JULIAN ON JERKY

There are some good reasons for making jerky at home.  Of course a major component of DIY projects is saving money.   Making a high quality product is also of major concern.  And by doing things ourselves, we have more control over the ingredients and practices involved in the process thus possibly leading to a product that meets our personal desires and a healthful product.  Regarding jerky, the process is relatively simple and safe, the results can easily exceed commercial products and with attention to detail and methodology, some money can also be saved compared to the price of commercially available jerky.

 Jerky meat is expensive! That's one reason why commercially made jerky is well over $50 a kilo.  What is the best way to get top quality jerky meat at the lowest possible price?  Buy more  meats when they are available at sale prices. If you, or if you know someone who hunts or fishes, take full advantage of a bountiful harvest or gifts or barter opportunities.  When you get large amounts of meat, do your slicing immediately and then freeze it in batches of the size that will fit your marinating bowl.  (For freezing fish especially, see my article The Salmon Are Here....Now What?) Then when you want to make jerky, place the lump of frozen slices in the bowl and pour the marinating spices over it and leave it in the fridge until it thaws and can be mixed. Then dry as usual.  

Try to avoid putting liquid additives into your marinating bowl.  Firstly, most of these will be poured down the drain.  Secondly, all the remaining moisture will ultimately have to be dried in the oven.  There is plenty of moisture for marinating purposes already in the meat and you will find some of this in your marinating bowl the morning after when the salt has drawn it out.  Soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce have excellent flavour but are very dilute.  Dried soy flavour would be a better choice if it is available but not if it is more expensive than ordinary soy sauce.  Worcestershire sauce is mostly malt vinegar but I like the taste as well. 

Leave your marinating bowl uncovered in the fridge.  This will start the drying process as soon as possible.

While the combination of ingredients in the marinade does affect flavour of course, and you will make adjustments for your taste as you gain experience, the main object of the exercise is to evaporate the water out of the meat.  Meat is over 75% water and almost all of this needs to be removed.  If you dry your meat with no additives at all it will still taste great!  In traditional times, when the only purpose of making jerky was to preserve meat, the only additive if any was salt.   Increased salting will lead to reduced drying times and greater preservative qualities but it will concentrate salt in the final product and may be more or less desirable to your taste buds. 

 That's another reason why jerky is so expensive.  Like so many foods, you are paying for meat that is mostly water and which literally vanishes into  thin air and IS money down the drain.  I'm a big fan of saving money but I like to pick my battles.   In my blog Tax Free Booze in the Great White North, I rant on and on about how easy it is to enjoy huge savings when making homebrew...the essential point here is that when making homebrew, one isn't beating the industry price, one is beating the GOVERNMENT PRICE.  No matter what we do to our jerky we won't be able to to beat commercial makers by very much because there's not much tax on food in Canada.  But we can avoid the additives and preservatives found in commercial jerky that we don't want.  So is home made jerky cheaper than commercially made jerky? The short answer is yes it can be.....but only slightly.  If one shops for meat at the lowest possible sale prices, doesn't drive too far to get it, buys and uses additives and packaging frugally, air dries his jerky or at least uses a 110v convection oven  AND doesn't put a high price on his labour then he can beat the price of commercial jerky.  

These guidelines form the basis for all my jerky recipes including beef, pork, salmon, turkey etc.

Directions and Basic Recipe

• 2 pounds beef round, brisket, or whatever lean is on sale....the less fat the better.  
• cut it into thin strips as thinly and as evenly as you can... .slight freezing and a thin sharp knife help but don't worry.
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• for fish jerky, either leave the skin on or slices should be around twice as thick as for beef to avoid crumbly jerky
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika and or  chili powder, paste or any or as much hot spice as you like.

1. Place beef strips in the bottom of a large bowl. Pour all ingredients over beef. Mix to assure all the meat is evenly coated.  Marinate, uncovered in the refrigerator  overnight....longer is fine if you don't get to it right away.
2. Arrange the meat strips on a wire rack or perforated tray of some kind and put it in a 70 degree Celsius (158F) oven and place a foil lined tray underneath it to catch the drips.  In a conventional oven leave the oven door slightly open.  Dry at least 4 hours then turn the slices over and continue drying until the desired texture and colour is achieved.   Store in an airtight container or resealable bags.

VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC RECIPES FOR THE PRESSURE COOKER, THE TABLE AND THE THERMOS

Was it Napoleon who said "an army marches on its stomach"?.....Well anyway, it was Pogo who said "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

What does  all this mean?,  you ask.  What it means is that we've invited the world and so now we must feed them.  Here are Julian's Winter Olympic  recipes.
Of all the greatest kitchen gadgets that have been invented over time, with the exception of the microwave oven, the pressure cooker must be at the top of the list.  Recipes that take over night steps can be done in an hour in the  pressure cooker.  No need to soak beans.  Cuts of meat that are the most flavourful like lamb shanks and chuck roasts can be cooked in a fraction of the time.  The pressure cooker is portable,  versatile, inexpensive, lasts a lifetime and is almost maintenance free.  Use the link to Miss Vickie's to learn everything you need to know about pressure cookers.
Feed everyone in your household with beautiful looking, great tasting, nutritious, high fiber, easy to prepare, re-heatable, economical dishes that will keep the group walking, biking and riding mass transit all day long in the pouring rain.....yes my friends, I know it sounds too good to be true...so therefore by default, it probably is.   The food's good though.

#1) Biathlon Beanie Weenies

Here's one to propel yourselves to Olympic events.

INGREDIENTS

500 gms  dry small white (navy) beans

500 gms hotdogs (one package) any type. I recommend ball park franks.

1.2L water.

1 big spoonful of the following or to taste, ketchup and  molasses or brown sugar or black treacle.

METHOD

Place dry beans, hotdogs (frozen ok) and water in the pressure cooker and cook at low pressure for 1 hour.

De pressurize and make sure your beans are tender. 

Stir in ketchup, sugar product and season to taste over low heat. reduce over low heat until sauce is thick.  Grab the  hotdogs one at a time and slice them with scissors into traditional weenie slices.

#2) Short Track Chowder

A smoky, warming fish soup that'll bring the Scandies sniffing around.

INGREDIENTS

400GM BONELESS FILLET SMOKED COD

1/2 HEAD OF CABBAGE

1 ONION

1 POTATO

1 CARROT

1 BUNCH OF  PARSLEY

1.5L WATER OR FISH STOCK

METHOD

Coarsely dice all the vegetables and the cod.  Finely chop the parsley.  Place all the ingredients in the pressure cooker  for 15 minutes or until everything is tender.  Season to taste.

#3) BOBSLED BEEF STEW  

A great, richly flavoured stew that's great for the table and the thermos!

INGREDIENTS

1 KG Beef brisket, blade steak, cross rib or other stewing beef

15-20 mushrooms

750 ml red wine

1L water or beef stock

garlic

6 tomatoes

200ml each of chopped celery,onion, carrots, potato and parsley

2 bay leaves

METHOD

Put the beef and the wine and mushrooms in the pressure cooker and cook for 45 minutes.  De pressurize and add the rest of the ingredients.  Re-pressurize and cook for 15 minutes.  De pressurize.  Remove the beef and dice it.  Return it to the  pot and season to taste  with salt and  pepper and a spoonful of sugar.

FINE SUMMER DINING ON THE WEST COAST....TRY MY PINK SALMON RECIPE

When I was growing up in England, back when the last of the dinosaurs still stalked the earth, the only salmon I ever tasted came in a tiny 85 gram tin that cost a pound or more. It was a rare treat that was usually extended with salad cream and spread thinly on sandwich bread and that was it. I read about people going salmon fishing in Scotland but these kind of holidays were only a dream to me. I simply assumed that salmon, all salmon, but especially fresh and smoked salmon were delicacies everyone loved but were only enjoyed regularly by rich folks.

But here on the west coast, in modern times, the salmon situation is quite different. The five species of Pacific salmon, Chinook (Spring, Tyee), Chum (Dog, Silverbright), Pink, Coho (Blackmouth, Blueback) and Sockeye are widely available as well as is farmed Atlantic salmon. Despite declining wild stocks, salmon are there in the local sea for catching the year round. And guess what....salmon is absolutely the cheapest fish that one can buy! Yes! Cheaper than cod. Cheaper than farmed tilapia.

I now buy tinned salmon smoked from The Fishery on Saltspring Island. It's a family owned business that offers all the species of salmon smoked in tins. Its only around $4.oo per tin.
Regular tinned salmon is cheap in the grocery stores as well. The 213 gm. tin of wild pacific sockeye is always available for about $2.00 and goes on sale in August for less at the Real Canadian Superstore.

I've discovered something else that continues to puzzle me after all these years. Guess what. Most people don't like salmon. Yes it's true. I used to think that people en masse don't eat salmon because it seems expensive. But that isn't the reason. Most folks simply prefer beef. The purpose of this writing is not to convert those folks, it's to help people who already like salmon to get the most from their dining experiences.
For some reason that escapes me, restaurants generally treat salmon as if it is expensive....which it isn't.
Salmon served in restaurants is served in undersized, overcooked, overpriced, little, fingersized portions. There are some exceptions and I apologize to you. Local Japanese restaurants offer nice portions under $10.00. Yes! If you haven't had salmon sashimi then you haven't completed your salmon culinary tour. Try The Eatery on W. Broadway.
Here's another thing that is cheap and fabulous. Next time you're hankering for fish n' chips, order salmon n' chips instead of cod or halibut. Cockney Kings does it well.
For BBQing, grilling, sashimi, smoking, frying, poaching and for the salmon deal of the year, here's the local secret, the bottom line, the best way to go.
Yesterday at the Real Canadian Superstore I bought fresh, wild, Pacific, Pink Salmon, head off and gutted, two small fish in a bag...are you ready for this... $3.90 A KILOGRAM! Yes....less than $2.00 per lb. The cost of my fish was $6.49.

Pink salmon gives and gets a raw deal locally compared to the bigger, redder, fattier species like Sockeye and Chinook, but when they are running in August nothing beats fresh, lean, delicate, fillets of wild, Pink Pacific salmon. Why is the little Pink so under appreciated? There are a couple of reasons. Because Pink salmon is mostly caught in huge numbers right when they begin the spawning run, the overwhelming majority of Pinks are tinned for sale. Pink salmon, like other lean species of fish doesn't tin well. The flavour is bland because the fish has to be grossly over heated in order to tin it. Species like Sockeye taste better from the tin because the high fat content of the fish helps the flavour survive the hyper boiling process. Tinned Pink salmon is half the price of tinned Sockeye so I think that many people having had both species tinned and having found the much cheaper Pink salmon to be inferior assume that it's an inferior fish in general. Many folks add fat to tinned Pink salmon in the form of mayonaise for sandwiches and salads but this is not the way to enjoy Pink salmon. Pink salmon should be carefully cooked when fresh.

Pink salmon spoils quickly. To get a truly unforgettable West Coast salmon dining experience you are going to have to either know someone who understands and loves his or her salmon or you are going to have to do it yourself. Here's how Julian does it.

1. Buy your Pink salmon small, fresh and whole (head off and gutted ok) in August and September and be prepared to eat it within one day.

2. Fillet the fish or cut it into steaks just a half or at the most three quarters of an inch thick, no more. If your fish is  big enough so that the fillets are thicker than an inch, carefully slice them horizontally. For steaks, roll the belly flaps up into the belly cavity and secure them with tooth picks. The fat in the belly flaps will be held against the leaner body flesh for the most flavourful steaks and the steaks won't fall apart. If you cut your salmon into pieces that are thicker than three quarters of an inch, the outside of the fish will dry and be overcooked before the middle flakes. This is a classic way to ruin Pink salmon. Ideally Pink salmon should be cooked very quickly in pieces sized like little sole fillets.

3. Preheat a nonstick or cast iron skillet over heat high enough to sizzle butter but not burn it. Put a knob of salted butter, a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley and little white pepper into the pan. Add the salmon and put the lid on, turn it after about a minute and cook for another minute or so until the salmon just flakes....as if you were cooking sole.

4. Since the Pink run is in late Summer, Pink salmon is often ruined on BBQ's. It gets overcooked in big chunks and this contributes to Pink salmon's reputation as being dry and unappetizing, not to mention that it's too delicate get off the grill. There really is only one way to conveniently BBQ fresh Pink salmon and that is to use a wire basket. These are cheap enough at the Dollar Store to buy and throw away if washing it afterwards is inconvenient. I like the ones that are square and flat for toast rather than the fish shaped ones as they are too big to hold the little salmon pieces. Prepare the salmon as above, except brush the salmon with melted butter. Cook it quickly over high heat so as not to dry it out. Alternatively, Pink salmon can be steamed on the grill in sealed foil with butter and a little wine....which is excellent, but of course there won't be any BBQ flavour.
DO NOT OVERCOOK IT and serve it immediately with Grey Monk Pinot Gris. Or get a growler of Derrick's Pilsner from Dix! Bon Appetit!