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Hong Kong style unpackaged jerky

Jerky is meat that has been cut into strips trimmed of fat, marinated in a spicy, salty or sweet liquid, and then dried with low heat (usually under 70°C/160°F) or occasionally salted and sun-dried. The result is a salty, stripped, semi-sweet snack that can be stored without refrigeration. Jerky is an early application of food preservation techniques.

The word "jerky" itself comes from the Quechua term Charqui, which means "dried meat".^[1][2]

Drying has always been a common way to preserve meat. By drying thinly sliced meat in the sun and wind next to a smoky fire, the meat is protected from insects which would otherwise lay eggs in the raw meat. Ancient peoples—for example, the Inca—prepared jerky from the animals they hunted or husbanded.^[2]

Any single preparation, or recipe for jerky typically uses only one type of meat. Of the many types of meat that may be used, beef is the most common. Meat from other animals—such as wild game, venison, and elk—is also used.^[3] Recently, other meats have come to market, such as turkey, ostrich, salmon, alligator, and tuna. The meat must be dried quickly, to limit bacterial growth during the critical period where the meat is not yet dry. To do this, the meat is thinly sliced, or pressed thinly, in the case of ground meat. Drying is performed at low temperatures, to avoid cooking or overdrying the meat and making it brittle, with good jerky being flexible and somewhat tough.

In present-day factories jerky ovens are made of insulated panels. Inside these large ovens are many heater elements and fans with exhaust ports to remove moisture-laden air. The combination of fast moving air and low heat quickly dries the meat to the desired moisture content usually within a few hours. The raw marinated jerky strips are placed on racks of nylon screens which have been sprayed with a light vegetable oil for separation. The screen trays are placed closely in layers on rolling carts which are then put in the drying oven.

In addition to dehydration, usually some other form of preservative is used in the preparation of jerky. Smoking was the traditional method, as it preserved, flavored, and dried the meat simultaneously. Salting is the most common method used today, as it both provides seasoning to improve the flavor as well as preserve the meat. While some methods involve applying the seasonings with a marinade, this can increase the drying time by adding moisture to the meat, so methods that use a dry rub are generally faster.

Some jerky products are made naturally or organically. Natural and organic jerky makers use meat from animals which are raised on organic feed and minimally processed. These animals are not treated with hormone enhancement and are not fed animal by-products. Additionally, these jerky products do not contain MSG, preservatives, artificial flavors, or erythorbate and are gluten free. Because these jerky products are preservative free, and contain less salt than traditional jerky, they must be refrigerated after opening the package, or be eaten within three days to avoid spoilage.

Jerky label, showing ingredients and nutritional information. A 30 g serving of this jerky has 21 g of protein, 1 g of fat, 515 mg of sodium, and no carbohydrates.

After the jerky is dried to the proper moisture content to prevent spoilage, it is cooled, then packaged in re-sealable plastic bags, under vacuum. In order to retard spoilage, the sealed packages often contain small pouches of oxygen absorber. These small packets are filled with iron particles which work to retain oxygen and excess moisture that may be present, or from air introduced after the seal is broken (due to partial consumption).

With any cut of meat, most of the fat must be trimmed off in the process because it does not dry, potentially causing rancidification of the fat (modern vacuum packing and chemical preservatives have served to help prevent these risks).

Because of the necessary low fat and moisture content, jerky is high in protein. A 30 g (about 1 oz) portion of lean meat, for example, contains about 7 g of protein. By removing 15 g of water from the meat, the protein ratio is doubled to nearly 15 g of protein per 30 g portion. In some low moisture varieties, a 30 g serving will contain 21 grams of protein, and only one gram of fat. This leads to the high price of such brands of jerky, as it takes 90 g of 99% lean meat to generate that 30 gram serving.

There are many products in the marketplace which are sold as jerky which consist of highly processed, chopped and formed meat, rather than traditional sliced, whole-muscle meat. These artificial products, with their far higher fat and water content, often include chemical preservatives to prevent spoilage.

The Internet Nutrition Database shows a 30 g portion of "chopped and formed jerky" contains 10 g of protein, 8 g of fat, and 3 g of carbohydrates.^[4]

Since traditional jerky recipes utilize a basic salt cure, sodium can be a concern for some people. A 30 g serving of jerky could contain more than 600 mg of sodium, which would be about 30% of the recommended USRDA.

A jerky specialty shop in Chongqing, China

Unpackaged fresh jerky made from sliced, whole-muscle meat has been available in specialty stores in Hong Kong at least since the 1970s. The products are purchasable by kilograms, and customers choose from 10 to 20 types of meat used to make the product. Some are sold in strands instead of slices. Macau has opened up numerous specialty shops also, many of which are franchise extensions of stores from Hong Kong. Compared to the sealed packaged versions, unpackaged jerky has a relatively short expiration date.

Traditional jerky, made from sliced, whole-muscle meat, is readily available in the United States and Canada in varying meats, brands and qualities, both as packaged and unpackaged. These products are available in nearly every convenience store, gas station, supermarket, and variety shop in those countries.

A similar product is made from highly processed and formed meat paste, and is often labeled as jerky. This artificial product is also widely available, and generally much cheaper, in general interest stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

Also popular is shredded jerky sold in containers resembling snuff or dip. Jerky made in the traditional style is also a ubiquitous staple of farmers' markets in rural areas all over North America.

In addition to being quite common in the United States and Canada, jerky is also gaining popularity in supermarkets, convenience stores and pubs of many European countries. In Australia and New Zealand, jerky products are available and becoming more common. They are carried by some major supermarkets, and now also smaller stores.

Jerky floats in zero-g aboard International Space Station with Earth visible through window. August 2007. Courtesy of NASA.

A similar product, biltong, is common in South African cuisine; however, it differs very much in production process and taste.

Since 1996, jerky has been selected by astronauts several times for space flight due to its light weight and high level of nutrition.^[5][6]

• Pemmican
• Biltong
• Bakkwa
• Dried shredded squid

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of

Cookbook:Beef Jerky

• Commercial Item Description (CID): Beef Snacks, Cured U.S. Dept. of Agriculture specification
• Jerky (drying) at the Open Directory Project
• Jerky (shopping) at the Open Directory Project