J Is for Jerky

The beauty of jerky is you can use almost anything to make. Though I have not personally tried it with all of these, I understand it can be made with beef, venison, turkey, pork, chicken, salmon or rabbit. You can even use ground meats for making jerky. The options for flavoring it are just as varied. Common flavors are teriyaki, barbeque, mesquite and spicy.

Tips for Making Jerky

Trim all the fat off. Use only the lean portions of the meat. The fat will become rancid and ruin the jerky if left intact.

Slice the meat when it is still partially frozen in order to control the width of the slices more easily. Slices should be between ¼” to 3/8” thick. The thicker they are, the longer they will take to dry out.

Marinade

You can use almost anything to marinate the meat. It depends on your personal tastes. Here are some common marinates to try:

Worcestershire Sauce

Soy Sauce

Teriyaki Sauce

Barbeque Sauce

Beer

Wine

Italian Dressing

To these you add your spices. We’ll get into recipes for specific flavors later on. For now, these are the basic spices you can use to make jerky: salt, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, onion powder, cloves, cinnamon, and curry. You name it and you can use it.

Let the meat soak in the marinade overnight, for at least 12 hours. Fish and chicken can soak for 4 to 6 hours. Remove the meat from the marinade and pat it dry with paper towels. Marinates don’t work well with ground meats. Instead, add the seasonings you want and use as is.

Dehydrating

Follow the directions that came with your dehydrator for settings. I use between 150 and 175 degrees. Meat will reduce by about 30% when it is done. It should be dry but not brittle. Some cuts of meat are dry enough in six to eight hours, while ground meats can three or four days to complete. Keep checking on it and remove it when it has achieved the consistency you like. Store it in a Ziploc bag or some Tupperware and you’re all set!

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Posted in: dehydrating,recipe,technique,tips

K Is for Canning Your Own Ketchup

Time for a recipe/how-to. Ketchup is a staple in many households and I thought it would be a good place to start providing recipes and instructions. You may need to adjust the quantities if you want to make more or less, depending on your family’s usage but here’s how I make a batch.

Ingredients and Supplies

This method uses a boiling water canner. You will also need a 4-gallon stock pot or equivalent sized kettle, 1 large stock pot, 1 medium saucepan and a large bowl. Six or seven pint jars with lids and screw caps per batch.

·         24 lbs of ripe tomatoes

·         3 cups of onions , chopped

·         3/4 tsp of ground red pepper (cayenne or other zesty red pepper)

·         3 cups of cider vinegar

·         4 tsp of whole cloves

·         3 sticks cinnamon, crushed

·         1-1/2 tsp of whole allspice

·         3 tbsp of celery seeds

·         1-1/2 cups of sugar

·         1/4 cup of salt

Preparation

Start a large pot of water to boil. Prepare a large bowl or pot filled ¾ of the way with cold water and ice cubes. This will be used to blanch the tomatoes. Blanching is a method of splitting and loosening the skins through the application of first hot water then cold. Skins can be tricky to remove and I have found that to make it easier, I use a paring knife to slice a small “X” on the blossom end of the tomato. You can do this while the water is heating. Once it comes to a good boil, drop the tomatoes in for 30 to 60 seconds. Quickly (and carefully) transfer the tomatoes to ice water. The heat loosens the skins and the cold stops the heating process so the tomatoes don’t actually cook.

Once the tomatoes have cooled enough for you to handle them, simply take hold of one of the sections where you carve the “X” and start peeling away the skins. Remove the cores, quarter the tomatoes and drop them into a 4-gallon stock pot or other large kettle. Add the pepper and onions, and then bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Combine spices in a spice bag and add to vinegar in the medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil; cover and turn off heat. Let both the tomatoes and the spice mixture rest for 20 minutes. Remove the spice bag from the saucepan and add the vinegar to the tomato mixture. Boil for 30 minutes. Next pour the tomato mixture through a food mill or sieve and return it to the pot. Add the sugar and salt (adjust these for your own dietary needs) and boil gently. You should keep stirring at this point. The mixture is done when the volume is either reduced by half or when the mixture rounds p on a spoon with separating.

Fill pint jars, leaving 1/8-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes at 0-1000 foot altitudes, 20 minutes for 1001 to 6000 foot altitudes and 25 minutes over 6000 feet.

The time to complete a batch is three or more hours, depending on how long it takes to get the various pots of water to boil and how long it takes the tomato mixture to boil down.

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Posted in: canning,catsup,how-to,ketchup,recipe,technique,tomatoes