Secret of Beef Jerky
Beef jerky is a form of dried meat that was firstly prepared by Natives Americans custom for their nomadic lifestyle. The cowboy adopted this type of food as they could store in the saddlebag. The word ‘jerky’ is derived from the Quechua word ch’arki which means “dried salted meat”. From the word jerky itself, it shows that the meat has been cut into long strips and dried. The cowboys hand cut or pull (jerked) meat from a side of beef. Beef jerky is produced from very lean muscle tissue from the hind leg such as topside meat or inside or outside rounds. No connective tissue or fat should present in the meat and as a result the product is low in fat content. For the production beef jerky, the meat should be extremely well-trimmed and sliced into a slice of 4 – 8 mm thick. The slices of meats are weighed and subsequently mixed with marinade containing salt, nitrite, ascorbate (erythorbate), sugar, spices (garlic, anion, ch...