Jerky is lean meat sliced thin, seasoned and dried until most of its water is gone. That is why it is so light and keeps so well, and why a pound of jerky costs so much more than a pound of steak. Knowing the yield helps you buy the right amount of meat and work out the real cost per serving.
Yield
Raw lean beef is about 70 to 75% water. Drying removes most of it, and jerky usually weighs 35 to 45% of the trimmed raw weight: roughly 1 lb of jerky from 2.5 lb of meat. The yield depends on how lean the meat is, how thin you slice it and how dry you like it. Weigh your first batch before and after drying, then enter your own yield.
Which cut?
Choose lean cuts with little marbling: eye of round, top round, bottom round, sirloin tip or flank steak. Fat does not dry and turns rancid, so trim it all off. Partly freezing the meat for one to two hours makes thin slicing (about 1/8 to 1/4 in) much easier. Slicing across the grain gives a tender jerky; with the grain, a chewier one.
Curing salt
Prague powder #1 (pink curing salt) contains 6.25% sodium nitrite. It protects against bacteria during slow drying at low temperatures and gives jerky its pink color and cured flavor. The usual dose is 1 level teaspoon per 5 lb of meat, mixed into the marinade. Do not use more, and never use Prague powder #2, which is meant for long dry-cured sausages. Our curing salt calculator works out the dose in grams.
Example
3 lb of trimmed beef at $6 a pound, with a 40% yield, gives 1.2 lb (19.2 oz) of jerky: 19 one-ounce servings at about $0.94 each. It needs 0.6 tsp of Prague powder #1, and the dehydrator removes 1.8 lb of water.
Drying safely
The USDA recommends heating meat to 160 °F (71 °C) before or at the start of drying, to kill E. coli and salmonella, and then drying at 130 to 140 °F (54 to 60 °C). In a dehydrator, this usually takes 4 to 8 hours. Jerky is done when a piece bends and cracks without breaking and shows no moist spots. Poultry should reach 165 °F.
Storage
Let the jerky cool, then store it in airtight bags or jars. It keeps about two weeks at room temperature, one to two months in the fridge and longer if vacuum sealed or frozen. Toss any batch with mold or an off smell.