Bacon jerky - first time round experimental batch

[curious aardvark]

So I'm currently trying to think up products I can flog wholesale to the great british public (slightly ironic there lol)

As a nation we eat a LOT of bacon, all types. So I reckon bacon jerky could just be the thing.

While I was chopping up shoulder steaks for b2b sausage I sliced a couple thin (1 lb)




Used my converted to volume measurment b2b cure (I will post the thread - honest) and added the same again of brown sugar and mixed. Mortar and pestle 'cos this was 1am and everybody else was asleep :-)





I then added a layer of cure to a container, layer of meat, layer of cure, etc.
This is the same way I make beef jerky, you get to be able to judge even amounts of cure per layer quite quickly.




Gave it a couple of days - shaking the box like a nutter after the first 12 hours. Just assures an even distribution of cure.

After 2 days (this morning) I layered the bacon strips (for that is what they now were) on a couple of trays in the dehydrator and set it off at 150.





It's had about 4 hours.
Tastes great - if a little garlicky and could do with a little more salt for a traditional bacon flavour (went garlic heavy on this batch of b2b).
I figure I'll give it 8 hours - or until it's crispy.

And that's why my workshop (where the dehydrator is) currently smells like a garlic factory in the middle of an extra-garlicky production run

More later ...

[Richtee]

Hah! "Great British Public" I got that... ;{)

Whaddia mean 1 AM? Thought the sun never set?

Interesting stuff. You might have issues with the fat. Look to loin, grasshopper...

[curious aardvark]

nah fat's good - these steaks are about 10% and I've never worked out why you're so scared of a little fat on jerky
IT'll have been cured, dried, cooked and vacumn packed - what's it going to do to you ?

Just munched a bit - looking and tasting pretty damn good - given the smoke and garlic fume exposure I've had this afternoon I can't taste the garlic anymore lol. I'll give it another 2.5 hours and leave overnight to cool and firm up.

Now bearing in mind I want to make money from this stuff.

pork shoulder steak = £3.49 per kg
Loin - £7.49 per kg - on a good day.

nuff said

[Richtee]

Give it about a week on the counter. Rancidity.

[MichChef]

"pork shoulder steak = £3.49 per kg
Loin - £7.49 per kg - on a good day"

How much is that in US $? I buy both steaks and loins on sale for $1.69-$1.89 lb.

[Fishawn]

Nicely done Alex... Been wanting to try some Pork jerky since SmokinLee made it a while back.... I think shoulder is what my local meat shop uses for "Hawaiian style" Pork jerky.... $16 a pound! .... Awesome stuff... Points coming Mate!

[mulepackin]

Give it about a week on the counter. Rancidity.

I agree with Rich on the rancidity issue. Cure won't stop rancidity. Not sure what, if anything, will Some things will delay it for sure, but those processes don't usually coincide with what I think of when I think jerky.

[Fishawn]

I agree with Rich on the rancidity issue. Cure won't stop rancidity. Not sure what, if anything, will Some things will delay it for sure, but those processes don't usually coincide with what I think of when I think jerky.

Finished product Alex? ........ Curious on what the fat did on drying? Was it easy to separate from the pork? .....Maybe this should be made with the intention of being kept in the fridge/freezer?..... I know I typically keep my beef jerky either vac packed in the fridge or freezer until I use it ..... I know the pork jerky I mentioned is sold from a cooler/fridge..... So maybe he wont get the long term shelf life (or counter top life) of a typical lean beef jerky, but I'm guessing it will be some tasty stuff...

We need an update from the "Royal Oatsman"

[Whisky Fish]

I agree with Rich on the rancidity issue. Cure won't stop rancidity. Not sure what, if anything, will Some things will delay it for sure, but those processes don't usually coincide with what I think of when I think jerky.

Maybe fermented jerky? Summer sausages have a ton of fat but never get rancid. Dunno, might be an interesting flavor.

[Richtee]

Maybe fermented jerky? Summer sausages have a ton of fat but never get rancid.

No air contact, or very little. Rancidity is basically oxidation. An anti-oxidant addition to the cure may help...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancidification

[Whisky Fish]

No air contact, or very little. Rancidity is basically oxidation. An anti-oxidant addition to the cure may help...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancidification

Your link points to 3 causes of rancidity; Hydrolytic, oxidative and microbial.
It also points to ascorbic acid as an antioxidant, which will drop the ph in the product. If you ferment you are dropping the ph as well, I wonder if that would also act as an antioxidant. Makes sense that the lower ph would inhibit oxidative and microbial rancidity until moisture content can be dropped to a level that would prevent Hydrolytic rancidity.

[curious aardvark]

okay first off the fat thing.

This stuff will wither be vacpacked or packed in an inert gas environment (currently looking at the price of chamber vacumn packers that also do inert gas packing and wincing - the inert add on is reasonable it's the cost of the chamber that's scary lol). Also you can buy biltong with fat on - and I know from experience that the fat does not go off, the meat goes moldy first lol

This fat rancidity thing is quite odd. I've never come across it over here with anything I've made

Hydrolytic rancidity occurs when water splits fatty acid chains away from the glycerol backbone in triglycerides (fats). The chemical term is ester hydrolysis. Usually this hydrolysis process goes unnoticed, since most fatty acids are odorless and tasteless. When, however, the triglyceride is derived from short chain fatty acids, the released carboxylic acid can confer strong flavors and odors. A particular problem arises with butter, which contains triglycerides with a high content of butyric acid derivatives.

Oxidative rancidity is associated with the degradation by oxygen in the air. Via a free radical process, the double bonds of an unsaturated fatty acid can undergo cleavage, releasing volatile aldehydes and ketones. This process can be suppressed by the exclusion of oxygen or by the addition of antioxidants. Oxidation primarily occurs with unsaturated fats.

Microbial rancidity refers to a process in which microorganisms, such as bacteria, use their enzymes such as lipases to break down fat. This pathway can be prevented by sterilization.

So dehydrating removes the first cause. vacumn packing, or inert gas or adding ascorbic acid removes the second and cure and long term cooking/dehydrating removes the third.
It's not going to be a problem :-)

Right then back to the experiment.



I'd say 90% was really crispy, the rest (it was hand cut) slightly chewy. So either use the slicer next time or just give it 10-12 hours in the dehydrator.
So from that point of view definitely a success. You can 'cook' crispy bacon in a dehydrator.
The flavour was good - but the next batch I'll use an actual bacon cure mix as it needed a little more salt and a lot less garlic (lol)
I'd like to make a smoked version. so probably cure the steaks whole, cold smoke, partially freeze and slice and then straight onto the dehydrator.
You lot could probably do it on the smoker, but these days everything I develop I'm looking towards simplification, homogenity and ease of commercial production.


The fat is fine, adds a little bacon grease to the thing. Tastes okay, there isn't enough there for it to be unpleasant and it does add the the baconness (gotta be a word) of the stuff.



They look great, taste pretty good and are as crispy as fried bacon would be - but a lot healthier !

All i can say is Try it.


michchef

"pork shoulder steak = £3.49 per kg
Loin - £7.49 per kg - on a good day"

How much is that in US $? I buy both steaks and loins on sale for $1.69-$1.89 lb.
01-30-2011 06:38 PM

At the moment it's about $1.50 to £1.
So shoulder steaks = $2.38 a pound
and loin = $5.10 per pound

Just had a word with the butchery dept at costco and they'll happily do me cases of the steaks

Loin is a premium meat over here as the vast majority goes direct to the bacon industry.

I guess I could make a premium virtually fat free version with loin. But It would probably be easier to use boneless leg joints as they're cheaper.

[Whisky Fish]

Looks great Alex, I've got some for giving me one more reason to get a dehydrator. This will be on my list

[Fishawn]

Bravo Alex! ..... For whatever reason I never thought about the fat part tasting like fried bacon fat, but damn.... ..... Very cool, now somebody hide the garlic from you & get on the Hawaiin style sweet stuff with pineapple & soy flavors...

For the Royal Oatsman!

[Richtee]

okay first off the fat thing.

This stuff will wither be vacpacked or packed in an inert gas environment (currently looking at the price of chamber vacumn packers that also do inert gas packing and wincing - the inert add on is reasonable it's the cost of the chamber that's scary lol). Also you can buy biltong with fat on - and I know from experience that the fat does not go off, the meat goes moldy first lol

This fat rancidity thing is quite odd. I've never come across it over here with anything I've made

I have had a little trouble with Jerky, but it was in air for a couple weeks. The cut the guy gave me had a small amount of marble, and it did go off-flavor. If you keep it sealed yer prolly good to go. Maybe even a small amount of citric acid as insurance? I'll have to try that stuff, sure looks good!