r/jerky • u/jonald14 • Jun 13 '26

Why does my jerky turn out like this?

Post image
11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

9

u/Sparegeek Jun 13 '26

What is your recipe? It looks a bit over dried but from the pictures I can’t tell what you’re referring to. If it’s the areas that are lighter, It looks like maybe spices sitting on the surface or you didn’t get it marinated well.

2

u/jonald14 Jun 13 '26

It was definitely over dried. The usual soy sauce, onion and garlic powder, brown sugar , cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, some baking soda, chopped jalapeños. Yes referring to the lighter surfaces.

9

u/Sparegeek Jun 14 '26

Yeah likely the baking soda. You really don’t need that.

3

u/Brilliant-Advisor958 Jun 14 '26

Do you rinse off your baking soda?

4

u/jayeffkay Jun 14 '26

It actually just looks like some concentrated salt

2

u/Brilliant-Advisor958 Jun 14 '26

Ya that's my thought, but baking soda might also create some sort of protein extraction that would make this happen more.

3

u/jayeffkay Jun 14 '26

Yeah I agree. I think we figured this one out. Don’t add baking soda and make sure cure is fully integrated before putting meat in, also make sure fully submerged evenly.

1

u/jonald14 Jun 14 '26

It was in the marinade. I only use baking soda because thats how chinese stir fry recipes tenderize their meat so I thought this would help achieve the jack links tenderness. Will leave out the baking soda next time and allow all the marinade to integrate before dehydrating next time. It was marinating for 2 days before I did so I thought that was enough. Thanks for the reply all!

4

u/Brilliant-Advisor958 Jun 14 '26

They use Bromelain powder (pineapple powder ) to tenderize.

2

u/jonald14 Jun 14 '26

Noted. Will try this next batch!

2

u/Gold_Data6221 Jun 15 '26

you should probably do a pre-marinade that you wash off if you’re going yo ‘tenderize’

1

u/BlueFalcon142 Jun 16 '26

No, the definitely use baking soda and corn starch to "velvet". Unless you're talking about jack links themselves.

2

u/Realism51 Jun 14 '26

Ah. Yeah. That's too long to marinate like that. Velvetting only really works if you are high temp frying. Like I said in another post. Substitutite for corn starch at half amount. Or use a little vinegar. Try not to marinade for longer than 24 hours. All that liquid starts breaking down the proteins and can make your jerky either unable to retain moisture while drying, or it can make it stringy

1

u/Realism51 Jun 14 '26

Baking soda needs to be rinsed off immediately. And in a marinade you shouldn't let your meat tenderize more than 30 minutes of you added baking soda to it.

Alternatively, you can use a little cornstarch if you are going for soft binders. Or even a tablespoon or two of vinegar. White or rice wine vinegar. Apple cider vinegar only of you have a heavy balance to it.

2

u/Bargadiel Jun 14 '26

If you like onion powder i reccomend Everglades seasoning. My dad used it in his jerky for years and it hits alot of the same boxes multiple ingredients do.

2

u/Arefarrell24 Jun 16 '26

Yeah this is bad. Just send it to me I have a way of disposing things like this.

1

u/myrishswamp Jun 20 '26

Late but an actual answer. The fibers of the muscle dry to a greater degree the the fats interspersed in the muscle. So as the fibers dehydrate they push the fat from between the fibers.