[Scott M.]

So I made the jerky following my recipe and procedure in the "Opinion of this recipe" thread. I assumed since it was cooked and dehydrated I was good to go, so I put it in some tupperware and threw it on the shelf. I munched for a couple days and then when I opened it on Tuesday there was fuzz growing in the container. I lost over half of the 5lbs batch.

Any clues on what may have gone wrong?

How do you all store your jerky after its done?

 

[campinfamily]

I keep mine in the fridge.but my kids love it so much it never makes it past 2 days so I dont know how long it keeps.

 

[LabandBirdman]

refrigerator....

 

[Zimmer50cal]

Not enough cure (sodium nitrate) and keep refrigerated.

 

[treehugger630]

Scrape the fuzz off and send it to me...

 

[Scott M.]

Alright so this looks like it was my mistake to just keep it on the shelf in the cupboard. I'll up the sodium nitrate a little bit as well. Next time once it's all done I'm going to portion it out and vacuum seal it in smaller packages then into the frig. This is just such a bummer, because I liked the recipe.

Scrape the fuzz off and send it to me...

Sounds like my grandfather. He'd scrape the fuzz off the top of the sour cream and put another dollop on his baked potato

 

[bigben]

it got moldy is what happened. vac pack it and freeze it if you want to keep some for a while. in my house it never lasts long enough to worry about fuzz. a 5lb bag of jerkey is gone in 2 days between me my father brother and mother.

 

[letumgrow]

There was to much moisture in the end product. If there is mor then 5% moisture in the end product it will mold even in the fridge. My jerky is done in a outside smokehouse and dried to less then 5% moisture you can leave it in a sealed container on the counter forever. I take my old meat and make jerky treats for the dog and leave it on top of the kennel in a utz pretzle plastic barrel. It has been there for 6 mo.

 

[Scott M.]

letumgrow, I'd like to be able to leave it on the shelf so how would I go about measuring the moisture content?

 

[letumgrow]

Scott M.

1. How much cure are you using? (1tsp = ?lbs.)
2. What is the maximum temp you are reaching.

 

[Scott M.]

letumgrow

1. 1 1/2 tsp for 5 lbs
2. 160 degrees

That amount of cure sounded light to me, but since this was the first time using this recipe I went with it.