Training & Nutrition - What do you think of beef jerky?

It is basically salted protein. Does the bad (sodium) outweigh the good (protein)?

Jack Links is 600mg sodium, 14g protein per ounce.

My opinion is that it's good in moderation, but I keep it in my backpack for times when I'm starving so it's hard not to eat a lot.

Most jerky has been cooked at a high enough temp to toughen the protein.
You don't digest most of it. You get mostly fat and salt.

^^ most of the fat is cooked out of jerky. As to sodium, body chemistries vary but, higher sodium diets for athletes aren't immediately bad.

Jerky is good.

The best is homemade, or at least made in small batches less than twenty feet from customers. Get a dehydrator. You'll find your first few batches are gone before the dehydrator is finished. You'll smell it from elsewhere in the house, pop the lid off, and check the thinner pieces for dryness, stealing the driest bits each time.

I hate cooking with meat, so my next project is tofu jerky.


Is it good for you or not? I might have a batch every year or two, just because I hate dealing with raw meat, so I don't care. I'd be worried about the sodium if I had it more than once a month.

Tofu jerky would suit my vegan diet. I bought some at a health food store last month and it's addictive. I just googled the recipe and one person said that the texture was more rubbery than the real thing.

I might try making some, but if the texture is not as tough and chewy as real beef jerky I have an idea: freeze the tofu. I frequently freeze tofu and the when it is thawed you get this tough substance not unlike beef jerky. If this is then dried, I can imagine that it'd be just the right texture.

The West was settled on jerky and beans. Jerky is the bomb. Pepper Beefalo jerky....Mmmmm..slobber...

I have one word: Constipation.

Jerky is AWESOME! I'm pretty famous for the amount of jerky I consume on long bike rides. :D


Oh, and if you're in shape, your blood pressure is probably fairly low, so avoiding the sodium to keep your blood pressure down is not that much of a concern...

Much more of a concern is replacing the sodium that you lose due to sweating while riding.

I love beef jerky!! It's an excellent choice for when I'm on a long distance cycling event ... provides me with protein and salt.

One of my favorite combinations on a long ride is beef jerky and 100% pure orange juice.

Cottonmouth.

Dental Floss

I like it!

Yummmm... I like it spicy, hate teriyaki though!!!

its one of the items in my disaster survival pack. stuff never goes bad essentially and provides basics.

too bad meat is murder :(

can anyone recommend any good brands? even better if they're available online or mailorder?

Try a local butcher shop. Many make their own. Seems some of the packaged stuff is something else entirely.

too bad meat is murder

Are you a chicken or a cow?

lol, i guess i'd prefer to ride like "the chicken"... as i've never heard of a racer named after a cow... well, no good ones anyways...

biltong is way better than jerky. but jerky is better than a wet steak in your pocket.

meat is food, not murder. killing another human without sanction is murder. you've gotta brush up on your language skills a bit, DD.

Indigestible. Tastes nice though, especially biltong

There is good jerky and there is the nearly inedible. The more processed the worse I find it and it tends to have far more fat and salt as well.

I like the brand found at Trader Joes - bison jerky in particular.

Al

It is basically salted protein. Does the bad (sodium) outweigh the good (protein)?

Jack Links is 600mg sodium, 14g protein per ounce.

My opinion is that it's good in moderation, but I keep it in my backpack for times when I'm starving so it's hard not to eat a lot.

I make my own. Use beef heart ( very cheap and very low fat ) Cut into thin strips, soak in seasonings that may or may not be high salt for a few hours then stick in the oven over night at about 125 degrees.