# The trouble with beef jerky **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856 "2004-07-13T05:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/1 "2004-07-13T05:50:17Z")
I’ve recently discovered beef jerky and I really like it except for one major problem. It’s too damn salty! Now, I know complaining that cured meats are too salty is little ridiculous, but if I have even a few pieces at lunch my mouth will be unbelievably salty for the rest of the day. Drinking fluids will quench my thirst but not alleviate the saltiness. The only brand I’ve tried so far is Oberto Barbeque style. What I’m wondering is if there is a) a beef jerky product that isn’t quite so salty or b) some technique for desalinating the stuff. Thanks much. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/2 "2004-07-13T06:37:00Z")
Well, jerky by definition _is_ salty, since salt played a major part in preserving the meat before those fancy Ronco “Food Dehydrators” came around. Maybe someone here knows of a low sodium brand, but it’s all salty to me. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/3 "2004-07-13T07:01:50Z")
Commercially, no. But **Rex** just gave you the answer: make your own! I have a dehydrator, and it couldn’t be simpler. You can adjust the salt, flavorings, etc. to your tastes, and make it for a fraction of the cost of the commercial jerky. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/4 "2004-07-13T07:35:15Z")
try asian jerky. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/5 "2004-07-13T15:12:50Z")
Don’t have a dehydrator? Use your oven! I make jerky a few times a year. I just buy a beef roast, and shave off beef jerky size pieces. I then marinade said pieces in Kikoman soya and terryaki sauce. I add some seasoned pepper for taste as well. I then put tin foil on top of baking trays, spray some Pam on a couple of wire cooling racks and place them on top of the tin foil. Then I place strips of beef on top of cooling racks. Put your oven on the lowest temperature, and put the trays in there. Don’t close the oven door all the way, leave it cracked 6 inches. Then bake until dried out, my parents oven took 12 hours, mine is digital so I can’t get it low enough, mine takes 3-4 hours. The slower the better. Enjoy! MtM ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/6 "2004-07-13T16:25:02Z")
What you want is sugar-cured jerky. That may be what **harmonix** is getting at with the Asian jerky (I had some really good sugar jerky from Chinatown in San Francisco). I also found [this site](http://www.idahomall.com/kingbjerky/goldmedal.html), which has what I think is pretty much what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![pilzner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pilzner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilzner)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trouble-with-beef-jerky/254856/7 "2004-07-13T16:29:16Z")
> [@cainxinth](#): > > The only brand I’ve tried so far is Oberto Barbeque style. This may be largely IMHO, but Oberto’s is about the _worst_ jerky a person can get. I really can’t eat that stuff anymore - it is very dry, wirey, salty, and doesnt really taste like beef. Oberto’s is the _budweiser_ of jerky. Not certain where you live, but if you are anywhere near dairy farms or cattle pastures then independent jerky stores seem to pop up all over the place. The name of the place escapes me, but their used to be one smokehouse I would always go to around Tillamook, Oregon. It had more of a smokey, cured, slightly vinegary, almost “honeylike” taste instead of outright salt. I would also recommend [Tillamook jerky](http://www.tcsjerky.com/naturalPQ.asp?styleP=Natural%20Style), it wasnt the best I remember having but at least I remember the name of it and they have products available on a website. 🙂