drying-foods-msg - 1/29/08
Drying foods in period and for use in the SCA.
NOTE: See also the files: pickled-foods-msg, campfood-msg, food-storage-msg, ham-msg, sausages-msg, salt-msg, vinegar-msg, herbs-cooking-msg, fruits-msg, vegetables-msg, sausage-makng-msg, no-fire-cook-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 21:05:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uduido at aol.com
Subject: SC - Sun drying
<< Now I'm curious, how do you do the Mr. Golden Sun method with jerky
without getting spoilage? >>
The box described to dry the items in is designed to provide a very dry
atmosphere plus heat.
For actual sun drying the meat must be sliced VERY thin and hung on racks.
They must be removed to a dry place each evening before dew falls, etc. The
jerky mixture or salt provides the means to preserve from spoilage as has
been done for centuries.
A better Sun-drying method which would be safer and more effective but not
period, would be to construct any one of the solar dryers featured in several
past issues of Mother Earth News. These work wonderfully well if constructed
and used according to the instructions. Always remember, thin, thin, thin. A
greater degree of thinness can be accomplished if the meat is partially
frozen and sliced while still in that state.
Lord Ras
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 20:26:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uduido at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme
<< I was just given 15 pounds of ripe figs. I live alone. I don't even
have a chihuahua. Is there such a thing as fig jam? pickled figs?
Do figs freeze? >>
Figs are prime candidates for drying. If you have a gas stove, it's a simple
matter to lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and let the pilot light
do the work, :-)
Lord Ras
From: jen-guy at home.com (Jennifer Guy)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Beef Jerky (Was First Time Pennsic Tips)
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 19:20:35 GMT
On 27 Jun 1998 14:43:32 GMT, Tracy Schulman <motherkt at frontiernet.net>
wrote:
>If you're using a food dehydrator do you need to cook the beef first? I've >never made Jerky but the idea sounds great.
> Aine
I've made jerky in the oven and in the dehydrator, and never cooked it
first. I might consider cooking turkey or something beforehand. I've
only done beef to date. We always cut really thin pieces, takes too
long to dry otherwise. One thing we do is spice, season and marinade.
Here's some ideas:
Garlic
Garlic/Pepper
Tabasco
Italian Dressing
Barbeque
Lemon Pepper
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
There are jerk sauces and smoke flavorings available. Have fun!
From: wavdrmr at aol.com (Wavdrmr)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Beef Jerky (Was First Time Pennsic Tips)
Date: 27 Jun 1998 20:09:50 GMT
>We always cut really thin pieces, takes too
>long to dry otherwise. One thing we do is spice, season and marinade.
The butcher at your local supermarket can cut the meat for you. Just tell him
how thin you want it.
If you like your jerky nice and spicy (like I do) make sure you leave a lot of
the pepper (or sprinkle more) on the beef. Yum!
Jacquelinne
From: Eric & Lissa McCollum <ericmc at primenet.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Beef Jerky (Was First Time Pennsic Tips)
Date: 27 Jun 1998 15:58:00 -0700
Tracy Schulman wrote:
> If you're using a food dehydrator do you need to cook the beef first? I've
> never made Jerky but the idea sounds great.
> Aine
We don't. We usually buy a flank steak, and either have the butcher
cut it for us or half freeze it and cut it ourselves in strips
a quarter inch thick. Marinate overnight, and put on
the dehydrater. We spray the trays with Pam first, so the
finished product doesn't stick (especially important with the
fruit leather!). The dehydrator blows hot air over the food
until it drys out, and I suppose that cooks it slightly
in the process. The stuff lasts *months* if you dry it
enough.
The benefit of the dehydrators is that they are fairly
quick. We can make jerky in a day, and dried apple slices
only take about 8 hours. We have two of them now, and
gear up about a week ahead of a major event to make
enough food to feed an entire encampment on the run.
And believe me, making your own is *much* cheaper
than buying it!
Gwendolen Wold
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 07:32:35 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at algonet.se>
Subject: Re: SC - Jerked Meat
On Sun, 12 Jul 1998, jeffrey stewart heilveil wrote:
> Does anyone have a smoke-preserved/dried-preserved meat recipe that is
> period? If not, if anyone has a dried-preserved that can be done in an
> oven, I would be deeply in their debt.
No period recipies, but try setting your oven to 40-60 C (105-140 F),
leaving the oven door slightly ajar (a wooden spoon helps here). Cut
_lean_ meat into strips "across the grain" and place on a rack, not
directly on a cookie sheet. This is what I do for veggies, and I've been
told that it works with meat as well.
/UlfR
- --
Par Leijonhufvud parlei(at)algonet.se
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 01:15:27 -0500
From: a14h at zebra.net (William Seibert)
Subject: Re: SC - Jerked Meat
Beef can be oven dried if you put it on a rack, rather than in a
pan. However, there should be a pan under the rack in order to
catch drips before they splatter the oven. The oven should be
set at about 150 degrees F, and the meat tested about every
hour. When it cracks instead of bends, its done. Of course, the
thinner the stuff is sliced, the quicker it dries. One pound of
beef should result in about 4 ounces of dried beef. Marinade
recipes follow.
Wine Marinade
* cup red wine
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
2 fresh cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp ground pepper
pinch of thyme
pinch of oregano
pinch of marjoram
Soak 2 lbs of thin sliced beef (cut against the grain) in salt
water for 30 minutes; drain and rinse. Marinate in the above
mixture for 48 hours in a sealed container (refridgerated).
Drain, rack and dry.
The above marinade may also be used for chicken, but the chicken
must first be boiled off the bone in the marinade, then boned,
drained and dried.
Hope this works out for you. The chicken looks like wood chips
when you're done with it, but makes an outstanding stew when
boiled for 5 minutes with chopped onion and green peppers, and a
little rice thrown in to thicken.
WAJDI
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 1998 02:12:31 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: Re: SC - Jerked Meat
Can you set your oven as low as 150*? I've done it at 250*, but that's
really too high. I've got a convection oven, but you should be able to
use a regular. Maybe prop the door open a little and turn on the fan,
draft obliquely across the door? The basic: 1/3 part Kikkoman soy sauce,
2/3 part water. Get as fancy as you like: a few drops of smoke flavor,
lemon juice, crumbled dried herbs, or float fresh leaves in the marinade
for a bit, mustard, pepper, ground cloves, etc. Make a few batches and
find what you like best. I used to do mine paper thin, but this year am
trying 1/4" slices. Hide a few sandwich bags of it, because once your
friends learn you make it....
This is not documented: just hot weather survival food! (That, and
raspberry ices...)
Allison
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 00:14:37 PDT
From: "catherine allison" <cra4774 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Jerked Meat
You might also want to try using Lapson Souchong tea in the marinade
which has a real nice smokey flavour. The tea can also be tossed on the
coals when grilling meats.
Alisyn of Greenbriar (Bjornsborg)
Cathy Allison
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 16:31:29 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Jerked Meat
> Firstly I would like to correct the subject line. Jerked meat is a Caribbean
> method of seasoning meat. Beef jerky is what is commonly known as marinaded
> and dried meat. I could be wrong on this but having been to the Caribbean
> a dozen or so times I think I have it right.
>
> Micaylah
The subject line is correct as it stands. The word jerky derives from the
American Spanish word charqui which is a corruption of the Quechua word
ch'arki. All of which refer to sun or smoke cured meat. The verb
describing the process is jerk. So jerked meat is proper.
For the Caribbean meat dishes, the word jerk is an adjective, for example,
jerk chicken (as opposed to jerked chicken). In this context, jerking is a
method of preparing and barbequing meat. The derivation of the word is the
same as for jerky.
Ah, the joys of having a trivia trap for a mind.
Bear
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 10:46:44 -0400
From: "Gedney, Jeff" <gedje01 at mail.cai.com>
Subject: RE: SC - Low sodium requirements
I think that a good low sodium jerky marinade would be a kind of
Teriakish that I have used for seasoning pork for stir fry.
Try the following:
2 tbs. honey,
2 tbs. cider vinegar (or possibly orange/pineapple juice),
2 tsp. low sodium Soy sauce
1 tsp. sake
2 tsp. fresh chopped ginger
1 tsp. finely minced onion
2 tsp. finely minced garlic
1/2 to 11/2 tsp. chopped Thai red pepper (depending on taste, how hot do
you want it?)
Whisk all together until the honey is dissolved
Slice the meat 1/4 inch thick, across the grain, and give it a good hard
stretch ( the "jerk" in jerky) to loosen the connective tissues.
Put the meat into a bowl, and cover with the marinade, and press down
into the marinade with a plate, and put in the fridge for 24 hours.
Every 8 hours or so remove the plate, and flip and stir up the meat.
After 24 hours prepare for drying:
Remove and Clean the top oven rack
Set the oven for 150-165 degrees (or "Warm" setting if analog oven)
Remove the meat from the marinade, and brush off any stuff clinging to
it. "Jerk" it again, gently this time, as the meat will be more fragile.
If desired, dredge the meat in cracked pepper at this point.
Skewer pieces of meat at one end, on bamboo skewers, and hang through
the cleaned rack.
Place a layer of foil on the bottom of the oven.
Place the loaded rack in the top most slot of the oven.
Put a chopsticks in the door, to ventilate the moisture, and dry the
meat.
Every hour or so, check the meat. when it cracks, it's ready!
I think that should be low enough sodium... at least to use as a treat.
Am I off base there? I don't want to kill anyone. If any of the
ingredients are high in sodium, let me know, as I am trying to cut back
a little, too.
Brandu
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 07:26:05 -0700
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Jerked Meat
Baron Frederick of Woodlyn used to do a really good jerky with
commercial teriyaki marinade, made in the microwave.
Microwave??!!
Yup. What happens to meat when you nuke it too long? It gets chewy and
hard. This is what you WANT when you make jerky.
I'm at work now, I'll go find the recipe at home and post it tonight.
Selene Colfox
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 11:14:33 -0700
From: kat <kat at kagan.com>
Subject: Sweet jerky recipe (was Re: SC - Low sodium requirements)
Korrin S. DaArdain writes:
> I remember as a kid having some jerky that was cured with sugar
> insted of salt.
The best, the absolute ultimate top-of-the-line BEST jerky I've ever had in my life was my dad's sweet venison jerky.
Recipe? Cut your venison thin. Shake in some black pepper and a couple handsful of dark brown sugar. Mix with your hands till the sugar starts pulling the juices from the meat.
You can dry this in your "li'l smoker" like my dad did; but even in a dehydrator it's excellent.
- k
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 17:27:33 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Sweet jerky recipe
John Henschen wrote:
> Now, I don't know much about making jerky... but... I thought all the salt
> in jerky was to kill the wee-beasties in the meats, which was what preserved
> the. Now... adding sugar, and it seems _only_ sugar to this recipe would
> encourage bad things to happen. Wouldn't it? Drying it would help, I
> suppose, but having been sick too many times from eating bad food, I don't
> think you could pay me to eat it. Sure, it sounds tasty, but is it safe?
Jerkies are invariably cured with at least some sugar all over the Far
East. You can buy commercial versions of jerkies of beef, pork, chicken,
turtle, and, believe it or not, squid. And, oddly enough, it's good,
too.
Sugar works the same way as salt does in high concentrations. It causes
plasmolysis in microorganisms: they undergo massive osmosis of their
bodily plasma, effectively exploding. Also, it produces a more tender
product than salt used alone.
I refer unbelievers to sugar-cured ham and bacon, which are made with
mixtures of sugar and salt in their cures.
Adamantius
From: bronwynmgn at aol.com (Bronwynmgn)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Beef Jerky (Was First Time Pennsic Tips)
Date: 15 Jul 1998 12:07:03 GMT
stefan at texas.net (Stefan li Rous) writes:
>There was an accessory available where we bought our dehydrator which let
>you use lean hamburger. You put the hamburger in a tube similar to those
>used to decorate cakes. It has a rectangular opening. When you pull the
>trigger a ribbon of meat comes out the front. Very convenient and hamburger
>may be cheaper than the other meat choices.
Never tried hamburger. As the poster said, get the absolutely leanest
hamburger you can if you try this. For that matter, the absolute leanest meat
of anysort, and remove any chunks of fat before drying. The fat will go rancid
long before the jerky goes bad. And I've managed to keep jerky at least a year
with no ill effects. Keeping it in an airtight container is also important; if
moisture gets into it, it will tend to rehydrate, and then to spoil.
As a chirurgeon, I once used jerky to "coerce" an exhausted, hungry, overheated
fighter from going back into a woods battle for the last ten minutes. He was
laying on the ground, saying he would go back in to the battle in just a
minute, but he was sooo hungry... I threw him my pouch (I was busy treating
someone else at the time) and told him there was homemade jerky in it (normally
I don't tell anybody because I get mobbed) because I was sure that was what he
would pick (there were also nutragrain bars and trail mix in the pouch), and by
the time he finished gnawing through a piece of it, he'd have rested in the
shade for a while, gotten some salt into him, and probably followed it up with
a nice long drink of water...As it was, the battle finished before he finished
the jerky. And he didn't particularly mind missing those last few minutes
since he got some homemade jerky out of it.
Brangwayna
From: phoenix at thomson.net
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Beef Jerky (Was First Time Pennsic Tips)
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 15:11:46 GMT
bronwynmgn at aol.com (Bronwynmgn) wrote:
> stefan at texas.net (Stefan li Rous) writes:
>
> >There was an accessory available where we bought our dehydrator which let
> >you use lean hamburger. You put the hamburger in a tube similar to those
> >used to decorate cakes. It has a rectangular opening. When you pull the
> >trigger a ribbon of meat comes out the front. Very convenient and hamburger
> >may be cheaper than the other meat choices.
>
> Never tried hamburger. As the poster said, get the absolutely leanest
> hamburger you can if you try this. For that matter, the absolute leanest meat
> of anysort, and remove any chunks of fat before drying. The fat will go
> rancid long before the jerky goes bad.
snippedabit
> Brangwayna
I have made jerky from venison and from beef from the grocery store, but as
far as getting the most "bang for the buck", I prefer to use fish. 1-2 pound
bass (or similarly shaped fish) filets are perfect. They have virtually no
fat, do not require slicing into strips, and are easy (relatively) to chew.
Be forewarned, though, it does have a different taste than beef, but if you
put enough seasoning in it, it covers up a lot of the "fish flavor".
Kinda makes me feels like an Eskimo.....
Munchin' and grinnin'...
James
Subject: more drying info
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 01:17:25 -0500
From: a14h at zebra.net (William Seibert)
To: stefan at texas.net
M'lord,