# A Dried Beef



## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

I've dried beef before. But Davearms sugar cure got me ta thinin. I started goin throug some a my grandpa's papers (what there were, grandpa didn't write much down) an goin by what I remembered watchin an came up with a newer version a what grandpa used ta do fer a dried beef.

The mix will be:

2-3 parts white sugar
2 parts dark brown sugar (grandpa used molasses in his recipe)
1 part non iodized salt
Good amounta coarse black pepper

Now grandpa would rub the meat well with his mixture then spread some mixture in the bottom of a oak keg, layer a meat, layer a mixture, layer a meat, layer a mixture an so on till he were near the toppa the keg. Then grandpa would put a wood disk on top with a big old field rock. The whole works would be kept in the root cellar. After a couplea weeks, grandpa would unpack the keg an repack rotatin the meat an skimmin the juice what had formed.

What I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rub the meat with my mixture, put in a heavy gallon zip bag with extra mixture. Couplea times a day I'm gonna massage the meat well. It'll make up it's own juice as it draws moisture outa the meat.

When bout a week gone by I'm gonna rinse it off well then coat it with some course black pepper/garlic powder mixture. I'm then gonna hang it in my cold smoker an smoke fer several hours. Then I'm gonna put it in a cotton bag an hang fer a spell an dry some more. Then I'll vac bag it an see how long we can keep it.

So, stay tuned, well see how this here project goes. I'll post up some picks from time ta time.


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## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

There is nothing finer around our home then dried beef. We get ours from NW Ohio when we or friends go up. I have a old recipe for it but have not tried it. I really need to take that jump. Let us know how it ends up. 
WARNING! If you happen to be accosted by a 5 ft. tall woman with brown curly hair and blues eyes (my daughter) Just give her some and back away. It's not worth the ass whoopin that little one will give out for it! LOL


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## boomer (Jul 13, 2011)

I have been wanting to do dried beef without the nitrates, yet have no experience. This post is going to be very interesting, as I am not real keen on making us all sick.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Sounds great! I do have a question about putting it in a plastic bag. Do you intend to freeze it at this point? My concern is botulism or other nasties as I have heard stories about processing meat in plastic bags.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

It will go inta a vac seal bag after it be dry. Sorta like the shelf stable jerky ya buy at the store. Botulism would be a concern ifin it were moist an air tight. It's a concern much a the time, but it takes just the right conditions ta make it grow. It don't like dry so should be of little concern. Onea the other thins that can be done is ta add a cure (number 2 in this case) like would be done with the dried sausages.


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