Jerky Chemistry

[Seanlee Hardy]

Hi Everyone!
I am lucky to find this website and learning a lot from you guys.
I saw from jerky packaging and find there is term “maltodextrin” and when i research about it, the term maltodextrin is used for water holding capacity as it is hygrocospic.

Is the effect the same as using glycerin / glycerol?

There are also bunch of chemicals i want to discuss with you guys including :

1. sodium nitrate vs sodium nitrite vs celery powder
2. dextrose
3. maltodextrin vs glycerin / glycerol
4. (not really chemical) i want to find a good smoker for entry commercial level what would be good for it? I am from Indonesia so buying from amazon is crazy stuff and hopefully i get the product good without any need of manufacture defect. Just to be clear : 1 MB digital wood pellet smoker 30" MB is $200 but shipping and custom in Indonesia require around $350!!!

Hopefully we can discuss a lot in this forum and learn from each other!!

Cheers!!!

[samspade]

Seanlee Hardy welcome. They guys here both waltons and other users are a great source of knowledge and I’m sure you will get the answer your looking for.

[Seanlee Hardy]

thank youu @samspade2519 !!! I will also share some of my recipe when my batch is good and ready.
Trying to make jerky business here and looking lots of way to improve my jerky !

btw whats with team orange and team blue?

[samspade]

Seanlee Hardy go to the meatgistics section of the waltons site or search YouTube for meatgistics. Austin and jonathon are with Waltons. You can join either jonathon on team blue or Austin on orange. Its is just for fun.

[processhead]

Seanlee Hardy said in Jerky Chemistry:

Hi Everyone!
I am lucky to find this website and learning a lot from you guys.
I saw from jerky packaging and find there is term “maltodextrin” and when i research about it, the term maltodextrin is used for water holding capacity as it is hygrocospic.

Is the effect the same as using glycerin / glycerol?

There are also bunch of chemicals i want to discuss with you guys including :

1. sodium nitrate vs sodium nitrite vs celery powder
2. dextrose
3. maltodextrin vs glycerin / glycerol
4. (not really chemical) i want to find a good smoker for entry commercial level what would be good for it? I am from Indonesia so buying from amazon is crazy stuff and hopefully i get the product good without any need of manufacture defect. Just to be clear : 1 MB digital wood pellet smoker 30" MB is $200 but shipping and custom in Indonesia require around $350!!!

Hopefully we can discuss a lot in this forum and learn from each other!!

Cheers!!!

1. sodium nitrate vs sodium nitrite vs celery powder are all considered preservatives, or cures, for meat products.

Sodium nitrate is used for slow dry-curing of uncooked meat products like traditional salami. Sodium nitrate slowly converts to sodium nitrite during the dry curing process. Cure # 2 powder is what would be used when sodium nitrate is needed in processing.

Sodium nitrite is a fast acting cure that is used in the majority of cooked meat processing. Cure #1 powder is what would be used when sodium nitrite is needed in processing.
Celery powder is just a natural source for sodium nitrite that is chemically identical to synthetic sources of the sodium nitrite.

2. dextrose
   Dextrose aka glucose is just a type of simple sugar that is an additive in many processed foods for flavoring or sometimes as a nutrition source for helpful bacteria in processed foods.

maltodextrin vs glycerin / glycerol
3.Maltodextrin and glycerin are both additives that work as coatings on processed foods. They do attract and hold moisture and change the texture of foods, making them somewhat “juicier” or “stickier”.

4. Smokers
   You will get a lot of opinions on smokers here. I can’t really speak from personal experience since both of my sausage smokers are home-made.
   What ever smoker you get, make sure it has the capability to smoke at low temperatures used for sausage and cured meat processing. Some smokers for smoking/cooking barbeque are intended for higher temperatures and don’t have the control range to work well for cured processed meats.

[glen]

Seanlee Hardy Welcome
To expand a little on processhead’s good info:
In my opinion celery powder is used in meat products labeled “uncured” to fool people into thinking they are getting a product without nitrite but with the same cured characteristics

Dextrose is more easily consumed than regular sugar by some bacteria used in starter cultures and makes the grow faster for the desired effects

[Seanlee Hardy 0]

Thank you processhead and glen for the explanation.
I wonder whats the difference if we choose either maltodextrin or glycerin / glycerol? Will they produce the same result?

For celery powder i know they just wanting to fool customer by saying no artificial preservatives but actually they have the same nitrates like sodium nitrates have. But im just wondering will the smell affect the smell of the jerky? Anyone ever tried using celery powder?

[glen]

Seanlee Hardy 0 never tried celery powder in jerky