Posted: 2/4/2008 3:52:18 AM EDT
| Lets say I actually kill a dear in a SHTF situation. What next? How do I keep the meat from rotting? It should last for months if prepared correctly, right? |
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Smoking is not all that difficult, PROVIDED YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SALT. This is the key, you MUST use "pink salt" aka sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate as part of your cure or brine if you are smoking for preservation. These products are what give ham and smoked sausages their pink color and prevent botulism. You must know the formula for using these products though. If you use too much, and injest the food, your red blood cells will have difficulty carrying oxygen, you will pass out, and possibly die. If you put protein that has moisture in an anerobic(no oxygen) environment under 140 degrees without nitrates or nitrites, you stand a very good chance of growing botulism in your food. No amount of cooking will remove the toxins that the botulism bacteria produce while they're alive and if you injest food that has been contaminated, you will die. If you hot smoke your meat, or use a smoky fire to dry your meat, you should be ok, but the temperature of the smoker should never go below 165, and that means that your meat will be cooked when it's done, not necessarily preserved. Here's a source for pink salt. I have processed meat, made sausages, and smoked all forms of meat in a commercial operation, and I can tell you that I'll be dry salting my meat come SHTF in the style of the ham makers of the Parma region of Italy. Lot's of salt, lots of dry air, and leave the smoking for preservation to someone else. Fish will be the exception, but that's another story. |
salt, jerky, smoke, can, jar, refridge........ matters what your BOL can handle. IMHO game/animals that are that large should only be taken for large groups. depedning on AO( way of death etc) the deer would yield 30-100lbs of meat. small game is the key. if its the colder months( or AO with cool temps) nail it shove it in the snow or hang it to cool( like in a celler or outdoor shack) |
JERKY 1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce 1/4 cup Soy Sauce 1 tsp. onion powder 1 tsp. garlic powder 2-3 tsp. black pepper Red Pepper - optional - add if you like it spicy 2 T. salt 1 tsp. prepared mustard Marinate 1/4" to 1/2" thick strips overnight in above mixture (24hrs.) Press dry on paper towels In gas oven - dry with pilot light for 4 days +/- or until dry In electric oven - 200* until dry Good with venison or beef - easy to vary recipe or modify for SHTF preparation. Really good on a gas grill with a little smoke along with drying. |
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Field to freezer Jerky Canning, sausage, smoking game I have a food dehydrator that I use for making small amounts of jerky. Smokers can process larger amount of meat. A smoker can easily be made at home. A friend of mine made one out of an old refrigerator. |
Excellent! Thank you. Do you know how long it will take in either the electric oven or the gas grill? |
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Forest - when I used the oven method, I left it in overnight with the door cracked open. If you want to do it easier, get an el cheapo, wally world dehydrator. They work really nice and you can do fruits and veggies as well. Another cool thing you can make with it is Pinole. Wicked tasty. Basically you dry a bag of frozen corn, and sorta 'pop' or brown it till it swells a little on low heat in a skillet . It's a really cool thing that the Scouts will love. |
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Forest, that recipe is the one I have used several times and it is exactly as it was given to me. I have never left it in 4 days. Don't try to rush it. It's a slow process and will take at least 36-48 hours and maybe longer. As was posted, you can leave the oven door cracked open. My favorite way is on the gas grill because you can smoke it a little too...very tasty! One important thing...only use lean meat. Fat will tend to spoil and/or taste horrible even after it is dried. It should make a great scout project...take the grill camping. Good luck. |
No, don't start with chicken. Try London Broil. It is very lean. Although I do know that turkey jerky is a possibility (former uncle used to make it) I would avoid poultry products until I *really* had the temps down to an art. TRG |
I absolutely agree...no chicken, turkey, etc.  I use either venison or trimmed beef sirloin. It is very lean and Sam's usually has some good deals on meat on the weekends. |
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You need to learn/read about what makes jerky 'safe' without refrigeration. Once you understand why it is safe, and storable without refrigeration, it will make more sense about how to make it. Water = bacteria pathways. Without water, bacteria cannot break in to the cells of the meat and cause decay. Remove the water before the bacteria can set in. If you take 3-4 days to do it, there is a good chance the meat can/will spoil before the water is removed. Normally, the process should take 12-18 hours or less. Thins strips dry faster. Lean meat (fat contains water that is hard to evaporate) works best. Remember, bacteria in food grows best around 80-120 degree F. Above/below that range and bacteria growth is inhibited. If you have raw meat in an 80-100 degree oven, you better be drying it *real* fast. Airflow. Low humidity. Heat. TRG |
Actually the danger zone for meat is 40-140 and any bacteria present aren't killed until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 and is held there for 15 seconds. Once there are no bacteria, holding at 140 will prevent future bacterial growth. Meat, etc can be dried safely without "cooking" or air cured, without heat of any kind due to the removal of one key component that bacteria need to grow: moisture. If your brine or cure is done properly and contains enough salt, it is safe to do. Another method which folks might find useful is cold air drying. In Switzerland in natural alpine tunnels where the wind blows through, they hang beef that has been salted to dry in the cool alpine air. It's above freezing and the cool air dries the beef over a longer time than a hot air drying procedure, but it's delicious when done. |
"Meat, etc can be dried safely without "cooking" or air cured, without heat of any kind due to the removal of one key component that bacteria need to grow: moisture. If your brine or cure is done properly and contains enough salt, it is safe to do. " Can you slow that down and re-explain. I agree that jerky is created/preserved by removing moisture, but jerky is not brined. Brining is using water to transport salt into the mat's interior. Brined meats are not preserved unls they are left in a heavily salted liquid and packed tight. For instance salted fish in kegs. Jerky meat is not a brined meat. Although you can brine your meat before air-drying it is not a typical step for beef/venison, and could make the meat even harder to properly preserveby adding water. Maybe I just misunderstood your statement? TRG |