Member Reviews
If you are a jerky-fan, this is a great book. The pictures are good. The recipes are easy to manage, even for a novice.
I have never made jerky before, but I think that I can do it after reading this book. The process of making jerky is de-mystified by this book's clear instructions. I just have to decide on what recipe to make and find time to do it!
I received a Kindle Arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
I was pleasantly surprised that this recipe book does not call for a lot of fancy equipment. Fancy equipment is fine, but for the average person, they are not going to have a smoker in their kitchen. The recipes became a lot more accessible for the home cook because of this. The recipes themselves were great, and the photography work was pretty. It made you want to try the recipes and get going making your own jerky. All in all, I liked this book and will give some of the recipes a try. Store bought jerky is not happening anymore.
Fascinating collection of jerky recipes with clear instructions
I grabbed this book because we make a lot of jerky, but usually just vary between a couple of spice mixes, and I’d like to expand our repertoire. There is a lot of good information here, especially if you haven’t made jerky before: everything from how to choose the appropriate type and cut of meat to how to slice the meat properly. There’s a good explanation of the different drying methods also: smoking, dehydrating, sun-drying, etc. Folks that don’t make jerky on a regular basis might be put off by the thought of making a food that isn’t cooked at a high temperature, but spices, salt, smoke, and other ingredients make the meat inhospitable to bacteria, which is well explained in the book. I can see why folks might feel a little squeamish, especially by using pork or ground meats, because we’ve been brainwashed that we still must guard against trichinosis and other diseases that no longer a threat with the meat supply in our country. This is not to say one should not guard against bacteria by using food-grade meats, using the correct amount of salt, smoket, etc., and observing good hygiene and food-handling practices. And the authors recommend a nitrate blend where it’s really needed to offset the risk of botulism.
The jerky recipes are spectacular and varied with an explanation of the origin, comprehensive ingredient lists, and clear instructions on how to prepare the jerky. I haven’t made these recipes yet, but I’ve made a few that were close, so I can see the ingredient and methods will work. I’m going to make at least three of these jerky recipes as soon as life quits interfering, and I’ll amend this review should the jerky not live up to my expectations. Then I intend to work my way through just about every recipe in this book. Variety is the spice of life!
I highly recommend this book to those who love jerky, who need high protein snacks for paleo or other similar diets, or who just want to try some interesting meats from around the world.
I had to take a look at this book. My son-in-law loves jerky and I thought it might just make a wonderful potential gift for him along with a smoker. I assumed all jerkys were smoked. I was wrong! They are dehydrated! Who knew?!? Anyway, there are a wide array of recipes and lots of detailed instruction for creating jerky! If there is a jerky lover in your life, treat them to this book and see if they don;t create their own favorite jerky in time! Great book!Loved the photos, too!
Oh good heavens Ten Speed. How could you think of publishing this? "We eat it and we're ok" is not a set of safety instructions, especially for preparations of raw wild pork or ground meat. People need to know how to avoid botulism, listeria, clostridium, E coli, enterococcus, salmonella, staph, liver and lung flukes, intestinal worms and other things that might kill you if you eat under processed meat.
Beyond the obvious invitation to a lawsuit, the text is a ridiculous mishmash in which some things that aren't jerky are called jerky (Moo dat dio most assuredly is not jerky) and some things that clearly are jerky are relegated to a chapter called "jerky kin" (which fits my brother, but not biltong which is jerky without a doubt). They ignore many delicious foods including many variations of jerky in the USA, sin hang from Thailand and sin sawang ("heaven meat") from Laos which are similar to but not the same as thit bo kho which is included. The cooking with jerky section is anaemic.
And it irritates me to no end that narrow yet still square strips of meat are said to have diameter.