Making delicious beef jerky at home can be a fun and rewarding experience. However, one of the trickiest parts is knowing exactly when the jerky is fully cooked and properly dried. Undercooked jerky can pose safety hazards, while overcooked jerky can end up dry, brittle and unappetizing.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through the key signs and tests to determine doneness for homemade beef jerky. With a bit of knowledge and a few simple techniques, you’ll be able to make jerky with the perfect texture and flavor every time.
Visual Inspection
The first step in evaluating jerky doneness is a careful visual inspection. Here are some key things to look out for:
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Color – Properly cooked jerky will develop a deep, rich brown color on the surface due to the Maillard reaction. Underdone jerky may still look pink/purple.
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Dry appearance – Jerky should have a dry, leathery look when fully dried. There should be no visible moisture.
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Shrinkage – Done jerky often shrinks slightly from its original size as moisture evaporates during drying.
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No visible fat – Any white fat streaks mean the jerky needs more time to fully render fat
Texture Test
After the visual test, it’s time to assess the texture and flexibility. Here’s what to look for:
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Leathery – Jerky shouldn’t be mushy. It needs some chew but shouldn’t feel like rubber bands.
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Flexible – Jerky should bend without immediately snapping in half.
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Breakable – You should be able to break jerky in half with some effort. If not, it needs more drying time.
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No crumbling – Overly brittle jerky will shatter. Ideal jerky bends then breaks.
The Bend Test
One of the best ways to test doneness is the bend test. Here’s how:
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Allow a piece of jerky to cool completely, close to room temperature.
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Hold it at both ends and bend it in half until it breaks.
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Properly dried jerky will bend significantly before breaking with some “spiderwebbing” at the tear.
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Underdone jerky will feel rubbery and flex without breaking.
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Overdone jerky will snap in half immediately without bending.
Smell and Taste
Your nose and tastebuds are also important tools for checking doneness:
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Meaty aroma – Jerky will develop a rich, beefy smell when properly dried.
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No sourness – Off flavors can indicate spoilage or contamination.
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Dry taste – Finished jerky should have a concentrated meaty flavor, not taste moist.
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Not overly salty – Excess saltiness means it may have dried out too much.
Time and Temperature
Adhering to recipe instructions for time and temperature is also essential.
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Minimum 160°F internal temp – This ensures any bacteria is killed.
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130-150°F drying temp – This drying zone prevents microbial growth.
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No temp dips – Pay close attention and add time if the temperature drops.
Avoiding Overdrying
It’s easy to overdry jerky, so watch for these signs:
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Brittle, crumbly texture
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Intense hardness with no flexibility
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Very dark brown color bordering on burnt
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Strong salty or bitter taste
If you notice these, immediately remove the jerky from the heat source.
Trust Your Instincts
With practice, you’ll gain an intuitive sense of when your jerky is perfectly done. Trust your eyes, nose, tastebuds and common sense. It’s easy to add more drying time but you can’t reverse overdrying.
While there’s no single foolproof test, using a combination of these simple techniques will ensure your homemade jerky turns out tasty and safe each time. With a bit of trial and error, you’ll be an expert in no time. Now get ready to enjoy the beefy, satisfying flavor of perfect homemade jerky!
FAQ
How do I tell when my jerky is done?
Test for doneness After about 2-3 hours check for doneness. Take a piece of jerky and bend it. If it bends easily or feels juicy it needs more time. When it starts to stretch or tear the fibers when you bend it it is near done. You can let a strip cool out of the oven for 10 minutes and do this test again.
How can you tell if jerky is undercooked?
Generally, the jerky is done when it bends and cracks but doesn’t break. Since there are variations in thickness, it’s a good idea to start checking the thinner pieces around the 3-4 hour mark, or get a slice if you wanna make sure, then continuing to check the rest periodically.
How long does beef jerky take to dry?
Just like with cooking, drying time very much depends on how thick or large the cuts of meat are. Larger cuts of meat require longer than thinner, smaller cuts do. In the case of beef, this can be anywhere between 4 and 12 hours, but in most cases, 10 hours is a good mark at which to test your beef jerky.
How do you know when jerky is done?
Here are 5 easy tips to knowing when your jerky is done. Any meat preparation is best when done with a food thermometer, and jerky making is no different. Using a good thermometer will help you get a handle on how long to dry your meat, and in a method where drying time is absolutely key, this is invaluable.
How do you know if ground beef jerky is ready?
Properly dried jerky has a moisture content around 10-15%. Anything higher risks mold growth. Lower moisture makes it too brittle. With ground meat, visual doneness clues aren’t as obvious as with whole cuts of meat. Here are five ways to test when ground beef jerky is ready: 1. Check Temperature and Time
How long does it take to test beef jerky?
Larger cuts of meat require longer than thinner, smaller cuts do. In the case of beef, this can be anywhere between 4 and 12 hours, but in most cases, 10 hours is a good mark at which to test your beef jerky. The real test however will come when you are able to be hands-on and actually test the meat.
How do you know if beef jerky is safe?
Beef jerky should be firm and leathery. If you see grease glistening on the jerky’s exterior or the jerky leaves a sticky residue when handling it, it means the jerky needs to be smoked/dried for longer. Finally, a taste test is essential for determining the safety of the jerky and its flavor profile.
How do you know if smoked beef jerky is done?
As mentioned above, the four methods of checking to see if smoked beef jerky is done involve texture, moisture, grease, and taste. Let’s take a more in-depth view of how to use each test. A key feature of beef jerky is that there is no “right answer” to determine when jerky is done.