DiningBuzz! - Beef Jerky gone bad?

Hello,

since I am a fan of beef jerky, I asked my girl friend to bring me some from the US on her recent trip here. She picked up some fresh made beef jerky from the butcher around the corner, i.e. not the packaged stuff.
Since to my understand jerky doesn't go bad, we put it in the kitchen cupboard, leaving it in its paper/plastic wrapper.
Now, after about 10 days, my girlfriend says it smells rotten. I am not home right now to check, but I am sure our tastebuds aren't that far apart from each other. ;)

I am surprised Jerky actually can go bad. Is it something we did wrong when storing it, or is this part of the process (e.g. scrape off the bad stuff and enjoy the rest)?

Thanks,
Oliver

Not all jerky is created equal. The keeping qualities depend on the
salt, sugar, and moisture content. Nitrates, too, if any. Back in the
olden days, jerky was made for long storage. Now, it's mostly for
taste, and there's some leeway in the manufacture - moister tastes
better, as does less salty; but these characteristics both compromise
the durability.

I'd say yes, jerky can go bad, and if it smells too bad to eat, don't
eat it. In the olden days, even if it went bad people would suck it up
and eat it anyhow, but I presume you're in no immediate danger of
starvation.

It can go bad, depending on how it was made. If it was made at the local butcher, they probably didn't chemicially induce it into a coma, so yes, it can go bad.

There's a 70 something uncle in the family who makes his own dried italian sausage. We bought in for 75 lbs of the ingredients last year, and got say 30 lbs of wonderful product. But unlike the store bought stuff that can be left out for months without any issues, this will go bad if it's exposed to the air. It doesn't need refrigeration, it just needs to not have the air get to it, so they are stored in corn oil. Because it's not in a preservative state of animation, it will get moldy, the fat will go rancid, etc. I would assume it's the same thing for your jerky.

The butcher did email me back (some kind of modern butcher :)):

If you keep it wrapped up it will . It needed to be open to the air to keep on drying. The moisture for being wrapped up caused the problem. Our jerky has a lot more moisture then others thats what make it so good.

And an offer to replace it next time of my gf come in to his store. Very nice :)

It is quite the opposite of your italian sausages though, Mike..

I figured it was the water content as is confirmed here.

BTW in olden days they did not 'chemically induce' it either, they used this natural phenomenon called 'salt' a lot of it! it worked well to keep meat for long periods, and to draw out moisture at the same time :)

BTW in olden days they did not 'chemically induce' it either, they used this natural phenomenon called 'salt' a lot of it! it worked well to keep meat for long periods, and to draw out moisture at the same time :)

Salt is *one* of the historical ways to preserve jerky...

Others, usually combined with salt, were saltpetre, smoking, drying to a very low moisture content (like shoe leather), spicing with peppers and chilies, and storing in rendered fat (pemmican).

Salt is *one* of the historical ways to preserve jerky...

Others, usually combined with salt, were saltpetre, smoking, drying to a very low moisture content (like shoe leather), spicing with peppers and chilies, and storing in rendered fat (pemmican).

yes that is a valid point, smoking it low and slow is a great way with good flavor too :)

For extended "shelf-life" unrefrigerated, jerky maust have undergone one or more of a combination of treatments, "salting" (as part of a seasoning rub), drying or "cold-smoking" to remove the maximum amount of moisture from the meat.

Humidity and fat content are the greatest enemies of jerky, and while packaged jerky, vacuum packed to remove and repell all air and moisture, can be stored almost anywhere dark, jerky not vaccuum packed needs reasonable air circulation and "dry" storage. Fat "turns" rancid and even a minimal fat content can hasten spoilage. A little exterior mold can be scraped off (or even washed away, immediately before consumption), and the native americans don't seem to have worried much about evidence of insects - just a bit more protein - but for most consumers, the cosmetic effect is unappealing.