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The History of Beef Jerky

2006-12-24T15:32-05:00

Jerky was first introduced by the South American (Peru) native tribe called the Quechua (part of the ancient Inca Empire) in 1550. The product (Ch'arki), was boned and defatted meat (deer, elk, or buffalo) cut into slices and rubbed with salt. This meat was rolled up in the animal's hide for 10-12 hours and then sun dried or smoked over fires. In South America, the Native Americans ate sun-dried venison and buffalo called tassajo, which was made with strips of meat dipped in maize flour, sun and wind dried, and then tightly rolled up into balls. North American Cree Indians mixed berries and suet (fat) with pounded cooked meat and pressed into concentrated small cakes to make pemmican.

Biltong came from pioneering South African forefathers who sun dried meat while traveling across the African subcontinent. Folklore has it that African tribesmen would place strips of venison under the saddles of their horses to tenderize and spice the meat! Seasoning became a blend of vinegar, salt, sugar, coriander and other spices.

The Indians and early settlers dried meat primarily from deer, elk or buffalo using salt, whatever spices they had and sun drying. As the Spanish arrived, the name evolved to charqui. Most travelers preferred to pound the charqui between large stones and boil it in water before eating. During ocean exploration and colonization, the Spanish sailors stocked the pacific islands with goats. What couldn't be eaten would then be cut into strips and hung in their ships to air dry. When the Spanish Conquistadors invaded the Americas, they were surprised to see the natives of North America drying meat as well. Soon, the natives adopted the Spanish term, Charqui, only adding their accent; the word "jerky" first came to be.

North American Pioneers would first dry meat by hanging it on the outside of their covered wagon sun drying (2-3 days). Another method was to build a scaffold over a slow fire and smoke the strips. While the heat and smoke would complete the process in half a day, the smoking method required a stopover; it wasn't long before awareness for disease and germs became prevalent and smoking became the norm.

Today jerky is made from thin strips of virtually any meat or from ground or chopped and formed meat. Manufacturers spice and dehydrate the product; some introduce smoke or using liquid smoke for flavoring.

About the Author

Tommy Stabosz is the owner of Toxic Tommy, gourmet beef jerky products, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Toxic Tommy offers many flavors and varieties of beef jerky, beef smokie sticks, smoked meats, popcorn and candies. Tommy's passion is to discover the very best family manufactured products and make them available to you for your family and friends to enjoy.

Buffalo Meat - Healthy or Hype?

2006-12-24T15:29-05:00

by Bobby Moseley

Buffalo meat has, over the past 5-10 years, become well known as a healthy alternative to beef. Media mogul Ted Turner has even opened a restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill, based on this premise. Cuts of buffalo meat are now available at many grocery stores, with more likely to follow. The big question is, does buffalo meat really merit this standing? Or has marketing hype once again trumped solid information and common sense?

Let's start by look at some numbers. Statistics may be a tad boring, but they're an important determinant in the quality of our conclusion. Per the USDA's nutrient data laboratory, free-range, top round, cooked buffalo meat contains approximately 11% fat calories. Free-range refers to the fact that the animal was raised on the open plain and allowed to roam free. 11% of calories from fat is pretty darn lean, I'd say. There are no numbers for free range beef in the database to compare with, but even chicken breast, one of the gold standards of lean meat, is somewhere in the 15-20% fat calorie range. So far, so good for buffalo meat's lean status.

In order to dig further into the truth, we really need to clarify our terms. What type of cut are we talking about? How was it prepared by the butcher and how much fat was trimmed off before being cooked or ground? How was the animal raised? The leanness of a cut of meat really, truly depends on these factors. We can't assume that all buffalo meat available at the grocery store or restaurant is prepared the same way as described above.

When we begin to ask and answer these questions, some interesting information comes to light. The same USDA nutrient database says that 95% lean (by weight, not calories) raw ground beef contains 32% fat calories, while regular ground bison contains a whopping 64% of fat calories. Both are ground, but buffalo has double the fat in this example simply because it was prepared differently!

If we compare beef top sirloin, trimmed to 0% visible fat, then broiled, you'd get 31% of your calories from fat. A 1-inch top sirloin steak from a bison, broiled, contains 30% fat calories. These number are comparable, again simply because of how the meats were processed.

Let's now look at some numbers directly from Ted's Montana Grill. A quick analysis shows that this restaurant must not use much in the way of lean cuts of buffalo meat. Check out the restaurant's nutrient guide for yourself. Only 3 of his 10 salads or entrees that contain bison come in at less than 30% fat calories. The average of all 10 salads is a whopping 46% fat calories. His burger comes in at a hefty 57% fat calories. Remember, as I mentioned above 95% lean ground beef is a comparatively healthy 32% fat calories.

Hopefully you are getting a sense of the point I'm trying to make. Because something simply says 'buffalo meat', you can't assume that it's necessarily lean. If it was raised and prepared right, then might be okay. If not, your arteries won't know the difference between fatty beef and fatty buffalo. My advice is to get the facts for yourself and learn to read labels and nutrition information. Don't rely on the product's salesman to do it for you.

About the Author

Bobby Moseley is a life long fitness and nutrition nut. He was an ACE Certified personal trainer and amateur bodybuilder, but having grown tired of inaccurate information and outright scams related to health and fitness he decided to do something about it. He now focuses on providing clear, accurate, research backed information for the average person through his fitness and nutrition website www.busketti.com.

South Street Seaport Steak House is meant especially for you

2006-12-24T15:26-05:00

by Neil Folley

Steak House is the most happening place for all steak lovers. It is because they find all their favorite dishes at one place. In fact, a variety of steak dishes adorn the menu of the steak house. Steak is usually prepared from beef meat. Non-vegetarian eaters love to visit these places, because of the lip smacking food and the aroma of the food. Though food is the most important attraction of any steak house, interiors and service quality of the steak house also matters a lot. Steak House at South Street Seaport is a perfect example of suitable location, as it has beautiful surrounding including the sea view.

South Street Seaport is situated in New York City that enables you to enjoy a perfect eating out experience. Steakhouse has to have various benefits that can act as the crowd pullers. The generosity, the interiors, the service timing and other arrangements have to be of high excellence, so that the steak house can have a wonderful business. Everybody enters the market to earn money and do cutthroat business. They need to have certain special qualities that can earn fame for them and positive responses from the customers. These factors are responsible for the growth of their business.

Steakhouse is the best place to have a peaceful dinner and celebrate a special occasion. There is a variety of steakhouse in South Street Seaport that reserve certain days for private parties. You can celebrate your wedding, anniversary, kitty parties, birthdays and many other occasions at these steakhouses. After spending so much on the celebrations of your special occasion, you got to have everything in perfect place. This is the advantage and plus point of South Street Seaport steak house. Perfect location with a wide variety of steak house and many other crowd pulling points in these restaurants has been this place's hot spot.

If you are willing to enjoy a surf and turf dish, then also you can visit South Street Seaport steakhouse. Numerous tasty and lip smacking sea food delicacies adorn the menu of these restaurants. Various types of fishes, tasty lobsters, crabs and much more are a part of the dishes. You order a surf and turf dish to enjoy the taste of both sea food and steak together. A steak house is the dinners' delight because of the food court. The sea food or steak food are usually accompanied with the side dishes. These side dishes can be baked potatoes, creamed spinach, sautéed broccoli and various other vegetables.

Everything is in place, location, food, services and ambience; but the prices are too high! Just imagine that all your hopes of enjoying perfect dinning experience can be dashed down to the ground. But this is not the case with South Street Seaport steakhouse. You are sure to get all the dishes and mot importantly your favorite ones at a reasonable price. Moreover, drinks along with these dishes would enhance the enjoyment. Now, you don't have to wait for a long or waste time in looking out a proper steak house. South Street Seaport can be the ideal place for you.

About the Author

Neil Folley holds a Masters Degree in Hotel Management.He loves good food and arranging private parties.He is working for Markjosephsteakhouse.To book for Sunday Parties and enjoy tasteful food at Steakhouse Manhattan visit www.markjosephsteakhouse.com

Some Must Have Grilling Tips For First Time Grillers

2006-08-05T22:18-04:00

by Gregg Hall

Are you crazy about grilling? Do you like the fun of cooking steaks in an out-door setting? If this is you, then we something in common with each other! It's not just the different grilling recipes and marinades that I like most about grilling; it's also the aspect of cooking outside where in you can move around and make a mess without getting yelled at. If you have not tried grilling, you should, it's a lot of fun and the food is delicious! Here are a few tips to help you get started if you haven't grilled before.

First off, the secret of all great food in the preparation and grilling steaks is no different. Before you get ready to grill, marinade your steaks for at least a few hours. I like to marinade my steaks overnight for the best flavor and tenderizing. Keep the meat refrigerated until you are ready to put it on the grill. I also recommend cutting some small slices in the steaks to be sure the marinade gets all through the meat. Then rub some spices on the meat before you put it on the grill.

You also want to prepare your grill by rubbing it down with oil before you grill so that the meat doesn't stick to it. This is especially true for grilling fish, chicken, or burgers.

If you are cooking steaks you want the grill to be super hot so that you sear the steak on both sides to lock in the juices, then keep flipping your steaks a couple of times until they are done. Everybody has different tastes but in my opinion, a good steak is cooked to medium at most. You can also pour the marinade over the meat while you are cooking. Use thongs or a spatula so that you don't poke holes in the meat that will cause the juices to drain out.

If you are cooking with charcoals you should light the coals at least 30 minutes prior so that they have time to get hot enough. My preference is using a gas grill, you will get better results and the temperature is easier to adjust as well. You can buy the propane tanks at convenience stores all over and it last for many cookouts. You get a good quality gas grill for less than two hundred dollars.

Grilling is a fun thing to do; it's a good way to get family and friends together. If you want you can even let other people help out with the grilling, since there is enough room for anyone who wants to.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about grilling and steak knives online at http://www.steaksplusmore.com

Don't Just Cook Your Steaks, Grill Them On An Outdoor Grill

2006-08-05T22:15-04:00

by Gregg Hall

How do you like the taste of outdoor grilling or even the smell of steaks cooking on an outdoor grill? Grilling is not new, in fact, it is one of the popular methods of cooking. Not to mention the fun which grilling brings, especially if you are having a family or friends gathering in your backyard or for a football game. Grilling is also one of the favorite outdoor cooking activities of people all over the planet. There is nothing like the smell of a good steak on an outdoor grill.

If you have not learned how to cook on a grill yourself, but have tasted the great taste of a grilled steak, why not giving it a try? Eating the food that you have created yourself is worth everything. Grilling isn't just a long time way of cooking food in the U.S., but also a way for you to set up and get friends and family together in your backyard to enjoy the beauty that summer has to offer. Most people up north take advantage of the warmer weather to grill steaks for a party. Whether you grill ribs, steaks, chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, or other meats they will be eagerly shared by everybody.

It is very important to use the right equipment, tools, and ingredients to have the best result for your grilled steaks. Since marinade plays a big role in enjoying your grilled steak recipe, it should be chosen carefully to appeal to the taste of a variety of people. I am of French and Native American descent, my family comes from the Cajun people of Louisiana who are known for their hot, spicy food so I have to be careful here not to make my marinades and seasonings too spicy.

For first timers to grilling, it may seem a little tough at first, but it's a price worth paying for the fun of grilling your own food. Before you start, just do a little research on grilling on the internet. You will be able to pick up some good tips, recipes and even buy equipment if you want. If your first grilling experience is not what you expected or you burned the food a little, that's normal, don't worry about it. Just grill for yourself at first, then when you invite everyone over you will surprise them with how good you are at grilling. With a little practice, not only will you prefer your own grilling to that of restaurants that you have gone to, but so will your friends.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this and more steaks online at http://www.steaksplusmore.com