Ignoramus26348 wrote:

In article , Laura B. wrote:

This is incorrect. Your description "dry it until it's so brittle you
can't eat it" is subjective, for one thing. You'll need a more quantitative
description than that.

Botulism requires a water activity level of 0.85 or above in order
to grow. Beef jerky is well below that level.

Properly dried beef jerky has a water activity level in the range of
0.69 - 0.7. It's more than dry enough to inhibit botulism.


So then perhaps you could be part of the solution and inform everyone
here how to tell when their homemade jerky has a water activity level of
less than .85? Until then I'll keep mine refridgerated.

Laura B.


If your jerky is properly exposed to air (stored in a cloth sack etc),
then, due to availability of air, botulism spores should not grow, is
that correct?

i

This is true because botulism does require a certain amount of moisture
to grow but keeping the jerky exposed to the air all the time would make
it over dry wouldn't it?

Laura B.