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Title: Indian Jerky
Categories: Amerind Meat Game Preserve
Yield: 50 Pounds
| 3 | ga | Water |
| 2 | lb | Dry brown sugar |
| 1 | oz | Saltpeter |
| 1 | oz | Cayenne pepper |
| 1 | c | Juniper berries, crushed |
| 1 | Whole piece ginger |
Bring water to a boil and add remining ingredients. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove scum as it appears. Cool and store in a wooden barrel or earthenware crock.
Jerky is dried meat, cut in long strips from large game or beef. To prepare sun-dried jerky, cut fresh meat into long thi strips about an inch wide and an inch thick. Rub the strips with salt and hang, spaced well apart on racks, in the sun to dry. When dry, store in sacks hung in a dry place.
Jerky can also be made by placing the strips in a corning solution for 3 or 4 days, then hung on racks over a slow burning smoky fire for about 2 days. The strips should be placed well apart to keep them from touching each other. When dry, the strips should be wrapped in a protective covering such as cheesecloth to keep insects and dirt from settling on them.
Jerky will keep dry as long as it is exposed to the air and smoke. It is important not to leave it longer than a couple of days. Then take it down and store it in air-tight jars or other containers.
Source: "Indian Cookin'", compiled by Herb WAlker, 1977
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