Yes, homemade jerky is safe when you use fresh lean beef, follow the recipe and dry it thoroughly. Those three things are the whole of it, and the third is where people get sloppy: jerky that is still a bit moist in the middle is the one failure mode worth taking seriously, because properly dried meat keeps and under-dried meat does not. If in doubt at the end of the drying time, dry it a little longer.
What follows is what is actually preserving the meat, how to dry it properly in a normal oven, how to tell when it is genuinely done, and how to store it afterwards.
What preserves jerky if there is no cure?
Drying, mostly, helped by salt. Our beef jerky kit uses no cure at all, just the two seasoning blends and your own beef. There are no nitrites in it and there is nothing to weigh out.
That is a genuine difference from bacon, and worth understanding rather than glossing over. Bacon sits in a fridge for days as a wet, thick piece of pork, which is why the bacon recipes use a traditional dry cure containing nitrite and nitrate. Jerky takes a thin slice of beef and pulls the moisture out of it in a matter of hours. Different problem, different solution.
So everything that makes jerky safe is about that drying being done properly: thin slices, a low steady heat, air that can carry the moisture away, and an honest assessment of the texture at the end.
Does the beef matter?
A lot. Start with fresh lean beef, as lean as you can get, because fat does not dry well and a fatty strip is the one that stays greasy and soft while everything around it is done. Thin-cut frying steak or brisket both work really well. You want about 500g per batch, and the kit makes two.
Buy it fresh, and make it that day or the next. Drying preserves good meat, it does not rescue meat that is already tired. Trim visible fat off before you slice rather than after, when it is fiddly.
Handle it like any raw beef while you are working: clean board, washed hands, and do not put the finished dried strips back down where the raw ones were sitting. It sounds obvious written down, and it is the sort of obvious thing that gets skipped at the end of a long afternoon.
How thin, and which way?
Thin, and across the grain for tender jerky. Cutting with the grain gives a chewier bite, which some people prefer, but across the grain is the easier eat.
The trick that makes this manageable: put the beef in the freezer for half an hour before you slice. Firmed up, it gives you thin, even slices from an ordinary knife, and even slices are what give you a batch that finishes at the same time rather than half done and half over-dried.
Then season with the smoky BBQ or the chilli and garlic blend and get it into the oven.
How do you dry it properly in a home oven?
Low heat, for a few hours, with the moisture able to escape. Slice the beef thin, season it, hang or lay the strips out, and dry them slowly in the oven until firm. Full timings are in the booklet, and a few hours is the shape of it, far quicker than traditional air-drying and pretty much foolproof.
If your oven will not go low enough, which many will not, use the tea towel trick. Set the oven to its very lowest setting, making sure it is actually on and heating, then hang a tea towel between the door and the oven so the door stays ajar. It drops the temperature a little and lets the moisture out, which matters just as much: if the damp air cannot escape you are steaming the beef rather than drying it. At the slightly higher heat the batch may be done closer to the two hour mark, so keep an eye on it.
If you own a dehydrator, it is arguably the ideal tool. Follow the recipe as written, then instead of the oven, lay or hang the strips in the dehydrator at 65 degrees for ten to twelve hours until they are dried right through.
How do you know it is actually done?
Go by touch, and be strict with yourself.
- Firm and dry to the touch, with no damp or tacky feel to the surface.
- It bends without snapping. Jerky should be a touch firmer than biltong.
- Still moist or soft? Dry it longer. It wants to be firm and leathery, not wet, and properly dried meat keeps much better.
- Too dry or tough? That is a slicing problem more often than a timing one. Slice thinner and across the grain next time, and reduce the drying time.
Every oven differs, so check your first batch early and often. Once you know how yours behaves, the second batch is guesswork-free.
How should you store it?
In an airtight container. Well-dried jerky keeps for a couple of weeks, and refrigerating it extends that. If a batch still feels a little moist, it will not keep as long, so eat that one sooner rather than saving it for a walk in a fortnight.
Let the strips cool completely before they go into the container, or the trapped warmth turns into condensation, which undoes some of the work you just did. And if you are making jerky specifically to take somewhere, dry it a shade further than you would for eating at home.
Homemade jerky safety FAQs
Is it safe to make jerky in a normal oven?
Yes. Slice lean beef thin, season it and dry it slowly on a low heat until firm, using a tea towel to hold the door ajar if your oven will not go low enough. The moisture needs to escape, otherwise the meat steams rather than dries.
Does jerky need curing salt or nitrites?
Our jerky kit uses no cure at all, just the seasoning blends and your own beef. Thorough drying and the salt in the seasoning are what preserve it, which is why the drying stage matters so much.
How can I tell if jerky is dried enough?
It should be firm and dry to the touch and bend without snapping, a touch firmer than biltong. If it is still soft or moist, put it back and dry it for longer.
What beef should I use for jerky?
Fresh lean beef, as lean as possible, since fat does not dry well. Thin-cut frying steak or brisket both work really well, and you want about 500g per batch.
How long does homemade jerky keep?
Kept in an airtight container, well-dried jerky keeps for a couple of weeks, and refrigerating it extends that. A batch that still feels moist should be eaten sooner.
Fancy a jar of your own? The jerky kit is part of our range of meat making kits.
