What's the secret ingredient in beef jerky?

Question

I've been making beef jerky using various marinade recipes I found on the WWW. The results have been mixed, but always lack that one distinct flavor that seems so prevalent in store-bought jerky. If I had to describe it, I'd say "protein-y". It's not a spice I recognize, and doesn't seem to be present in any combination of soy sauce, Worcestershire, etc.

Recently I found an old seasoning packet that came with my dehydrator, took a little taste, and recognized that same flavor immediately. Unfortunately there is no ingredient list printed on the packet. Where is that flavor is coming from?

Asked by Evan

Answer

"Proteiny" usually indicates "umami", the so-called "fifth flavor" after sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. It's triggered by glutamates. Common sources of umami include beef, mushrooms, some seaweeds (most especially nori), rinds of some hard cheeses (most especially pecorino romano) and tomato paste. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the store-bought jerkies you are comparing it to include monosodium glutamate, a common food additive that is essentially concentrated umami flavor.

Answered by Dave Griffith

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Chinese pork jerky, what makes them so tender, how do you make it?

Question

If you've ever had Chinese beef or pork jerky, you'll know why I'm asking this question. If you have a Chinatown in your city, I'm sure you'll be able to find a market that sells them in vacuum sealed plastic packages. If you're lucky enough to have an actual beef/pork jerky store that's even better! We have one in the Chinatown in New York City.

I want to know how to make the pork jerky. What makes them so tender and soft. I've never had any other kind of jerky that has this texture. Most jerky is very chewy. Maybe it's due the high fat content of the meat? Maybe they dont' dry it out as much.

Here are some images on Google. It's probably hard to tell from the photos but the jerky is a bit translucent. I wonder if it they grind up pork and fat together.

Answer

I just found the recipe for it. The name of it is Bak Kwa (Sweet BBQ Pork Jerky). Here's the wikipedia entry (boy it's easy to find things when you know the name!). The recipe actually grind up the pork. They use about 70% meat and 30% fat. But according to the wikipedia entry there is also an expensive version where they slice of a solid piece of meat.

Sugar and salt was originally used and then the meat was smoked (this sounds really close to BBQing, which generally cooks the meat with smoke...yummy tender ribs).

These days, people make them in the oven at low heat. In the recipe, they put the minced mixture between two sheets of parchment paper, which probably keeps it moist and tender!

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How necessary is it to marinade meat before making jerkies?

Question

So I just got myself a dehydrator, for the purpose of making jerkies.

I was thinking of just seasoning the meat lightly instead of marinating them, which takes considerably more time, needs more sauce and a bit more effort.

Would it make a lot of difference? I suppose I could always experiment, but from the "making sure I won't get sick from parasites" point of view, will a super dry jerky be safe if it's not been marinated?

Also, would it depend on the meat?

Answer

Marinating your meat makes it safer primarily by introducing it to salt, which kills bacteria. It is possible to make jerky safely without it, though you need to be careful.

You should use lean meat; fat is the most likely component in the meat to go bad.

It's also important to regulate the temperature closely and make sure hold the meat at temperature for long enough.

You can get some really really nasty bacteria if you don't cure meat correctly, so it's worth taking some time on it. Check out this guide on safely making jerky in a home dehydrator for more info.

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marinated vegetables on food dehydrators?

Question

So there's a party I'm going to and I promised to make jerkies, but a few of them are vegans.

I'm wondering if there are vegetables (or anything non-meat) that can be marinated with roughly the same kind of stuff you use for jerkies, and then dehydrated to become some kind of tasty, savory snack?

I once had some pretty tasty dried peas which were quite savory, would using the same kind of marinade with jerkies and putting them on the dehydrator work? They were pretty crunchy, but the last time I tried dehydrating banana slices they ended up being rather chewy instead.

Answer

What about tofu? It can be "jerkyfied" pretty easily. For example: http://www.ehow.com/how_2128547_make-tofu-jerky.html

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