LCHF / Keto / Carni / IF Thread

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
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Teepee

Thru Hiker
20210712_132550.jpg

Lazy Beef Crisps.
(half dry at 80c after 2 hours)

Another experiment with coconut flour and mince, this time being lazy and eliminating the marinating phase of cuts of meat. There was an offer on it too, cost less than normal mince.

1600g organic grass finished Aberdeen Angus 5% mince
1 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp pink salt
2 tbsp Italian herb mix
0.5 cup org. ACV
1 tsp grnd Cayenne pepper

I just mixed in a bowl, squashed flat with a spatula and dropped it raw onto the trays. It took about 15 mins to mix and load the lot.

It looks quite like normal biltong.

The coconut flour makes the dough nice and firm, it's easy to process and really quick to squash into really thin patties. Much less sticky than when I used to use breadcrumbs and it's obviously upped the caloric content.

🤤
 

Odd Man

Thru Hiker
View attachment 33027

Lazy Beef Crisps.
(half dry at 80c after 2 hours)

Another experiment with coconut flour and mince, this time being lazy and eliminating the marinating phase of cuts of meat. There was an offer on it too, cost less than normal mince.

1600g organic grass finished Aberdeen Angus 5% mince
1 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp pink salt
2 tbsp Italian herb mix
0.5 cup org. ACV
1 tsp grnd Cayenne pepper

I just mixed in a bowl, squashed flat with a spatula and dropped it raw onto the trays. It took about 15 mins to mix and load the lot.

It looks quite like normal biltong.

The coconut flour makes the dough nice and firm, it's easy to process and really quick to squash into really thin patties. Much less sticky than when I used to use breadcrumbs and it's obviously upped the caloric content.

🤤

Do you pre/post-heat the meat to kill the bacteria?
 

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
For carni folk looking...
In the past I've made similar without any of the faff and pure carni w.o.e ingredients. Beef with its own fat 👍

I used 85/15 mince... Rolled it flat between a cutting board and a sheet of clingfilm.
Cut it into desired width.
Then I dried it in the oven over several hours with the oven door open a crack until
It's the desired firmness.
It doesn't keep for long but easily does a few days in mild temps. Salt to taste.

There's loads of youtube videos on mince Jerky either done in the oven or a dehydrater 👍

Don't sweat the grass fed thing... Most cows are finished on anything but grass!
 

Teepee

Thru Hiker
Do you pre/post-heat the meat to kill the bacteria?
Never pre, my dehydrator takes the internal temp of the meat well above safe temps of any type of meat and it's checked with 2 different probes.

There is an argument for sterilisation after drying for my use, but the lack of water and oxygen plus the salt content means the ACV should stop any anearobic organisms from multiplying (Botulinum is biggest worry).

When food safety is critical, like when I'm feeding others on exped for example, then I steam sterilise after vac sealing.
 

Teepee

Thru Hiker
For carni folk looking...
In the past I've made similar without any of the faff and pure carni w.o.e ingredients. Beef with its own fat 👍

I used 85/15 mince... Rolled it flat between a cutting board and a sheet of clingfilm.
Cut it into desired width.
Then I dried it in the oven over several hours with the oven door open a crack until
It's the desired firmness.
It doesn't keep for long but easily does a few days in mild temps. Salt to taste.

There's loads of youtube videos on mince Jerky either done in the oven or a dehydrater 👍

Don't sweat the grass fed thing... Most cows are finished on anything but grass!

15% fat is too high a fat content. 10% fat is about max for meat or it renders out and is wasted. It's worse for mince too, as it doesn't rehydrate as quickly.

The leaner the meat, the better it dries and lasts. This has been well known to mankind for millennia, and TBH took me a while to twig.

It's a lot better keeping your fat content lower, as less is exposed to the air and the proportion of oxidised (stale/rancid) fats reduced.
There is nothing stopping fresh oils/fats of any source being added later as they are eaten/cooked with, or made for storage (as in pemmican etc).
 

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
15% fat is too high a fat content. 10% fat is about max for meat or it renders out and is wasted. It's worse for mince too, as it doesn't rehydrate as quickly.

The leaner the meat, the better it dries and lasts. This has been well known to mankind for millennia, and TBH took me a while to twig.

It's a lot better keeping your fat content lower, as less is exposed to the air and the proportion of oxidised (stale/rancid) fats reduced.
There is nothing stopping fresh oils/fats of any source being added later as they are eaten/cooked with, or made for storage (as in pemmican etc).
Well its worked for me. So I'm happy with it using the oven method. Mine is made the day before a trip and eaten on that trip 👍
 

ADz

Thru Hiker
Never pre, my dehydrator takes the internal temp of the meat well above safe temps of any type of meat and it's checked with 2 different probes.

There is an argument for sterilisation after drying for my use, but the lack of water and oxygen plus the salt content means the ACV should stop any anearobic organisms from multiplying (Botulinum is biggest worry).

When food safety is critical, like when I'm feeding others on exped for example, then I steam sterilise after vac sealing.

Technically the heat doesn't really matter. That just makes the drying process quicker. The salts and vinegar etc cure the meat and drying preserves it. If heat is too high its simply cooking it rather than air drying. Originally no heat was used to make jerky or Biltong other than to create air flow.

The only heat in my proper Biltong box comes only from a light bulb. That along with fan dries the meat like big steaks in about 4 days. Dehydrators and ovens do it much quicker because of temp.

As long as surfaces, knives and your drying area are clean you shouldn't have to worry about bacteria.

I'm hoping to get some woods time in this year or next and do some air dried jerky in woods :)
 

Teepee

Thru Hiker
Technically the heat doesn't really matter. That just makes the drying process quicker. The salts and vinegar etc cure the meat and drying preserves it. If heat is too high its simply cooking it rather than air drying. Originally no heat was used to make jerky or Biltong other than to create air flow.

The only heat in my proper Biltong box comes only from a light bulb. That along with fan dries the meat like big steaks in about 4 days. Dehydrators and ovens do it much quicker because of temp.

As long as surfaces, knives and your drying area are clean you shouldn't have to worry about bacteria.

I'm hoping to get some woods time in this year or next and do some air dried jerky in woods :)
This isn't biltong though bud, it's ground and strip meat. The pathogen levels are much higher and food safety guidelines say ground/strip meat needs to be taken to 160-165 F.
When your feeding yourself and friends this stuff in the middle of nowhere, It's right to follow food safety guidelines.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/import/Compliance-Guideline-Jerky-2014.pdf

https://www.jerkyholic.com/6-steps-to-making-safe-jerky/
4. At the beginning of dehydrating, heat the jerky to 160°F (71°C) to kill dangerous bacteria. For jerky to be safe, it should be heated to 160°F for beef and 165°F for turkey or chicken jerky BEFORE you dry your strips.


Heating the jerky after dehydrating might not kill all bacteria due to it becoming more heat resistant during the drying process. This is why bringing your jerky to 160ºF at the start of your jerky making process is recommended by the USDA.


If you have a dehydrator that will heat jerky to this temperature, you can bypass this initial heating stage. See my page on Dehydrator Reviews for more information."

Also, you have the problem of much higher humidity in the UK than in SA, where temps and rh are well outside of UK norms. This means that meat dried at lower temps struggles to dry very well. Even at 165f, there is a marked difference in drying speed from winter to summer.
If I dried those thin patties at 145f, they would take nearly 24 hours and they also taste staler
Generally, If I get them super dry within 12 hours, they have a fresher flavour.

https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2010/04/15/Insufficient-evidence-for-biltong-guidance


As evidenced from above links, marinading at 2-4c with vinegar and salt to penetrate meat and then initial heating to 160-165c yields a meat that should be safe for long term storage.
I leave the temp at ~80c for 2 hours, because the meat needs that long to reach minimum internal temp. As water evaporates off the meat, it stays at much lower temp than the air in the dehydrator/oven.
 
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Teepee

Thru Hiker
6.2 kg (20kg fresh equaivalent) of superdry vac sealed meat ready for the late summer/autumn hiking season There should be about 40 days beef and gammon in this vac sealed lot, which going on past experience will only last 30. 🤤

~200g in each of the Mylar sealed packets is around 650g of equaivalent in fresh.



20210713_151703.jpg


Time to make some more. Salmon next, then some Haddock, then another big jar of gammon and I think I'll have enough to get to new year.
 

turkeyphant

Section Hiker
6.2 kg (20kg fresh equaivalent) of superdry vac sealed meat ready for the late summer/autumn hiking season There should be about 40 days beef and gammon in this vac sealed lot, which going on past experience will only last 30. 🤤

~200g in each of the Mylar sealed packets is around 650g of equaivalent in fresh.



View attachment 33037


Time to make some more. Salmon next, then some Haddock, then another big jar of gammon and I think I'll have enough to get to new year.
I would buy this.
 

ADz

Thru Hiker
6.2 kg (20kg fresh equaivalent) of superdry vac sealed meat ready for the late summer/autumn hiking season There should be about 40 days beef and gammon in this vac sealed lot, which going on past experience will only last 30. 🤤

~200g in each of the Mylar sealed packets is around 650g of equaivalent in fresh.



View attachment 33037


Time to make some more. Salmon next, then some Haddock, then another big jar of gammon and I think I'll have enough to get to new year.

That is beer snack heaven!
 

MartinK9

Section Hiker
Morrisons' Continental Meat selection pack containing Chorizo, Salami Napoli, German style salami was used for this experiment,nice thin slices in this pack.

After 4 hours they are not quite dry enough as crisps yet.

As mentioned in the above video your trays will get greasy from the oils, I placed parchment paper on the tray beneath the ones with slices on and caught most of the drips. The Chorizo gave off the most. Back in for a further hour.

As I have just come off a 40hr fast; (my first) the smells are driving me bonkers.....
 

Odd Man

Thru Hiker
Morrisons' Continental Meat selection pack containing Chorizo, Salami Napoli, German style salami was used for this experiment,nice thin slices in this pack.

After 4 hours they are not quite dry enough as crisps yet.

As mentioned in the above video your trays will get greasy from the oils, I placed parchment paper on the tray beneath the ones with slices on and caught most of the drips. The Chorizo gave off the most. Back in for a further hour.

As I have just come off a 40hr fast; (my first) the smells are driving me bonkers.....

He mentions in the video that pepperoni and salami turned out the best. I think it's down to two reasons: They are both well seasoned = more flavour and they fat distribution is pretty homogenous as it's blended in, whereas the sliced deli cuts have fat on the edges and just mostly protein.
 

EM-Chiseller

Thru Hiker
Morrisons' Continental Meat selection pack containing Chorizo, Salami Napoli, German style salami was used for this experiment,nice thin slices in this pack.

After 4 hours they are not quite dry enough as crisps yet.

As mentioned in the above video your trays will get greasy from the oils, I placed parchment paper on the tray beneath the ones with slices on and caught most of the drips. The Chorizo gave off the most. Back in for a further hour.

As I have just come off a 40hr fast; (my first) the smells are driving me bonkers.....
40hrs! Wet fast?
I recently did a 42 and it was difficult to not continue further..
My mistake was when I started my refeed. I should have just had some scrambled eggs. I had a heavy cream coffee and then steak and bacon... Way too much fat,that normally wouldn't be a problem.... It. Was an 'interesting' ☺️ experience.

I felt fantastic though 👍
Screenshot_20210725_063808_de.fastic.app.jpg
 

Teepee

Thru Hiker
A few batches of those sliced deli meats went through my dehydrator last year and whilst they were OK, I find they went stale quite quick and the price per kg of finished was really high.

Nice for a change, but I'm in no rush to do anymore.
 
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