Jerky Made Easy

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Jerky Made Easy

• Tom Katen
• Cargill Ingredients
• Lynn Knipe
• Ohio State University
• OAMP Convention
• March 20, 2009

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Steps to Producing Safe Jerky
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Steps to Producing Safe Jerky

• The use of water activity lowering humectants
  in the product formula.
• Apply low pH marinade.
• Salmonella can adapt to surface drying if not
  destroyed early.
• Drying to shelf stable water activity.

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Use of Humectants to Reduce Water Activity in Dry
Meat Products

• Water activity-lowering humectants can turn
  Strips into shelf stable Jerky.
• Humectants reduce water activity without
  having to dry product so much.

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Use of Humectants to Reduce Water Activity in Dry
Meat Products

• Which humectant could you use?
• sugar, corn syrup, etc.
• How much humectant would you need to add to
  reduce water activity?

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Norrish Equation K Values of Common Humectants
Compound K Compound K DE 43 -5.31 Mannose
-2.28 0.22 Glactose -2.24 0.07 Xylose
-1.54 0.04 Glucose -2.25 0.02 Sucrose
-6.47 0.06 Glucose -2.11 0.11 PEG 400
-26.6 0.8 Fructose -2.15 0.08 PEG 600
-56 2 Glycerol -1.16 0.01 Citric Acid
-6.17 0.49 Mannitol -0.91 0.27 Tartaric Acid
-4.68 0.5 Propylene Glycol -1 Malic Acid
-1.82 0.13 Alanine -2.52 0.37 Glycine
0.87 0.11
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Calculating Amount of Humectant to Add

• Excel equation

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Humectant Effects on Jerky Quality

• Darker jerky color with added sweeteners.

Godshall's Quality Meats
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Jack Links
Best Beef
Uncle Mikes
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Low pH Marinade

• Low pH inactivates Salmonella.
• Many marinades are not acidic.
• Moist surface increases destruction of
  Salmonella during initial heat treatment.

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Salmonella Lethality

• Lethality treatment to destroy Salmonella on
  jerky surface must occur before drying of
  product.
• Lethality and drying processes need to be
  separated to destroy Salmonella on the
  surface.

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FSIS Compliance Guidelines for Jerky

• Need adequate lethality before drying step.
• Salmonella can survive low humidity drying step
  prior to final cook step.
• Drying temperatures are sometimes too low for
  adequate lethality.

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Validate Lethality Process

• Appendix A - validated safe harbor times
  temperatures, accepted by inspection personnel
• Company or university challenge studies
• ARS Pathogen Modeling Program
• AMI Lethality Equation

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Appendix A

• Safe harbor or guideline
• Validated times/temperatures for Salmonella
  lethality
• Accepted by inspection personnel
• www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/fr/95033F-a.htm
• Not a regulatory requirement
• Methods
• Oven maintained at 250F or higher
• Continuous introduction of steam (50 of
  time), closed oven (50 of time), or 90
  humidity (25, but not less than 1 hr.)
• Based upon beef study may be used with pork
  poultry products

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Appendix A

• Assumes high humidity heat, during part of
  cooking process, unless cooking in water,
  product stuffed into any casing (fibrous,
  moisture impermeable) or cook- in bag, direct
  heat applied by flame or grill.

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University Research or Challenge Studies

• Your process must duplicate what was done in
  study.
• same species, ingredients, cooking methods, etc.
• Wisconsin Challenge Studies
• http//meathaccp.wisc.edu/newFullyCooked_notShelfS
  table.htm
• Starter culture method
• OSU Documentation Material
• www.ag.ohio-state.edu/meatsci/HACCPsupport.html

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Company Challenge Studies

• Validate your procedures using your equipment.
• best validation method
• Possible to use challenge study results from
  larger companies equipment suppliers.
• Need to use pathogens or surrogates
• Pathogens require separate processing and lab
  facilities
• Surrogates - could be used in your facility,
  with your equipment.

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ARS Pathogen Modeling Program

• www.arserrc.gov/mfs/pathogen.htm
• Not intended to be the only means of validating
  the lethality of your cooking process.

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AMI Lethality Equation

• www.amif.org/factsand.htm
• Need to enter D-value for species and fat
  content
• Calculates lethality during come-up and cool
  down times.
• Most valuable for small diameter products,
  with short cooking times.

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www.amif.org
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Validating the Uniformity of Your Cooking
Procedures.

• I.e., find cold/ hot spots
• Check cooking yield of jerky in multiple
  locations in oven.
• Multiple temperature probes or pop-up
  indicators for larger products.
• Balance smokehouse/oven, if needed.
• damper adjustments
• method of loading house/oven

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Increase RH in Oven

• Steam line
• Water/liquid smoke atomizer nozzle - connect
  to hot water line
• Humidifier concept with cloth water
  reservoir.
• Flood oven floor with water.
• Reduce fan speed (if possible) to increase
  RH.

Photo Courtesy of Red Arrow
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Seal Oven to Prevent Loss

• Close dampers
• Add rubber gaskets to dampers to increase
  tightness of damper seal
• except in case of gas-fired houses.

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Monitor Humidity Level Achieved

• Wet bulb probe/sock.
• Use humidity probes.
• Make own wet bulb probe.
• Add wet bulb sock to temperature probe, with
  sock dipped in pan of water.
• http//home.fuse.net/clymer/water/wet.html

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Home-Made Wet-Bulb Probe
Cotton Cloth
Pan of Water
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Water Activity (Aw) vs. MPR

• MPR of 0.751 remains as a standard
  of identity for labeling of jerky.
• Jerky Compliance Guideline suggests a aW
  (critical limit) of 0.80 for a shelf stable
  jerky.
• aW as critical limit vs. verification
  procedure.

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Water Activity (aW)

• Available water for pathogen growth.
• Minimum aW for growth
• C. perfringens 0.97
• E. coli 0.95
• L. monocytogenes 0.92
• S. aureus 0.83

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U. Wisconsin Validation Studies

• Need wet bulb temperature at or above 125ºF
  early in process
• product internal temperature equal to WB
  temperature early in process.
• kill pathogens while strips are moist enough to
  achieve high lethality
• followed by drying process

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Shelf-Stability Table
SS Shelf Stable
2005 Food Code
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OSU Restructured Jerky Test

• 140F WB 130F DB for 4 to 6 hrs.
• 1/8 44.4 yield, aw of 0.76 in 4 hrs.
• 3/16 48.4 yield, aw of 0.84 in 6 ½ hrs.
• ¼ 46 yield, aw of 8.8 in 10 hrs.

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Summary Use Multiple Hurdles

• Formulate to discourage pathogens.
• Low pH marinades
• Humectants
• Destroy Salmonella early in heat process.
• Dry to aW of 0.80 or less.

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Tom KatenCargill IngredientsWilshire,
OH(219)670-2233Tom_Katen_at_cargill.com Lynn
KnipeProcessed Meats Extension SpecialistOhio
State University(614)292-4877knipe.1_at_osu.eduwww
.ag.ohio-state.edu/meatsci/