Beef Jerky, NYC 2020

I bought a dehydrator months ago before all of this shit happened(thank you Stephen King?) And, I've dallied with it, my first accomplishment was with kiwi(not KIWIS, as that would be cannibalism). I really bought it for making of the jerkies of the beef. And, I nailed it. I use a Dehydro, the lower end model, and by damn, if the mf'r didn't give my marinated jerky up within 7 hours. I grew up on a jerky akin to carne seca. I like a dry, savory, chewy jerky. Think pemican, but with herbs instead of fruits. Not that sticky sweet gas station/grocery store preservative shite. In the time of Covid19, I just want a fast protein fix. I used round steak, the less fat the better, na und? It turned out, my first try, surprisingly good!

Hi,

Always fun to do something new. It is a stress relief at least for me.

You may find these links of interest:

All About Drying from the National Center for Home Food Preservation

Leathers and Jerkies from Colorado State University

Have fun!

Regards,
Cathy2

Nice one. I love beef jerky. Got any pictures?

No dehydrator here but I sometimes do a smoked jerky on the Weber. I try to keep the temp below 200F and use a heartier wood like hickory.

Beef jerky is good when it's simply flavored with just salt and smoke. Mexican groceries often have "sandwich steak" which seems to be lean round roast sliced thin. It goes on sale a lot which is great for jerky making.

I've used the oven method where you set the temp as low as it goes and leave the oven door ajar. Probably still a little too warm but makes a pretty decent jerky.

Folks,

I just came across a lot of beef jerky at an Amish surplus store in Holmes Co., OH earlier this month.

I was wondering if I could use some of the jerky like I would use carne seca to make migas?

jlawrence01 wrote:Folks,

I just came across a lot of beef jerky at an Amish surplus store in Holmes Co., OH earlier this month.

I was wondering if I could use some of the jerky like I would use carne seca to make migas?

Which Amish bent & dent/discount/salvage/surplus stores did you visit?

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:

jlawrence01 wrote:Folks,

I just came across a lot of beef jerky at an Amish surplus store in Holmes Co., OH earlier this month.

I was wondering if I could use some of the jerky like I would use carne seca to make migas?

Which Amish bent & dent/discount/salvage/surplus stores did you visit?
Regards,
Cathy2

This is my new "go to" list of Amish/Mennonite salvage stores in northern Ohio. For those who are unfamiliar with the Amish in Ohio, there are two major concentrations. First, the largest Amish communities in the US are located in Holmes Co. and southern Wayne Co, OH. Do realize that since Amish communities tend to grow, these areas are expanding quite a bit and you will see Amish and Mennonites as far west as Mansfield. Second, there is a large community in Middlefield, OH in Geauga Co. and the surrounding towns which is SE of Cleveland.

The best source of information about these markets is provided on the Paul Mount website. I like this website a lot as it includes maps to each store. I would NOT recommend relying on a street map. This is one case where a GPS in critical and saves you a lot of time. Do remember that a lot of these stores are NOT in retail strip centers. Generally, they are in an outbuilding or a large garage behind the family's house. They can be off of remote farm roads and the like.

Paul Mount's website:
https://danielmount.com/archives/bent-d ... ries-ohio/

I did NOT visit every place on this website. I focused on Holmes Co.. I would have seen more but my nephew would not get up before 10 am but that is another story.

Mansfield

Pumpkin Seed Bulk Store - It has a full deli that is excellent and a lot of bulk foods. The prices are decent but not cheap. They have two long shelves of salvage groceries that represent 5% of their sales. They also sell fresh Amish baked goods.
Not much of a bulk store but it is close to my FIL's house.

Wayne's County Market - A small market with lot of fresh produce and great meats. I did not see much salvage there but it has some of the best groceries in Mansfield which is like stating that it is the winner of the 6 inch high hurdles. These places both accept credit cards and are the only ones that do.

I am a little miffed that I missed the two locations in Bellville as they are closest to my FIL's farm.

Holmes Co. Area

Apple Tree Market - a garage operation. They had a pretty good selection of salvage goods, all in very good shape. They had some bakery salvage and some refrigerated goods. Yes, it was worth a stop and we scored some good deals on jerky and dry goods.

Weaver Ridge Surplus - Very dark operation. I found a lot of great deals including $0.50 large cans of San Marzano style tomatoes. I probably bought the most canned goods and a lot of bulk spices that were a fraction of the cost of Penzey's. very worthwhile.

Rt 62 Bent and Dent This was the brightest of the places that we visited and themost like a standard grocery. However, the prices were OK, cheaper than grocery stores but not for a salvage place. I would probably not return.

Country Salvage (Website) Country Surplus (Receipt) This is my favorite. I was looking in the back as a 50 year old woman was pulling banana boxes off of the truck and pricing all of the goods. She had three employees in the 14-18 year range who were sorting and shelving the product. This is a real salvage operation. This is where I found the best deals as well as the best variety. I picked up Rao's tomato sauce for $1.50 and a number of hard to find condiments. Great variety and generally the goods were in good shape.

I purchased approximately three banana boxes of groceries in Holmes Co. locations for approximately $50. I would have bought a lot more than I did but I have two militations. First, I had a small SUV that I was driving back to Arizona that was filled with all of the stuff that I was bringing back from my boyhood home as we are currently selling the home. Second, since I have been in Cincinnati for three months, a period during which I had planned to work down my pantry, I have little room for any more.

I am disappointed that I missed Country Salvage and the Bellville stores. Maybe I will hit those on the next trip.

Hope that helps.

jlawrence01 said

First, the largest Amish communities in the US are located in Holmes Co. and southern Wooster Co, OH.

I believe he meant to say southern Wayne County. Wooster is the county seat of Wayne County.

That is correct. It is Wayne Co.