Prepping with Jerky

I have had jerky I made sit in a large jar for 5 years with no issues. It had gotten packed up when I moved and I found it. Opened the jar and it was a little drier maybe but the flavor was good no mold or any off taste.

As long as you use cure and try to not have any fat in it, I would think it would last for many years, and if you can lay it in the freezer even better. I have found sucked jerky in the freezer 2 years later and it was as good as the day it was made.

Like shrtdave has stated. The key is the use of a cure.

A good cure, smoke, and sealed in an airtight container, and the jerky could last a long time.

Problem is it disappears so fast, I haven't come close figuring how long it would last.

the important step is to bring the wet meat to 160 degrees at the beginning of the jerky process. This kills bacteria, whereas bacteria become more resistant if allowed to dry before raising the meat temp gets to 160. Adding a cure helps to ensure bacteria are killed. Drying/dehydrating temp should be maintained to around 140 degrees. If the meat contains fat it probably has an increased propensity for the fat to become rancid, thus having an off taste when stored for extended time. Tho' some of the marinades used will inherently add antioxidants that will help to inhibit rancidity. For me jerky never last more than a couple weeks around here before it's devoured.

ok..thanks for those tips. I will pass the info off to the prepper folks. I am fixing to get it cranked back up. One guy wants to know about banana chips. Suspect that be even easier.

I know enough to know that if you're making Jerky for wholesale (or maybe even retail) you have to have 1) an approved facility and 2) an approved process which contains what they call lethality to kill the bad stuff at critical points in your process. This is called a HACCP plan (hazard analysis critical control point) and is used for 'heat treated shelf-stable meat' There are dozens of example jerky HACCP plans online. If your processer does not know about this, you might check his credentials.

By the way, for all you Jerky folks who, like me, like to smoke low and bring it up slow to dry in the smoker only without cooking it first to 160, there are some studies where folks have conducted test utilizing UV light as a critical control point, which kills the bad stuff. I know nothing more about this. I just hate the idea of basically cooking the meat before you have to smoke it. Kinda defeats the purpose.

My question is, what do you do when the jerky runs out?