Native Americans were here on the earth long before you and I. In the 1500’s they didn’t have restaurants and take out dinners to eat in their villages. They hunted, and they ate meat. Meat doesn’t last forever though- it spoils. The Native Americans had to come up with some sort of solution to preserve the meat, and that solution was beef jerky. Salted and dried out, the meat was good to eat days after it was hunted.
Looking at this twenty first century, beef jerky is still an item we see on the shelves of our 7-11 stores, our CVS pharmacies, and our gas stations across America. Big brands like “Oh boy! Oberto” and “Jack Link’s” have dominated the jerky market in the stores we shop at today, but there is still a whole world of beef jerky that lies beneath the surface of our big brands and big convenience store shelves.
In America, hunting is not uncommon, and there is no question that Americans love meat. In New Hampshire especially, people love to make their own beef jerky. Whether you go into a ‘Mom n Pop’ country store or into the basement of your uncle’s house, it isn’t unusual to see beef jerky being made independently by Americans across the country.
Ever since I was a young I would go up to Moultonborough, New Hampshire in the summer with my best friend Alex. Days spent on Lake Winnipesauke are ones I won’t forget, and I also won’t forget the trip back down to Connecticut after a fun weekend on the lake. The old country store was always a stop on the way out of town as we headed back to CT. Rolling up to the Old Country Store’s dusty parking lot, you will immediately recognize how old and rickety the building is- the way an Old Country Store should be. When you walk into the store, you’re greeted with smiles from the elderly couple that own it. The engulfing smell of fresh meat and fresh pickles, two staples of the Old Country Store, also greet you as you walk through the door. Ever since I was a little kid walking into the store, I remember the old lady behind the counter giving us a strip of her husband’s homemade deer jerky. Salted and dried in their store, it was always guaranteed to taste authentic and delicious.
Today, I know if I pick up a bag of jerky at a gas station in the middle of a road trip, I don’t worry about salmonella and other diseases that hide in spoiled meat. I have confidence in big brands that their product is safe to eat, even if it is meat, which is notorious for getting humans sick if not cured or prepared safely and correctly. There is without a doubt a science behind properly drying the meat, and with popular brands of beef jerky, I know I never second-guess the safety of their food.
You have to wonder though, how are small country stores and independent people at the Santa Ana flea market, like the family selling “Now That’s Killer Jerky”, safely producing such a delicate food product to the public without potentially getting them sick? Beef is definitely unsafe if it is consumed raw, or if it is consumed even days after it is cooked correctly. As a matter of a fact, Jack Links recommends that you refrigerate the jerky package once you open the seal. This makes me think, is the beef jerky I am picking up at the Santa Ana flea market on Saturday really safe to eat since it isn’t a big brand that I feel like I can trust? I talked to the man behind “Now That’s Killer Jerky” at the local flea market, and he certainly had a lot to say about the safety of his meats that he was selling.
Saturday morning at the flea market is full of characters selling really anything you could imagine. From clothing to furniture, to beef jerky, you will see it all at the flea market. The man behind “Now That’s Killer Jerky” was certainly a character himself. His booth was packed with dozens of people flocking for his jerky, and he stood calm behind the counter with a hat worn low over his eyes and sunglasses hiding his face. I asked him about his jerky, and if it was as safe as a big brand.
“We know our Jerky… we’ve been doing this for 30 years, and I have confidence in the safety of my food,” were the first words Mr. Killer Jerky said to me. He explained that his family’s business of selling jerky starts in his own butcher shop and is seasoned and bagged in his own shop. “We only use ingredients from companies that I trust and are well known for safety and quality.” Clearly Mr. Killer Jerky is confident in his product’s safety that he sells at the flea market, ranging from smoke, teriyaki, pineapple and even turkey jerky.
Big brands such as Jack Link’s are a little different than Killer Jerky. While I am now confident in Killer Jerky’s product after talking to the people behind the brand, other people are only confident in big brands. Jack Link’s makes millions of dollars in beef jerky, and have developed to the point where they are a household name that buyers don’t feel the need to second guess the safety in the product. The man behind the counter at aisle seven at Albertsons is the perfect example of your everyday American eating a big brand of jerky. The skinny old man who rang me up for my own bag of Jack Link’s jerky was definitely a regular consumer. I asked him out of curiosity if he liked jerky. To my surprise, he was a fanatic. He told me he loved to eat it and he said, “every once and a while I grab myself a bag of that Jack Link’s right over there to eat in my truck on my way out of here and back home to my wife.” I asked him what his favorite flavor was and if he ever questioned the safety of the Jack Link’s. “Original jerky is the one to have, I don’t like to mess with the teriyaki or smoked this and that.” He also was confident in what he was eating, he told me he never worried about getting food poisoning from big brand jerky. At this point, I was definitely intrigued, and curious if he ever had a small brand, or homemade jerky. Interestingly enough, the old man claims he has never tried the “small brand stuff, and probably never would because I don’t know if I trust them to make it safely.” Clearly the old man behind Albertsons check out counter seven had enough to say about the jerky.
I think the interaction I had with the man at Albertsons represents the opinion of many Americans. Many Americans in this day and age especially are sheltered and afraid of anything that is foreign to them, especially with food. I think that makes for unadventurous eating too. Many people today in the year 2013 eat what they know, and that is generally about it. While beef jerky is definitely potentially dangerous meat to eat because of the high risk of getting food poisoning, it is safe if prepared correctly. Beef jerky preparation isn’t rocket science, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly either.
Salmonella has been reported and linked to outbreaks from bad jerky in the past. When people make jerky on their own in their basement, they need to be sure that they cook the meat to 71.1 degrees Celsius before it dries to eliminate the risk for little beasties to form on the meat, which are small microorganisms that can cause disease such as salmonella to grow on meat. Pre-drying and then cooking to proper temperature are sure methods to preparing safe jerky. While it sounds simple, it is important that it is done properly. As with any kind of cooking, there is always room for error, and yes you can get sick from jerky it isn’t cooked at that high enough temperature before it is salted and dried.
The biggest difference between a big brand and homemade jerky is the actual drying of the jerky. Big brands like Jack Links have food dehydrators, which are massive cylinders that food can be placed in, heated, and dehydrated in a precise fashion. In the basements of New Hampshire, I guarantee you will not see a full scale, cylindrical, food dehydrator. Dehydrators for jerky are typically heated for 20 minutes at 60 degrees Celsius, and the meat strips go into the trays of the dehydrator and are carefully monitored by thermometers and computers. Americans trust this sort of technology, while they may not trust basement made jerky, where it is typically hung and dried.
While it may be a risk to eat homemade jerky compared to big brand, it is without a doubt worth the flavor. Just taking a look at the ingredients on a Jack Links package:
Beef, Water, Corn Syrup Solids, Contains less than 22% of Salt, Sugar, Soy Sauce Dried(Soybean(s), Salt, Wheat) , Maltodextrin, Monosodium Glutamate, Sodium Erythorbate,Sodium Nitrate (Nitrite), Soy Protein, Corn Hydrolyzed and, Flavoring
compared to Killer Jerky’s label:
you can tell Killer Jerky is clearly a less processed food, and as a result is healthier, safer to eat, and most importantly, tastes better. Killer Jerky has very simple, basic ingredients, which is why the smaller, homestyle brands are in my opinion, better than the big brand, off the supermarket shelf style beef jerky.
All things considered, any product sold to the general public is more than likely going to be safe. From Killer Jerky to Jack Link’s, you can be confident that your meat is safe and sanitary. It will always be up to the buyer as to what they deem healthy and safe to eat, but after talking to a small brand like Killer Jerky, I know that their product is as safe as anyone else’s, and is most definitely not going to kill you. If Americans are adventurous and talk to the people behind the smaller-company’s product that they are eating, consumers can be assured that what they are eating is safe, and probably going to taste a lot better than anything off of your convenience store shelf.
Mr. Food Exploration 