The Amish are nice individuals to be taught from. You possibly can flip to the Amish should you want to learn to reside off the land.
The Amish usually are not survivalists or off-grid fanatics. Their survival know-how outcomes from residing the way in which their ancestors did. They keep away from know-how and as such have perfected residing with out electrical energy or fridges.
Chewing Meals
One factor that you simply additionally have to know concerning the Amish, is that the aged Amish are identified for having all their enamel pulled and changed with false enamel.
Plus, understand that dentistry is a latest phenomenon. Anybody residing 2 hundred years in the past in relative isolation would not often have seen a dentist, if ever.
Why do I point out this? It’s actually onerous to eat jerky or some other form of dried beef with no full mouth of enamel, or just like the aged Amish, with false enamel.
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So how do you get dried meat right into a state that individuals who have problem chewing, can eat? The Amish solved this downside by making a gravy with it. Different options embrace pulverizing it with a wood mallet or grating it into powder. The gravy choice is fascinating and really tasty.
This text will have a look at two points of dried beef gravy. Learn how to dry beef, and make a gravy from it. This can be certain that regardless of the state of your enamel, you’ll nonetheless have the ability to protect protein by drying it, after which have a means of consuming it.
Dried Beef Ideas
Drying beef, typically additionally referred to as curing, is simple. Eradicating moisture is the important thing to preserving meat as a result of micro organism and fungus want a moisture-rich surroundings to propagate.
You additionally wish to guarantee micro organism and fungus don’t spoil your meals whereas it’s drying. You possibly can simply hold meat to dry, and it may work, however it’s dangerous, because the meat may spoil.
To forestall spoilage whereas drying, it’s important to deal with your cuts beforehand with salt and vinegar. Most individuals will say you solely want salt. I’m not most individuals. Salt works properly for micro organism, and vinegar for mould and fungal growths.
How To
The approach I’m about to explain works properly for drying tit-bits, and lengthy cuts of meat as much as an inch or two thick. You have to meat, a slicing board, a knife, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar, and a container.
Instructions
1. Lower the meat into skinny strips.
2. Spice the meat and gently work all of the spices by way of.
You have to round 20 grams of salt per pound of meat. The thicker the reduce, the extra salt you’ll be able to add. I additionally add black pepper for style.
You’re welcome so as to add some chili, some Cajun pepper and even coriander to reinforce the style as soon as it’s dried. I additionally added a small quantity of brown sugar, it’s the way in which my grandparents did it, and it provides some style.
3. Place the spiced meat into the vinegar. 
I favor brown vinegar, however you should utilize different varieties of vinegar relying in your style choice. What I do is combine the dry spice into the meat cuts, after which add it to a container with vinegar.
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You need the vinegar to barely cowl the highest of the meat. The best way I do that is so as to add some vinegar to a bowl, after which lay my strips into the vinegar. I then add a small quantity of vinegar each time the meat strips rise above the vinegar.
4. Flip the container now and again to guarantee all surfaces are marinated.
Utilizing a tight-fitting container or bowl for this can be the best choice for not losing an excessive amount of vinegar. As soon as within the vinegar, I’ll transfer the items round each hour or so, utilizing my palms or a big mixing spoon.
Relying on the thickness of the cuts, you wish to go away them in there for round 4 to 24 hours. 4 hours for titbits, 24 hours for two-inch cuts.
Drying the Meat
You possibly can then hold the meat up or lay them on a grid to dry. Relying on the temperature, humidity and thickness of the cuts, this might take something from 2 days to a few weeks.
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Don’t try this if the humidity is simply too excessive, because the moisture content material of the meat equalizes to the moisture content material of the encircling air.
If the humidity is simply too excessive your meat gained’t dry. Until you expose it to dry air movement utilizing industrial dryers or the dryer that you simply made with a server fan and a lightbulb.
1. Place the meat on a grid or hold it out to dry.
I take advantage of a display screen grid produced from pine wooden and 20% shade internet.
2. Lay the meat on the grid and canopy.
That is what the dried beef will appear to be over time. 
Storage
As soon as the meat strips are totally dried, you’ll be able to retailer them nevertheless you need. I pack them into pillowcases and hold them in my pantry. The pillowcases shield from bugs and rodents whereas permitting airflow.
They are going to finally dry fully. If you wish to retain a little bit of moisture, you’ll be able to retailer them in hermetic containers or vacuum pack them. The Amish are identified for additionally canning dried meat.
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When you see mould rising on the meat, you’ll be able to brush it with vinegar and hold it out to dry once more. This not often occurs, however now you understand how to cope with that.
Shelf Life
The dried beef has a protracted shelf life. Right here it actually is dependent upon how properly it’s saved. When you preserve it away from moisture and protected against mild, it ought to final months if not years.
The fats on the meat will finally dehydrate fully, and turn out to be nearly like a powdery substance. The meat itself will flip brown, then yellowish, and finally pale. By this time, thicker items can be as onerous as wooden.
You possibly can proceed consuming, because the meat and fats don’t spoil or turn out to be harmful to eat. The problem is that the lipids within the fats degrade, and the amino acids within the meat additionally decay.
The issue with consuming it after a number of years is that it’ll have a lot much less diet, so protein and power are compromised. Nevertheless it is not going to do your well being in or trigger meals poisoning or different digestive points.
The salt and minerals ought to keep kind of the identical as with the contemporary product.
Amish / Mennonite Dried Beef Gravy
Dried beef will be eaten by itself. You can too grate it finely, and serve it on a slice of bread with some butter.
The Amish dried beef gravy is the “uber” means of consuming dried beef and making it mushy for consuming. You possibly can serve the gravy on rice or over potatoes. Grate some cheese over it so as to add one thing particular.
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Elements:
- ¼ lb. dried beef
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups milk
- Black pepper, to style
Instructions:
- Soften butter in a skillet
- Tear the dried beef into small items and stir into the melted butter
- Prepare dinner meat till barely browned
- Stir within the flour
- When the flour is dissolved, add milk, stirring always
- Prepare dinner over low warmth till the combination thickens
- The longer it cooks, the softer the meat will turn out to be.
There you could have it, of us. Dried beef – achieved. Other ways of consuming dried beef – achieved!
Although some Amish have adopted latest applied sciences, most nonetheless retain data lengthy forgotten by most fashionable folks. The Amish are meals preservation specialists.
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