dehydrating hamburger

[Leah]

I knew that someone would come in and say not to do it, but wanted to post in the correct thread.

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If a moderator wishes to move this thread to Deeper Survival, please put it in 'The Cave', not in 'The Edge'. I don't have access to 'The Edge' (and do not wish to), but would like still to have access to this thread.

[Crazy4Canning]

I've been away from the pc for a few days and just found this thread.

 

My DH and I have gone 'round and 'round about this. He sez 'it should be ok if I cook it first'. My reply, "Are you SURE you removed ALL the fat and that no cooties (no offense to our Beloved Cootie!) are growing on it? How can you be SURE that it's completely dry and germ free?"

 

I know what happens when water, fat, and other molecules are left inside of a meat, fruit, or other dried item. It can cause pockets for germs and spoilage. You can't see this, smell it, or even know it's there until you've ingested it and are sick. By then it's too late.

 

Even if I cooked my hamburger thorougly first AND rinsed it AND blotted it dry AND did it again and again, I still would not dehydrate meat without a brine because there is nothing preserving the meat itself. Without some sort of brine, you are NOT guaranteed a safe product.

 

This 'hamburger rock' idea has been floating around the 'net for a few years now. Hikers, outdoorsmen and hard-core survivalists think it's perfectly safe because it's so easy and cheap.

 

I honestly don't believe it is safe because it's simply not enough to cook your meat. There's way too much surface area to be safe. There was a reason pioneers preserved their meat FIRST in salt, then dried it.

 

However. The Creator made us as individuals with free will. You as an individual, have the right to preserve food for your family any way you want to.

 

The people here on Mrs S and with other websites only want you to do it safely for your own good health. If you do practice unsafe food preservation, please know that it is your own choice to do so and not endorsed or practiced by folks who train people to can and preserve food.

 

With that said, please know that I didn't mean to come down hard on any ONE SINGLE person, but that this was made broadly, as a group. I remember also seeing this as a thread last spring...somewhere in the Mrs S archives. Perhaps in the Cave or Edge?

[Cat]

OK... in the interest of safety AND saving space...

 

Am I to believe that if I made "hamburger rocks" , making the meat dry up to a much smaller volume, that IF I *then* kept it in the freezer it would be OK to use?

 

Yes... it defeats the purpose of a non-electrical storage method, but it would take up less space in the freezer and, properly packed, would resist freezer burn, right???

 

I'm not trying to be difficult, or trying to split hairs... I'm asking an honest question. I already buy the real bacon bits packages from Sam's Club and store them in the freezer after opening, and I figure this would be like that.

 

 

 

[PureCajunSunshine]

'tis the way I 've always done it: Freeze the dehydrated hamburger rocks. It takes up much less space and lasts way longer than frozen raw meat. For longer term freezer storage, I like to package the hamburger rocks into glass jars or vac-packed into FoodSaver bags.

 

I hafta agree with the modern food preservation methods that Violet and Crazy4Canning are posting about... Makes sense to me...The minute amounts of moisture trapped inside microscopic fat globules hidden inside the nooks and crannies of dried meat (or inside homecanned butter) is just the right environment for microscopic beasties such as botulism, etc. All it takes is ONE spore, at the RIGHT time...bingo.

 

Just because 5,000 people were fortunate, the 5,001st person may not be.

 

Seems kinda silly to die of self induced food poisoning (or complications of it) in a survival situation. No bowl of chili is worth dying for, f'sure.

 

Come to think of it, in the old days food poisoning was more common than it is now. It's also one of more than a few reasons why our not so distant ancestors had a much shorter life span than we enjoy today.

[Violet]

It is unsafe to dry, period. It MUST be highly salted first or meats cannot be safely dried. Plus, we have totally withdrawn the method of hamburger jerky, too. Only lean cuts of sliced meats that are highly salted are considered safe to dehydrate. Then, as I mentioned, it needs to be kept in the fridge or frozen if kept longer than 2 weeks. We still recommend refrigeration upon dehydration, if possible. I know that some want to take it camping or backpacking, which is fine to do.

As Crazy has said, what you do as far as your safety is concerned is up to you.We are only here to explain what is tested and known to be safe. ( We both teach food preservation safety.)

Cat, the bacon is highly salted and cured, it also has nitrates, unlike hamburger meat.

[Cat]

THANK YOU!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[sassenach]

ok. I did freeze most of my hamburger rocks. But have just put some in my pack too..... I understand what Violet is making clear here. After this any discussion of hamburger rocks should be moved to the right thread in the Cave, of course. New folks to food preservation need to know whats correct and whats risky, most certainly. Thanks for the info.

[Cat]

Sometimes it's also helpful to have the FULL discussion out in the open. And we have a thread to "point to".

 

Although I *might* move this to the "Preserving the Harvest" forum...

 

[Darlene]

Yeah, I agree with Cat...this discussion will stay here.

 

And, for the record, I 2nd the fact that dehydrating hamburger is a huge no-no full of unsafe risks, as stated above.

[PureCajunSunshine]

'tis the way I 've always done it: Freeze the dehydrated hamburger rocks. It takes up much less space and lasts way longer than frozen raw meat. For longer term freezer storage, I like to package the hamburger rocks into glass jars or vac-packed into FoodSaver bags.

 

Wait a sec...I'm calling my hamburger rocks 'dehydrated' when it probably ain't. My HB rocks never see the inside of a dehydrator, but they sure are 'dry'.

 

Here's what I do (is this safe?):

 

Start with the absolute leanest ground meat (I like to select the leanest roasts and ask the butcher to grind it, hamburger style).

 

Fry the super lean ground meat in the skillet until done. Because it is so lean, it does not render enough fat to keep it from sticking to the pan, I add a splash of water, as needed. After all the pink is cooked out, I dump the meat into a metal colander, and rinse the meat by pouring boiling hot water over it once. Drain. Blot dry. Fry again while mashing it with a fork until the pan is full of lil' dry 'rocks' and not too much 'sand'. Then I freeze it.

 

The less fat in the meat, the longer it seems to last in the freezer.

[Darlene]

Yeah PCS, your process is definitely safe.

 

((((pcs))))

[Snowmom]

 

I'm sure glad you put this thread in here, as Oldpine and I had just talked about drying ground beef. So, I think I will have him read what is being said and I don't think we will just dry it, it will have to be canned or frozen.

 

for this thread.