Beef Jerky Blog

Sodium Nitrite is probably one of the most mis-understood ingredients in food processing today. Lucky Brand Jerky produces “All Natural” Jerky by USDA definition, with the exception of 2 sku’s – Patriot Jerky and Survivor Jerky which use traditional sodium nitrite. That said, we do use nitrites in our “All Natural” Beef Snack Sticks to allow them to be shelf stable with a fairly high ~.87 aW (water activity). Our Beef Snack Sticks utilize nitrates that are naturally occurring in Celery Juice. They are chemically the same as man made Sodium Nitrite, but they are from a plant which allows us to maintain our “All Natural” status. Please check into other manufacturers and don’t be afraid to ask this question until you have an answer to your satisfaction. Nitrites are a very, very important part of the food safety equation, but ultimately, it’s up to you the consumer what you put in your body.

Sodium Nitrite was first approved as a cure to be used in meats in 1925. Since that time it has been so successful, that many have wondered why we are even using it anymore. Sodium Nitrite is a salt and an anti-oxidant (prevents things from oxidizing) on a large scale, sodium nitrate serves a very important public health role as it blocks the growth of botulism causing bacteria and prevents food spoilage. Sodium Nitrite also aids greatly in preventing the growth of Listeria and adds a unique and very tasty flavor to the meats which it is used to cure…ham & bacon are prime examples.

Most people associate sodium nitrite with meat products, and while sodium nitrite is widely used in meat products, it can also be found in a large number of vegetables as well. In fact, almost 93% of sodium nitrite that we consume comes from leafy vegetables & tubers. Did you know that spinach contains on average 1200ppm of sodium nitrate? Radishes contain 1500 – 1800ppm and lettuce can contain from 600 – 1700ppm. For comparison bacon is injected with no more than 156ppm sodium nitrite, by USDA regulation, and the remaining sodium nitrite in the finished product is generally less than 10ppm. Vegetables contain large amounts of sodium nitrate which turns into sodium nitrite when it comes into contact with saliva in the mouth. Less than 5% of sodium nitrite intake comes from cured meats like bacon, ham, or shaved beef, pastrami, hot dogs, sausages, etc, etc.

When you hear the term, “Cured Meat” that, by definition means that the meat has been “cured” with sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is what gives products like cured ham it’s color and taste. Sodium Nitrate also gives products a much longer shelf life. So what about cured meats that say they don’t contain sodium nitrite? Well, back to the vegetables. Celery Juice is commonly used as a cure because it contains sodium nitrate naturally, which when used as a meat cure, delivers a color and flavor similar to traditionally cured meats. The sodium nitrate in the vegetable based compound reacts with certain bacteria in the meat to convert into sodium nitrite and cures it in a similar manner to the traditional method with very similar results and chemistry.

Does sodium nitrate cause cancer…or cause hardening of the arteries?? Numerous scientific panels have evaluated sodium nitrite safety and determined that given sodium nitrite’s track record in preventing botulism that it is not only safe, it is essential to maintaining public health. In fact, The National Toxicology Program, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, conducted a multi-year to evaluate sodium nitrate’s safety when used to help preserve foods. They found sodium nitrate to be completely safe at the levels which it is commonly used today. Believe it or not, sodium nitrate is actually being used to help cure vascular problems, and used in treating heart attacks and organ transplants.

While we do not use Sodium Nitrite directly in most of our products – only in Patriot Jerky, Survivor Jerky and Celery Juice Powder in our Beef Snack Sticks – we are confident that when we use sodium nitrite or it’s vegetable based equivalent, that we are making the best possible jerky products that are 100% safe, healthy and wholesome for the whole family. So what about Lucky Brand Jerky Slab Style?? Well, we’ve eliminated nitrites all together in that product and we achieve shelf stability by reducing our active water to around .80 aW then using a very high quality package to store the jerky. It is important to Lucky Brand Jerky that we produce products that give our customers a choice. Regardless of customer preference, it is our absolute mission to insure that any of these choices can be not only consumed with confidence, but enjoyed each and every time a customer opens their favorite package of Lucky Brand Jerky.

There is a lot of mis-information floating around about Beef & Beef Jerky. Frankly a lot of folks like to put a spin on their message to make their product sound better than others. We would never take away from someone else’s story, but we want to offer a little plain talk about beef jerky – whether you buy ours or the other guys’.

All Natural – The USDA Defines “All Natural” as “no further processing upon harvest” it doesn’t have a thing to do with the administering of drugs, antibiotics, etc, etc. If you choose to purchase jerky that is advertised as “All Natural” “no further processing upon harvest” is the only requirement a manufacturer IS REQUIRED to hit.

A number of producers, Lucky Brand Jerky being one of them, have made a choice to hold their definition of “All Natural” to a higher standard. This definition of All Natural goes well beyond the USDA “no further processing upon harvest” rule to include humane animal handling techniques, No Antibiotics, No Hormones, No Growth Promotants or ANY other medical treatments.

Another myth: “Grass Fed Organic beef is better than traditional Corn Fed beef”. Grass Fed Organic beef is definitely receiving the buzz in the marketplace these days, but the thing to keep in mind is that there isn’t enough grass to support the raising of domestic cattle to support the domestic beef market. This onion needs to be peeled back a couple layers to understand what his means. Just because there isn’t enough grass to produce enough domestic beef for the domestic market demand doesn’t mean folks don’t want to cash in on the demand. What is filling the void is “Organic Grass Fed Beef” from South America and New Zealand… While these more tropical climates do have a much greater abundance of grass and space, how much do you trust the folks raising these cattle without the very watchful eye of the USDA? It is something to consider when looking at beef products that are marketed as organic, grass fed. If someone says they are local, make the vet the information. Corn feeding is still an excellent and efficient way to grow cattle, and it’s been the feed of choice for premier cattle producers for well over a century, it is also why mid-western beef is what is found in the best restaurants in the world. It is a regional delicacy akin to Alaska King Crab, Sockeye Salmon, or Maine Lobster. Corn does a couple things that actually help the environment. Feeding cattle a combination of grass and corn allow the animals to grow at a natural pace that is more rapid than if they were simply browsing on grass. While it may sound calloused, being able to harvest the animal sooner means it will consume less fresh water and other food resources to create a certain amount of nutritious, lean protein. Grass fed beef gain at a rate of around 1 – 1.5 lbs per day. Corn fed cattle gain at a rate of 3.5 – 4 pounds per day. This gets a animal to market weight quicker with less secondary impact on the environment and delivers more beef per pound of feed consumed. Just some facts to keep in mind when making the grass fed/corn fed decision.

So how does the beef jerky world work?? Just like any other manufactured product. An enterprising group of individuals go to work on an idea to create a product. They look at raw material, production process, packaging and what it will take sell the product that they create. The way most folks are successful at making money is to create the most value in the product possible. That means pushing the cost on all the raw materials down as far as possible to create the best product that they can for the money invested. In the case of jerky, if a producer of jerky doesn’t own and raise the cattle they produce, then they are at the mercy of the market for consistency of raw material supply and cost. By owning our own cattle, we have 100% control of the raw material going into our jerky. This allows us to make Lucky Brand Jerky a very consistent, high quality jerky. It’s not the cheapest, but once you try it, we believe you will discover that it is among the absolute best “boutique” jerky on the market for a price that is much closer to “everyday” jerky. Lucky Brand Jerky is a delicacy that is packed with old world value. Give a bag a try, you won’t be disappointed.

Why does beef jerky exist? Why does any dried or dehydrated product exist? There are a couple reasons, but the main one is to increase the amount of time that product is still able to be consumed safely. It seems like a lot of people equate products like jerky or dried fruit with being indefinitely shelf stable and able to withstand all different types of storage conditions. While it is much more stable than it’s fresh counterpart, how jerky is stored definitely plays a role in how long it will last. The more that can be done to protect jerky from elements that will continue to break it down, the longer it will last.

“Water Activity” or aW is water in food which is not bound to food molecules and can support the growth of bacteria, yeasts and molds (fungi). The term water activity (aw) refers to this unbound water. The water activity of a food is not the same thing as its moisture content. Although moist foods tend to have greater water activity than dry foods, this is not always true; in fact a variety of foods may have exactly the same moisture content and yet have quite different water activities. Moist jerky generally has a higher level of sugar, as sugar does a good job of “occupying” water molecules, so jerky with more sugar, can seem more moist as the sugar is keeping the water from reacting with the atmosphere. Very dry jerky generally has much less sugar in it’s recipe, both of these jerky products could have exactly the same water activity.

Packaging plays a big role in how long food will last on the shelf. Plastic packaging, even the best, has what is called a “Barrier Rating” The “Barrier Rating” describes how well the package keeps the product, and it’s aroma, in the package. It also describes how well it keeps oxygen and moisture out. There are two basic criteria on which bags are rated: Oxygen Transfer Rating (OTR) and Moisture Vapor Transfer Rate (WVTR or MVTR). The OTR is defined by how much oxygen passes through a certain size area of film in a 24 hour period. The lower the rating number, the more impervious the barrier. Take a look at the chart below to compare some common materials. Foil is at the top of the list with a rating of 0 and Low Density Polyethylene LLDPE is sometimes referred to as a “screen door” to oxygen. There are big differences in plastic bags.

The top enemies of shelf life are: Heat, Light to include UV, Temperature Fluctuation and Rough Handling. If these can be minimized to the greatest degree, it is possible to improve shelf life by months, if not years. Let’s look a little more closely at some of the things that can shorten the life of America’s favorite meat snack.

Heat
Some may remember a lesson from earth science in high school – to speed any reaction, simply add heat. The same is true when it comes to breaking down meat. Storing jerky in too warm of environment is the same thing as cooking the meat, but it just takes much, much longer. Too much heat in a storage environment will bring a normal shelf life to a much quicker end. Ideal storage temperatures for jerky range from 35F – 70F. Generally speaking, the cooler the better, jerky stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container will last almost indefinitely.

Light
Ever notice how most things left to sit in the sun tend to deteriorate faster than items protected from the sun?? Skin will also react adversely to high levels of UV light. Light is heat’s first cousin and can be just as damaging if not more damaging. If jerky is stored in direct sunlight, the light helps the oxidization process move along quickly. This will result in the jerky becoming tougher and darker in color. Sunlight can also break down the packaging that jerky is stored in, UV rays are particularly hard on plastics. Sunlight is best avoided all together if you’re looking for a long term storage solution.

Temperature fluctuation
Any storage environment that has wide swings in temperature will break down food products more quickly. If you’ve ever seen dew on the grass you’ve seen the phenomena, warm air will support more moisture, when air cools moisture turns into precipitation. Jerky is packaged with a small amount of atmosphere in the bag, if the temperature swings down quickly enough, this moisture will become water particles. This doesn’t necessarily hurt anything or make the storage container unsanitary, but every time phase change happens in the bag, it’s making changes inside the jerky as well, generally that will be the jerky breaking down more quickly.

Rough Handling
Rough handling takes a toll on food products in a number of ways. First, it’s a good way to rupture a package. It literally only takes a pin hole to ruin an otherwise perfect barrier seal. Jerky should be handled in such a way that it is not pressed down tightly, squeezed, packed or twisted. The edges of jerky, especially slab style jerky are hard and sharp enough to pierce even a strong package. Once there is a hole in the bag, the jerky’s days are short. Keep factory packaged jerky stored in a loosely packed container, better yet, one that shields the inner packs from light and atmosphere and you’ll be enjoying your jerky for at least a couple years to come.

When you take a look at all of these enemies of shelf life, it seems that our ancestors who used to dig root cellars knew a little bit about what they were doing. The old root cellar addresses all of the enemies of shelf life with stark simplicity – it maintains a constant cool temperature, it shields food from sunlight and UV rays. The only thing that it didn’t account for was the barrier that the item may have been stored in….and that’s where it gets it’s name. “Root” cellar is used because as long as these roots were in the ground, they’d keep just fine for months if not years. If it was a more delicate foodstuff, say fruits, vegetables and meat, people would can them. Which involved cooking fruits and vegetables then sealing them in a glass jar under pressure to kill all the bacteria while providing an air tight, impervious seal. There are records of canned food being good after decades of storage.

No food lasts forever but properly sealed foods with low moisture (water activity) will last a lot longer than the rest. If you are interested in having jerky, or any other food keep for a longer period of time, pay attention to how and where it’s stored and you’ll be eating will for a long time to come.

Lots of people make their own jerky…but there are a lot of folks who are scared of making jerky.  We’re going to dive into this topic to dispel some of the myths about cure, proper cooking (heat treating) and seasoning.

Making a batch of jerky is easier than making a batch of cookies.  Seriously.  It’s that easy.

There are 3 basic types of jerky or meat snacks.  The items you need to make them are:

lean meat, seasoning, cure (sodium nitrite or celery juice powder) knife or grinder, drying racks and an oven, smoker or dehydrator.

Slab Jerky

Slab Jerky aka muscle jerky is the traditional style of jerky that’s been made for eons.  It’s very simple to make.

Slice the meat as consistently as possible.  Knife works fine, or you can use an actual meat slicer.  Lean meat works better than fatty meat, fat can go rancid.  Trim as much fat and connective tissue as possible before slicing.

Using the Lucky Brand Jerky Seasoning & Cure kit, blend 1 packet of seasoning and 1 packet of cure into a cup or two of cold water and add to 5lbs of meat.  Allow the mixture to marinate for a couple days.   If you want to add any additional seasoning, this is the time to do it.  Adding a little brown sugar to the mix will help keep the jerky more moist.

After the meat and marinade have spent a couple days in the refrigerator – between 35 and 39 degrees F – the cure will keep the meat from spoiling.  Now it’s time to lay the jerky out on oven racks for drying.  (make sure and put some foil down below the meat, as it’s likely to drip as its drying.

Set the oven to 200F and check the meat every half hour or so.  It usually takes at least a couple hours for the meat to reach temp, but once the internal temperature is 165F, it’s ready to come out of the oven.

Cool and enjoy.  Jerky will keep for weeks in the refrigerator or at least a few days at room temp.  The drier the jerky, the longer it will keep at room temp.

Ground and Formed Jerky

Ground and formed jerky is super easy to make and a great way to use up smaller pieces left over when slicing slab style jerky.  It’s best to start with lean meat for ground and formed jerky 85 – 90% lean is best, but one can usually get away with 80% lean.

We recommend grinding the meat twice, first with a 3/8” grinder plate, then with a 3/16” or 1/8” plate.

Once the meat is ground, break it into 5 pound batches for seasoning & cure.  Using the Lucky Brand Jerky Seasoning & Cure Kit, dissolve one packet of seasoning and one packet of cure into a cup or two of cold water.  Take your time mixing the seasoning in, the better it’s dissolved, the better the jerky will come out.

Blend the marinade and meat until the meat becomes very sticky.  The big boys call this “extracting the protein” and it’s what allows the ground and formed jerky to stick together nicely.

Now it’s time to either extrude the mixture onto drying racks or put it between a couple sheets of wax paper and roll it into approximately 1/4” thick slabs.  Carefully peel the top layer off, and use the bottom layer to “flip” the slab onto the drying rack, then remove the new top piece before cooking.

Cooking instructions are the same.  Cook the meat until the internal temperature is 165F, then cool.  If you’re smoking the jerky, make sure and go easy on the smoke, the thin cross section of jerky takes on smoke flavor quickly, a little smoke goes a long way.

Snack Sticks

The process is exactly the same as ground and formed jerky, except instead of laying the mixture out flat, it’s extruded into a small sausage casing and heat treated. while hanging from the top rack.  Cooking is the same, go with a low temperature 200F is great, and cook it until the internal temp reaches 165F, then shut the oven down, and open the door so it can cool while hanging.  Meat snack sticks take a little practice, but don’t give up, the results are worth the work.

If you ever have questions when making jerky, just drop us an email or give us a call.  We loving making jerky as much as we love helping people make their own jerky.