Jerky 205: Making Kippered Beef

[PatrickB]

Jerky: 205 Making Kippered Beef

Attend this intermediate-level class from Meatgistics University by watching the video, reading the article and post any questions you have!

What’s the Difference Between Jerky & Kippered?

This will by far be the most asked question regarding this post. When asking experts around Walton’s the most common answer is the amount of water activity present. While both products are good to eat, jerky is going to be dryer. You’ll notice similar smoking schedules as well. And of course the appearance. True kippered beef is julienned into strips before thermal processing. So we just threw them on our smoke screens and gave them a few slices.

Slicing & Mixing

The first thing is first we have to slice this into useable pieces. We have trimmed and partially frozen our meat to make slicing them easier. We like to get our meat into manageable fist-size pieces that can easily have the fat trimmed off.

We can now use our Walton’s slicer to get these pieces the exact thickness we want. As you can see some of the strips vary in size, this is fine as long as the thickness isn’t too different. We went for closer to 1/2 inch this time. So slice up some pieces and set them aside until slicing is finished.

Next is to mix the seasoning with the correct amount of water. We threw all our sliced meat and seasoning with the correct amount of water in our vacuum tumbler. This will help loosen the fibers of the meat and allow the seasoning to penetrate the meat making for a bolder flavor. Once under a vacuum, we let it tumble for over about an hour.

Smoke Schedule

1. Drying Phase 90 Minutes at 110 degrees
2. Smoking for 30 Minutes at 140 degrees
3. Drying Phase for 15 Minutes at 145 degrees
4. Cook for 15 Minutes at 150 degrees
5. Cook 15 more Minutes at 155 degrees
6. Up Temp to 170 degrees until internal is 165 degrees

We know some of these temperature and times are hard to replicate. Here’s a video on how we faired making jerky in our oven. So please use this video for inspiration and or advice!
Meat Processing Equipment: 208 Low Temp Oven

Dragon’s Breath

The awesome new seasoning we tried is Dragon’s Breath. We heard the name and knew we had to try it! While mixing the seasoning stuck in our nostrils and helped clean out or sinuses for sure. However, the seasoning wasn’t too overwhelming when it came to taste. So trust us, some heat but NOT burn your mouth hot!

Shop waltonsinc.com for Vertical Smokers

Shop waltonsinc.com for Dragon’s Breath Seasoning

[Dr_Pain]

Saw the video last night on YouTube. Makes me want to make sure. Where does the name kippered comes from by the way. First time I heard it was on Meatgistics

[Jonathon]

Dr_Pain “We also know kippered fish were eaten in Germany and reached Scandinavia sometime during the Middle Ages. As a verb, to kipper means to preserve by rubbing with salt or other spices before drying in the open air or in smoke. So beef or other meat preserved in the same fashion can logically be called “skippered.”” That is from google, so it has to be true! Interesting, I wonder if it is a regional thing, I am fairly sure when I grew up in Upstate NY lots of stores carried packaged kippered beef.

[Dr_Pain]

Jonathon said in Jerky: 205 Making Kippered Beef:

Dr_Pain “We also know kippered fish were eaten in Germany and reached Scandinavia sometime during the Middle Ages. As a verb, to kipper means to preserve by rubbing with salt or other spices before drying in the open air or in smoke. So beef or other meat preserved in the same fashion can logically be called “skippered.”” That is from google, so it has to be true! Interesting, I wonder if it is a regional thing, I am fairly sure when I grew up in Upstate NY lots of stores carried packaged kippered beef.

Thanks for the explanation! I agree with you, if it is on the internet than it must be true

[mrobisr]

Bonjour I’m a French model!

[johnsbrewhouse]

The Scandinavians countries, and most of Western Europe use the term kippered for preserved smoked fish. Kippered and smoked fish is essentially the same with the exception here, you’ll find that kipped fish has more sugar and a more shiny finish. You won’t find kippered fish cut into strips, but you will find smoke fish treat that way, especially within the Native American populations and Eskimo.

[Jonathon]

mrobisr Glad to see you back on Team Blue, I got a notification that you were no longer a member of the Blue Team!
johnsbrewhouse Have you ever had kippered fish in the US? I don’t think I have ever seen it on a menu. Though, to be fair, I don’t go out to eat all that often and I when I do I am usually having a version of Fruitti de Mare or a Pizza

[johnsbrewhouse]

Jonathon We have kippered salmon all over here in the NW as well as other kippered snacks with some our population immigrating here from Scandinavian and western European countries . It’s basically smoked fish. They sometimes will add herbs to it as well when then dry rub the fish. I’ve eaten both smoked and kippered, but never really as a meal.

[mrobisr]

Jonathon i left and returned trying to get the tab to populate and then realized that it was user error. You are stuck with me now.

[shoprat53]

I don’t have A vacuum timber how long do I marinade the beef for?

[mrobisr]

I will say after tasting some jerky made by vacuum tumbling I will be getting a tumbler very soon. I was very impressed with the very complete flavor and texture of the meat.

[HerbcoFood]

This is pretty much the only way I eat beef jerky these days, it’s from one of my favorite meat markets. They call it chunk beef jerky, would this be considered kippered beef?

[Jonathon]

HerbcoFood I’d say its on the edge of being kippered beef but I also thought they were just different names for the same thing before I worked here
“Often, beef jerky and kippered beef are considered to be one and the same. Actually, jerky is usually dried in smaller strips and not smoked. … Most kippered beef is smoked and not as dried out as jerky. The slices can be rather thick and slightly more moist than jerky.” Sayeth our google overlords.