Does anyone have any suggestions for portable snacks that don't require refrigeration and can be taken on trips? (My usuaal snacks at home are meat, cheese, home-made pate on pork rinds etc., but these won't work for travelling). I need somethings that can last, unrefrigerated so that I can take them when I travel, keep in my purse, and use for a quick breakfast in the hotel room or at coffee breaks during conferences (I had used Atkins Bars for that purpose, but now know to avoid them!)
Any suggestions gratefully appreciated!

I have a similar problem. Some time ago, I bought a dehydrator. Now, I make my own beef jerky with 0 carbs. I also dry strawberries (slice whole berries into 1/4 inch slices). One of my favourite portable snacks is a 'trail mix' of jerky, dried strawberries, and nuts - brazils, pumpkin seeds, coconut, etc. Totally portable, absolutely no mess.

In my office (I have no fridge or microwave) I keep canned fish, ham pate, pork rinds, a bottle of olives, a wee jar of olive oil to pour over tuna, and pumpkin seeds in the shell. Oh, and a can opener, bowl, fork, etc. A little 'travel pack' like this might work for hotel meals. Pepperoni sticks and individually wrapped servings of cheese keep for a while unrefrigerated, too.

Rachel

Rachel:

I am interested to know what cut of meat do you use for your jerky? I am interested in making jerky but I find the meat I use is too thick. Any tips and tricks you can share?

Thanks

I'm not sure where you shop, but if you buy your meat from a butcher shop, I know they'll slice it for you. When I ask favours like this though, I try and pick a time when they aren't real busy. I often buy steak and have them shave it so I can fast fry it.

Hi ...

Due to the "culture thing" I don't know what "jerky" is. Please tell.

Thanks
Rey

The recipes right here on this site are a "dead giveaway" when you read the ingredients, but essentially the short answer is:

Jerky = dried seasoned beef (or other read meat but usually beef)

Hi,
I think that jerky is called biltong in South Africa.

I make jerkey at home, also. My secret is a while back at a garage sale I got an ancient electric food slicer. Looks like something from the 1950's, all metal w/ a 2 wire non polarized power cord, no real safety guards to get rid of (they get in the way and don't help that much...) etc. It's sort of a miniature version of the deli slicers w/ about a 6" diameter blade.

I purchase the cheapest cuts of beef roast I can find, preferably when the store is having a sale. I don't worry to much about the cut, as long as it's boneless, but pot roast is what seems to be the cheapest in general. I get about a 5lb chunk as that's about what will fit in my dehydrator at a time.

I use the slicer to cut the meat ACROSS the grain into about 1/8- 3/16" thick slices. I put the sliced meat into a gallon ziplock which I fill with marinade. I make the marinade from vinegar, dry mead (home brewed, the stuff that didn't quite come out good enough to drink) garlic juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, and whatever spices I feel inspired by. After I put the meat and the marinade in the zippy, I suck as much of the air out of it as I can and throw it in the fridge for a couple of days. (this is the best way I've found to marinate anything, it minimizes the amount of marinade required, fully immerses the stuff being marinaded, and gives good penetration. Any time I open the fridge I tumble the bag around and squeeze it a bit to ensure the marinade penetrates as much as possible, and contacts all the meat. The marinade will determine the flavour and 'fire level' but I've found that the marinade should be hotter than you want the finished product to be for best results.

I then spread it in a single layer on the trays of my dehydrator (an 8 tray round unit w/ a base that holds a fan and a small heating element, purchased from Sportsman's Guide) I leave as little space between peices as possible so that I can get as much in the dehydrator as possilble - it's sort of like a free form jigsaw puzzle. You need to spread the slices out flat, but a wrinkle or two won't hurt much.

Then turn the dehydrator on for a day or two. The meat will shrink quite a bit, and its done when it feels dry and leathery, and a peice will 'snap' when you bend it. (the drier it is the longer it will keep w/o refrigeration) I also swap the trays around periodically to ensure uniform drying. (I don't know just how much it helps, but it makes me feel useful)

It's good stuff, lots of flavor, and very compact / portable. My GF and I each try to keep some with us all the time in case of snack cravings. A little bit goes along way., rembember the amount of meat that you started with, and remember that when you chew it (and it is quite chewy!) you are putting the water back in to make it back into the original sized peices. I find 2-3 inch square peices will keep me going for a long time.

Gooserider

I use lean ground beef for my jerky (fat doesn't dry well). Essentially the same marinade as Gooserider and mix it in well with the ground beef and leave it in the fridge for a while (depends on how impatient you are to get started).

If you don't have a "jerky gun" (which I didn't the first couple of times I made this) the procedure is to cover a cookie sheet with wax paper, dump some of the ground beef on it, cover it with another sheet of wax paper, then flatten and spread with your hand as much as possible. I then use a rolling pin to finish flattening and spreading to under 1/4" thick. Pop the whole thing in the freezer for awhile until you can cut the ground meat into jerky size pieces, then arrange the pieces on your dehydrator trays. If you have more ground meat, repeat the process but get the first batch going in the dehydrator.

I don't dry mine quite as dry as Gooserider so I store it in the fridge, but I don't worry about having it out for a day or so.