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Why jerky must hit 160°F
Undercooked home-dried meat has caused real outbreaks. Follow USDA guidance and discard anything you're unsure about.
It's a natural assumption that hours in a dehydrator must kill anything harmful. It doesn't. The USDA is explicit: drying temperatures alone are often not hot enough to reliably destroy Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7, and as the meat dries, surviving bacteria become more heat-resistant. A separate heat step is what makes jerky safe.
The kill-step temperatures
| Meat | Safe internal temp |
|---|---|
| Beef, venison, other red meat | 160°F (71°C) |
| Poultry | 165°F (74°C) |
The meat must actually reach that internal temperature — measured with a thermometer, not assumed from the dehydrator's setting.
Heat before or after drying?
USDA allows either order, and both work:
- Heat first — steam or roast the strips to 160°F, then dry. This kills pathogens while the meat is still moist and least heat-resistant, which is the more robust approach.
- Heat after — dry as usual, then finish in a 275°F oven until the meat reaches 160°F. Convenient, but bacteria are tougher to kill once dried, so don't shortcut the final temperature.
Dehydrator temperature still matters. Run the dehydrator at 130–140°F so the meat dries fast enough to limit bacterial growth during the process. A low-and-slow setting that lets meat sit warm for hours is the opposite of what you want.
Strip builds the kill step into every batch
Enter your meat and batch and Strip walks you through the USDA-cited safe sequence — dry temperature, the 160°F/165°F heat step, and exact cure amounts if you use them. Free to download.
Sources
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service — "Jerky and Food Safety"
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (drying meat guidance)
Follow USDA guidance and use a thermometer; this guide is educational, not a substitute for food-safety authorities.