Do you cook in oven before dehydrating venison jerky to kill possible bacteria?
I am getting mixed advice on preparing venison jerky at home. Some people/sites advise to cook venison to internal 160 degrees in oven prior to dehydrating to kill any potential bacteria that may be present. Please advise who does/does not cook prior to dehyrating
Best Answer
Jerky does not need to be pre-cooked, in fact the process of making jerky probably predates the invention of cooking.
The process of salting and drying (and additionally adding sugar, acid, and/or smoke) inherently kills or inhibits growth of bacteria and mold. As long as your meat is cut thin, evenly salted, and well dried you do not need to pre-cook it.
Since the meat is thin, cooking it beforehand will just result in overcooked, stringy meat. If you are using the oven method or a food dehydrator with a heating element the meat will end up cooked.
Pictures about "Do you cook in oven before dehydrating venison jerky to kill possible bacteria?"
Quick Answer about "Do you cook in oven before dehydrating venison jerky to kill possible bacteria?"
As long as your meat is cut thin, evenly salted, and well dried you do not need to pre-cook it.Do you cook venison before dehydrating?
Steps 2 and 3 can be reversed (dehydrate first, then heat treat), but the USDA has found that E. coli can become heat-resistant if dehydrated at lower temperatures first, so its recommended that venison is heat treated prior to dehydrating.Should you heat meat before dehydrating?
The temperatures of dehydrators and oven dehydrating are not high enough to destroy harmful microorganisms that are typically present in raw meat. Even though fully dried jerky may appear done, it is not safe to eat unless it goes through an additional heat treatment. This can be done before or after the meat is dried.Are you supposed to cook jerky before dehydrating?
For jerky to be safe, it should be heated to 160\xb0F for beef and 165\xb0F for turkey or chicken jerky BEFORE you dry your strips. Heating the jerky after dehydrating might not kill all bacteria due to it becoming more heat resistant during the drying process.Does dehydrating raw meat kill bacteria?
Drying removes the moisture from food so that microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds are less likely to grow; however, drying does not effectively destroy them.How To Make DEER JERKY Using A NESCO DEHYDRATOR!
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Maria Orlova, RODNAE Productions, RODNAE Productions