The Influence of Drying Time on Moisture Content and Quality of Beef Jerky

Abstract

Beef jerky is a traditional and popular food for a long time, while its processing methods and techniques aren’t been able to innovate. Using traditional technology, the taste of beef jerky is toughness, hardness, color gray, lower production rate. To improve the quality of beef jerky, the beef jerky drying time and moisture content were controlled to improve its eating characteristics, evaluation of the organoleptic characteristics, and ultimately get the best taste of beef jerky products. At 52°C conditions, different drying time (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 h) of beef jerky on the moisture content and quality changes. The hardness, elasticity, cohesiveness, chewiness and resilience and other physical indicators were measured using texture analyzer TPA model, measuring beef jerky yield, moisture content, color and sensory quality, and correlation analysis. The results showed that different drying time for the moisture content of dried beef, b* decreased significantly (P < 0.05); a* and shear force increased significantly (P < 0.05), and when the drying time reached 4 h, the highest sensory score was obtained(P < 0.05).