Are you looking for the best method for salting, drying, and vacuum-packing meat? Wondering how much salt to use for your portion of meat? Are you also unsure which vacuum sealer to use for optimal packaging?
Discover in this article the answers to all your questions about salting, drying and vacuum-packing meat!
Salting vacuum-packed dried meat:
To obtain delicious dried meat that can be stored for a very long time, we recommend the following seasoning: 4.5% of the weight of the meat in salt, half the weight of salt in cane sugar, 1 g of pepper (+ other spices of your choice).
✅ Please note that this recipe can be made with any meat (pork, beef, duck, turkey, chicken, etc.).
Step 1: Seasoning and vacuum packing
- After mixing the salt, sugar, pepper and other spices using a blender, place your meat on cling film.
- With your spice mix, sprinkle each side of the meat and massage it to cover the entire surface.
- Wrap the meat in cling film.
- Using a vacuum machine, place the meat and its film inside a vacuum bag.
- Vacuum seal the bag and place everything in the refrigerator (3°C).
Step 2: Salting and curing
This step will take varying amounts of time depending on the thickness of your meat. Generally, it takes 1 day to salt 1 cm of meat. For example, if you want to salt-cure a 10 cm thick piece of meat, it will take approximately ten days.
- Once the salting time is over, remove the meat from its vacuum bag,
- Dry it using absorbent paper,
- Note the weight of the piece(s) of meat (important for the next step),
- Season again if necessary (optional),
- Place the meat on a rack in the refrigerator (3°C),
- Let stand for 24 hours.
Step 3: Drying
This final drying stage will take at least two weeks and will vary, as with the previous one, depending on the thickness of your meat. It will be very important to turn it regularly so that it dries properly.
To help you get your bearings, note that a piece of meat is said to be "sufficiently dried" when it weighs only 40% of its original weight.
Do not cover or wrap the meat in a cloth when drying, as this will tend to make it mold.
Preserving dried meat in a vacuum:
Once seasoned and dried, place the meat back inside a vacuum bag and seal it with a machine. You can then enjoy a shelf life of several months in the refrigerator (around 4°C) and up to 5 times longer in the freezer (around -16°C). The quality, color, and flavor of the meat will be perfectly preserved during storage.
💡 Tasting advice: Before consuming meat after vacuum-sealing it in the refrigerator or freezer, leave the bag closed and wait 30 minutes to 1 hour. At room temperature, the meat will better bring out its flavors.
Storage time for vacuum-packed dried meat:
| Vacuum packed at room temperature | Vacuum packed in the refrigerator | Vacuum packed in the freezer | |
| Dried meat with salting | 7 to 10 weeks | 6 to 8 months | 15 to 18 months |
| Dried meat without salt | 4 to 7 weeks | 3 to 5 month | 10 to 12 months |
| Grisons meat |
5 to 8 weeks |
4 to 6 months |
15 to 17 months
|
| Dried beef (jerky) | 2 to 3 weeks | 1 to 2 months | 2 to 3 months |
More machines for vacuum-packing dried meat:
Thank you for reading our tips; we hope we've answered all your questions about vacuum-packing dried meat. Please feel free to contact us by email if you have any additional questions (contact@scelleuse-sous-vide.com).
Click this link to learn more about sous vide cooking. And if you'd like to browse our full range of vacuum sealers, click the image below. Stay tuned for more tips on preserving, cooking, and vacuum sealing!
