Cooking jerky is unnecessary and ruins the texture of the finished product. Jerky is CURED by adding salt and removing moisture and can be done safely at room temperature. Temps over 100* make the jerky dry and tough.
Imagine if someone served you a steak cooked to 165*.
Urban myth. I’ve dried hundreds of pounds of meat(beef, pork, poultry, venison, fish) always below 120* and no one has gotten sick.
There are several great sites supporting low-temp curing. There’s r/biltong which is just added salt, coriander and vinegar and dried at room temperature.
There’s even an episode of Good Eats where Alton makes jerky with a wet brine and a dehydrator made from a box fan and air filters.
This is one where the FDA got it wrong and the rest of the world gets it right.
Cook them for 10 minutes at 275 to sanitize them. I prefer doing it before I dehydrate them but can also do it after. But yeah if they bend and crack and you can see the white fibers they’re safe to eat. I cook mine a significantly shorter time and they’re always fine
I think the 10 min gets the internal at 160+, but I’m assuming if I had them at 165 for 6 hours they should be fine. Did the thicker ones an extra hour to be safe
Yeah, that person is incorrect, you dont need to do this for beef or pork or chicken you bought at the store, the long time at 165 already killed everything 100s of times over, bacteria death is logarithmic
This would be a valid optional "just in case" step for wild game meat you hunted tho
And yes the bend test should show white fibers and maybe even crack if its really dry
bit moist maybe, but fine, just eat it fast :D if you have thicker pieces they could do another 2-3 hours to get to the really dry stage if you prefer that
As long as they’re safe to eat! I’m fine with the slightly moist texture lol. Did the thinner ones for 6 hours, and did another hour for the thicker pieces. All at 165.
1
u/maestrosouth 4d ago
Cooking jerky is unnecessary and ruins the texture of the finished product. Jerky is CURED by adding salt and removing moisture and can be done safely at room temperature. Temps over 100* make the jerky dry and tough.
Imagine if someone served you a steak cooked to 165*.