Opus 2026-065: Jerky Insights

I just finished putting some beef jerky into the dehydrator and now I wait for the results.  I’ve gotten into this because I couldn’t find jerky that I really liked.  The one place that I could get it and almost get delirious about was a place called Capri Deli, but it’s all the way out in California.  My kids have tried having it shipped, but they don’t seem to be big on customer service when it comes to people out of town.

So I started thinking about making my own and as often happens, I did a lot of thinking and no jerky making.  My kids, again as usual, came to the rescue and bought me a dehydrator and what is called a jerky gun.  The jerky gun is for making it with ground beef.  I started with the jerky gun, but found that the process of preparing and cleaning up was just too much and actually buying top round and slicing it myself was much easier.  And now I have found places where I can find top round pre-sliced.

My kids encourage me because I came up with a recipe for teriyaki jerky and they love it.  Since I don’t have a great enjoyment of teriyaki, they have more left for them when I make it since I don’t do a lot of sampling.  I experiment with different recipes and in the process I’m noticing something.

Most jerky recipes have at least one ingredient that is not common.  I don’t know how much that affects the actual taste, my pallette is not known for it’s discernment, but I have to assume it has some effect.  Today’s key ingredient was celery seed.  Another one is made with coriander.  One recipe I have cause for habanero peppers. With the exception of the habanero, I’m not sure I can really tell that much difference.  I know it affects the taste, but it’s on a subtle level that I don’t notice.  What happens if I leave it out?  Some people will tell right away, others like me, would need to leave out something significant like soy sauce.

I think it is these ingredients that you don’t think about that make the difference in the long run.  Today’s recipe called for kosher salt.  To me salt is salt.  What makes it salt is its salty taste.  Other people would tend to disagree with me.  If I use regular salt, I’m sure it would be OK but somehow I just have this feeling, call it an emotion, that it actually tastes better with kosher salt.  Keep in mind though that I also think that Chinese food tastes better when you eat it with chopsticks.

You can start leaving out key ingredients and, no matter how dull your sense of taste, eventually, you will notice a difference.  I have one recipe that a family member dug up out of an old journal.  It’s nothing but salt, pepper, garlic, and onion, sprinkled on and then dehydrated.  No special sauces or herbs.  You don’t marinate it.  You just dry it.  Sad to say it taste like you just dried it.  Somewhere along the line the missing ingredients made a strong difference.

In life, we have people telling us that certain things are important.  They tell us that certain moral standards make a difference.  Take an overused example of alcohol.  I am a teetotaler.  I don’t drink at all.  I can’t stand the smell of the alcohol.  In my opinion, that makes me a good judge of how much is too much.  I am convinced that having one drink with dinner is not going to destroy you physically or morally.  I’m also convinced that when you have a hard time staggering out the door and can’t figure out which key starts the car, you have crossed a line.  You crossed it long before.  My advice is, don’t take the first drink.  Taking the first drink might not make any difference, but somewhere along the line, somewhere in the evening, you are going to get to the place where it does make a difference.  At that point it’s too late.

So pay attention to the little things they add up.

homo unius libri