I QS'd (means Quantum Sufficit or sufficient quantity) the brine to my meat weight of 2289 with water.  In the meat went and the tub into the fridge.

Tomorrow, I need to autotune my Auber again and prepare for smoking and drying during the game on Sunday.

I just started marinating a 5 pound batch using this recipe and was confused by the statement: “Once all the measured ingredients were added, I QS'd (means Quantum Sufficit or sufficient quantity) the brine to my meat weight of 2289 with water”. I had plenty of solution without adding any water, am I supposed to be adding water?
I know this is an old most but hopefully I didn’t mess this up

 

[old sarge]

Looking forward to seeing your results.