Dehydrating sliced deli meats

[Buffalo Skipper]

Can anyone who has successfully dehydrated sliced deli meats offer any suggestions? I tried some sliced corned beef once. It rehydrated fair when I rehydrated right away, but it had a bit of grease/oil beaed up on it, so I did not store long term.

Any suggestions on what meats work best? What thickness? Cut into thin strips? All ideas welcome.

[Rocket Jones]

Try this link: http://www.backpackingchef.com/dehydrating-meat.html

[Blissful]

I just stick to making beef and chicken jerky. ;)

[theoilman]

I would think the fat content of most deli meats way to high to safely dehydrate and carry. The fat causes them to turn rancid fairly fast. I wouldn't trust them to be safe, even for a 1 or 2 day carry.

I stick to the leanest ground beef available, pre-cook (with no additional fat or oil), blot dry with paper towels, they put in my dehydrator to make "gravel".

Or white meat only chicken precooked, cut up and put in dehydrator. (Start with canned white meat packed in water which is precooked, or the breast off a rotissory cooked chicken.)

[Wise Old Owl]

"Choose lean ham, turkey, roast beef, or chicken with fat content less than 10%. I prefer dehydrating meat that has not had any “solutions” injected into it, because that usually means high sodium. Ask the server to slice your deli meat thick, around 1/16 of an inch."

Well that's a huge stretch - almost all deli meat is loaaaaded with water salt and stuff that's equal to pink slime..... That being said...

I occasionally take low sodium Spam and run a cheese slicer over it and soak the slices in a favorite BBQ sauce or Rasberry hot sauce (Hoboken) and throw it on the dryer.. for hiking... there really isn't too much too it.

Honest - you are better off taking an electric knife to a london broil cut and slice that up and soaking over night in a BBQ sauce.... I prefer to get unobtanium "Texas Best" - (no Kero or corn surup) and dry that... the thick 1/4 slice is preferred.


There are loads of people that like BBQ sauces that have Kero - unfortunately it turns some jerky into sticky messes. To avoid this corn syrup needs to be way down the list as possible.

Kikkoman soy lite - is used to cut the BBQ sauce if its thick and provides enough acid and salt to avoid molding. Usually 1/2 and 1/2 mixed in a bowl and soak.

[oldbear]

I'm of the opinion that pre -packed pre-sliced cryovaced deli meats should be safe to eat w/o being refrigerated for at a fairly long time

[Crowe]

"and stuff that's equal to pink slime..... That being said... "



http://beefisbeef.com/

[Wise Old Owl]

The deli meat has sulfites and that prevents a lot of spoilage, (what pickling does to Cucumber) and sugar cure is used in ground turkey and other drying methods. I use the Kikoman product in tandem to prevent the green molds. So do a lot of manufactures. - Sugar Cure is not necessary when using deli meat - its already in there.
How to Use Morton's Sugar Cure By Annabelle Rose, eHow Contributor


http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/ph/e9/use-mortons-sugar-cure-800x800.jpg (http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new-intro-modal/ehow/images/a07/ph/e9/use-mortons-sugar-cure-800x800.jpg) Use Morton's Sugar Cure to make the perfect beef brisket.
Morton Sugar Cure is mix of sugar and salt, primarily used for curing meats. Curing is a process of preserving and extending the shelf life of meat and giving it a characteristic pink color. The salt (sulfites) in Morton's Sugar Cure helps in the preservation process, while the sugar adds flavor to the meat and curbs the intense saltiness. Use Morton's Sugar Cure to make a juicy, flavorful corned beef brisket. This recipe takes a little time, but the finished product is well worth the effort and will have your friends and family begging for seconds.


Read more: How to Use Morton's Sugar Cure | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_8177097_use-mortons-sugar-cure.html#ixzz1uWIEq1zO) http://www.ehow.com/how_8177097_use-mortons-sugar-cure.html#ixzz1uWIEq1zO





Old Bear - I am familiar with that stuff and it still requires refrigeration see below,
How long will my cryovaced beef last in the fridge?



Because GreenStar Beef is vacuum-sealed in oxygen free bags it has a much longer shelf life that conventionally backed beef. We have a 7 week fridge life on GreenStar Beef.

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) state meat can be safely stored this way, under refrigeration for up to 12 weeks. Their literature indicates that under the correct temperature controls it can be even longer. For more info on this download the following publications:
Meat Storage Factsheet (http://www.greenstarbeef.com.au/images/stories/documents/VPmeat-spoilage-storage.pdf)
Meat Technology Update (http://www.greenstarbeef.com.au/images/stories/documents/MEAT_TECHNOLOGY_UPDATE_09-6.pdf)

If you wish to store your Beef for longer than this, we recommend that before the 7 weeks has accrued, you freeze the Beef and then it is able to be used at your convenience.
For Sausages we recommend that you freeze them within 10 days after purchasing if they are not already consumed.
For mince we recommend that you freeze within 15 days after purchasing if they are not already consumed.
When thawing, it is a good idea to thaw on a bench or fridge rather than defrost in a microwave.
It is important that the fridge that GreenStar Beef is stored in remains a low temperature.
Once GreenStar Beef has been purchased it is important to get into your fridge at home promptly.

[Wise Old Owl]

"and stuff that's equal to pink slime..... That being said... "



http://beefisbeef.com/

I used it as a reference - I didn't fall for the stupidity of the press. - but when chicken, turkey and pork deli meat doesn't taste anything close to fresh.... one wonders. I did small animal husbandry and butchered my own... want to really freak out?

See Brominated Vegetable Oil found in Gatorade....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brominated_vegetable_oil

[oldbear]

Wise Old Owl
I respect your experience and your knowledge But I'm gonna disagree with you because we're not talking about a raw product : we're talking about a cooked , chemically preserved product that's been cryovaced
Tell you what I'm gonna do : I'm gonna be empirical
Over the weekend I'll buy the type of products that we're discussing
I'll toss them in my garage and taste them two weeks later
I'll let you guys know what happened

[shelb]

I have not been successful with fatty meats, but I do know what was done historically (Civil War). Salt the ***** out of it. But then again, I have read plenty a Civil War diary that brought up the rank meat and plus, many of these men died from dysentery--- probably brought on by food poisoning!

[Miner]

I know a few people who avocate carrying delli meat on the trail. They buy 2 of the smallest packets from the store and hike out of town. The first day, they eat half a packet and then eat the other half the next day leaving the other packet sealed. They then repeat with the other packet. That said, I've never done it and I don't know how temperature would affect it.

[samgriffin4]

Carried deli meat for 6 days on the PCT once. Ate it, loved it. You'll be fine. Just use mustard.