salt & smoke meat for dry storage?

[Bushman5]

as the title sez, lets hear you techniques for salting, smoking and drying meat for long term dry storage.

I just finished eating a well salted SLAB of bear meat , from a friend. He used powdered cumin seed and paprika and sea salt to coat the meat (lots of salt) then smoked it so there was a hard shell all around it. I cut it into cubes and re hydrated it in a stew.

freaking stuffed!

 

[batosai117]

I'm saving this one for later reading, I can't wait to hear the responses. I've always wondered what you do after you take down the Almighty Moose!!!

It's just so much meat, what do you do with the poor thing?

I'd like to know how the heck you store that thing up for the winter.

 

[mete]

Smoke it then freeze it [ never the opposite !] It's easy to store jerky but large pieces should have a proper cooler for storage after the moisture content of the meat has been lowered.

 

[alco141]

many of the trichinosis cases in the united states have to do with unprepared bear meat.

i would get some curing salt and like the quick cure made by mortons salt as just salt might not be enough to preserve meat, some sodium nitirite needs to be added if i rmemeber correctly.

also the meat needs to be dried sufficiently, smoking over low heat does this also it brings the meat temperature up to kill some of the parasites and bacteria that may be present.

check the morton salt web site.

alex

 

[Alex p. Schorsc]

I lived in a relatively remote Brazilian rural community about thirty years ago. Many houses did not have refrigerators and there was no supermarket. A fair would set up once a week where everybody bought their beef. The community would eat fresh meat for a couple days of the week then they would have to transform in into jerky or in reality what is called sun-dried meat. So for the rest of the week thay would just eat jerkied meat until the fair came around again. Here's how you do it. Cut the meat into strips about an inch thick and from, six to twelve inches long. Put the meat into the bottom of a basin. This is a typical clothes-washing basin about a foot or two feet wide. Preferably made out of aluminum but plastic will do. The basin should be wide enough so that you put in just ONE LAYER of meat. Do not make a pile of meat but rather just fill the basin with one layer. If you want to do more, get a bigger basin. Salt the meat . Just cover the meat with a good amount of salt and rub it in a bit but make sure the meat is covered in salt. Loosely covered would maybe be a better word. I use fine salt so that it penetrates. Leave it for a couple of hours. Now here's the secret - the water will come out of the meat and when the meat is covered in its own water you rinse the meat and hang it up (on a clothesline) it the hot sun for about six or eight hours. If you don't have a hot sun I guesss you could smoke it in a smokehouse and it would be the same and probably tastier. On inspection the meat should have a dry and dark look. If you can see what look like moist areas or lighter tone in the meat leave it in the sun longer until it becomes really dry. Store in a well ventilated place.

 

[Alex p. Schorsc]

Just to add a bit more info. Some prefer to dry the meat in the hot (and windy) shade for 48 hours. Some prefer that while it's hanging out that it get a bit of dew on it. I personally never dried these variants.

 

[mikeal]

I lived in a relatively remote Brazilian rural community about thirty years ago. Many houses did not have refrigerators and there was no supermarket. A fair would set up once a week where everybody bought their beef. The community would eat fresh meat for a couple days of the week then they would have to transform in into jerky or in reality what is called sun-dried meat. So for the rest of the week thay would just eat jerkied meat until the fair came around again. Here's how you do it. Cut the meat into strips about an inch thick and from, six to twelve inches long. Put the meat into the bottom of a basin. This is a typical clothes-washing basin about a foot or two feet wide. Preferably made out of aluminum but plastic will do. The basin should be wide enough so that you put in just ONE LAYER of meat. Do not make a pile of meat but rather just fill the basin with one layer. If you want to do more, get a bigger basin. Salt the meat . Just cover the meat with a good amount of salt and rub it in a bit but make sure the meat is covered in salt. Loosely covered would maybe be a better word. I use fine salt so that it penetrates. Leave it for a couple of hours. Now here's the secret - the water will come out of the meat and when the meat is covered in its own water you rinse the meat and hang it up (on a clothesline) it the hot sun for about six or eight hours. If you don't have a hot sun I guesss you could smoke it in a smokehouse and it would be the same and probably tastier. On inspection the meat should have a dry and dark look. If you can see what look like moist areas or lighter tone in the meat leave it in the sun longer until it becomes really dry. Store in a well ventilated place.

Is there a problem with flies when you dry the meat like that?

 

[Alex p. Schorsc]

Thirty years ago is a kinda long time. Never had problems with the flies that I can recollect. I used kind of the same system for a nice big slab of fish - about 4 pounds. I salted him and instead of putting it in the sun, I hung it over our wood-burning stove. We only had a wood burning stove so it was in use almost all day long. The fish got a bit of smoke on it as well. I'll tell you that was the best tasting fish I ever had. I cooked it in a stew with fresh milk and potatoes. Kind of the way people cook salted cod. I think the Brazilians put a couple of children onto the "sun-dried meat squad" that shoe away flies.

 

[texasred66]

We kept the flies off with black pepper. We coated the strips of beef with salt and then the black pepper. We placed the strips on clothes lines in the full sun and brought it inside at night putting it out again in the morning. That jerky would be tough and hot but mighty good.

 

[Andrew Colglazier]

Good skills to know. But two words - "Stomach cancer".

Andy

 

[CWL]

I just want to add that lean meat is the way to go as fatty meats don't cure or jerk too well, the fat can also go rancid on you.

Game is naturally lean but you'll need to select leaner beef for best results.

 

[dalee100]

Hi,

You guys need to remember there is two different kinds of smoking. Hot smoke, which takes place at temps between 180F and 250F. Your meat WILL require refrigeration when done. Because it's actually cooked. Hot smoking is how 90% of all meats are smoked. It's simple and fast.

Cold smoking is a bit more difficult. And is more about drying the meat rather than smoking it for flavor. It's done between 35F and 45F. A separate firebox from the meat is needed. And only the smoke is piped to the meat after it cools. This is why it's traditionally only done in the fall.

dalee

 

[sasha]

Never realy done any meat but i did dry lots of fish.

Get enough water to cover the fish in the pot. Add salt to the water untill its very salty. Where you go damn thats alot of salt... Then pour it over the fish in the pot enough to cover it. Leave it there from 2-3 days. The longer you leave it the more salty it would be. So you would have to try it this way and that untill you get the flavor you like. When i take the fish out i wash it with plain water as i dont like too much salt. Run a thin rope thru the eyes both ways. Hang it in a shade for 24-32 hours for the meat to age. Then put it out in the sun. Main thing to watch for are the flys. How dry you get it is just how dry do you like it. If you do want to keep it for a long time then get it dry as a rock. Had some of the fish last in a bag on top of the fridge for 6-7 months. Yes i forgot about it most of the time they dont last more then a month. Every one likes it with beer. But i wont know as i dont drink beer..

Sasha

 

[sasha]

jsut to make it clear the reason the fish last about a month is that everyone eats it. Great to take camping. Some one pulls beer out and you put the fish on the table. Trust me you would be DA MAN around the camp fire.

 

[Bushman5]

thanks Sasha, i'm goig to try fish

 

[sasha]

BushMan5 If you want to use just salt you can but it would make it very salty. Mixing the salt in the water makes it less salty. If you do large fish Where its 2in or thicker you do have to cover the fish with salt or when you go damn that salty add 50% more salt. Let the fish sit in the shade for 2-3 days for the meat to age. The larger the meat the more of everything else you would need to use. The fish you see me drying is Grunion. Thats about half of what i made as my dad dont like it as dry as i do. So he came over and took half of it, saying that he needed to save it from me. If it dont come out right the first time dont worry about it. Its more of getting the hang of how much salt to use to make it taste good for YOU.

Sasha

 

[kvaughn]

I make venison jerky by marinating in a spices and lime juice overnite and then in dehydrators until it snaps. Finish off in the freezer in open plastic bags for a few days to finish drying any residual moisture. Keeps for months after that. My dehydrators are just kitchen units I picked up at tag sales. The lime juice means you need less salt and gives a nice flavor. The citric acid in the limes helps the dehydration process.---KV