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Newcook
Jun 4th, 2004, 12:19 AM
Hi all,

This is my first post.

I am looking for a good soy jerky. I've seen the ad for the Tasty Eats Soy Jerky in veganessentials.com. Has anyone tried this? Is it good? Do you know of any others?

I have tried the Tofurky Jerky. It is good but its main ingredient is vital wheat gluten and I don't think my stomach likes that. I also bought some Vegi Jerky by Green Options. It looks good, but again is made of what protein. I was hoping for a soy substitute.

Newcook

Cloudy
Jun 4th, 2004, 01:00 PM
Can you find any (or make your own) made of tempeh? That might work

Newcook
Jun 6th, 2004, 06:15 AM
Cloudy,

Thanks for your reply, but for me, that would take the point out of it. I was hoping the soy jerky was going to be a convenience food.

And there seems to be a lot of it sold. I just don't know if it's any good. But I have seen some of it reviewed elsewhere, just not this particular brand.

I'll try this message on the main board to see if I get more of a response.

Thanks again for replying.

Newcook

mattd
Jun 6th, 2004, 06:56 AM
how it all vegan has a recipe for it. i haven't tried it, but most of recipes from that book kick my ass.

Newcook
Jun 6th, 2004, 07:04 AM
how it all vegan has a recipe for it. i haven't tried it, but most of recipes from that book kick my ass.
I hope that means it's good. :)

Thanks, I'll look for the book when I get a chance.

Newcook

foxytina_69
Jun 6th, 2004, 05:31 PM
soy jerky is sooooo good! i can only find it on a little island near where i live tho but its delicious. the hot and spicy one is better then the terryaki.

Newcook
Jun 6th, 2004, 05:53 PM
soy jerky is sooooo good! i can only find it on a little island near where i live tho but its delicious. the hot and spicy one is better then the terryaki.
Thanks, foxytina.

Do you remember if the brand was Tasty Eats? Was it dry or fairly wet? I've heard that Primal Strips is pretty wet.

The protein wheat jerkys like Vegi Jerky and Tofurky Jerky are dry and are vacuum packed like little pepperoni slices.

I also just bought some Stonewall's Jerquee. It's made of defatted soy flour. I haven't tried it yet, but it's hard, looks like a slice of sausage and looks dry.

Newcook

Kiva Dancer
Jun 8th, 2004, 09:31 PM
Primal strips are made from vital wheat gluten so your tummy may not like them either. Stonewall's Jerquee is okay but I wasn't impressed with it.

I know it takes the convienence out of it, but I make my own at times. A block or two of tofu, some spices, and a dehydrator cranks out great stuff that I can snack on for weeks on end.

I think there's way to do it with an oven, but I'm not sure. I saw a beef leather recipe done on a cook show, once and they did it for 12 hours on a low oven (150*F). I may have to play around with the times and things to see how long tofu would take.

Newcook
Jun 9th, 2004, 12:44 AM
Primal strips are made from vital wheat gluten so your tummy may not like them either. Stonewall's Jerquee is okay but I wasn't impressed with it.
Thanks, Kiva Dancer. That's helpful.


I know it takes the convienence out of it, but I make my own at times. A block or two of tofu, some spices, and a dehydrator cranks out great stuff that I can snack on for weeks on end.
I had a dehydrator a long time ago. But I never understood how it worked in the sense that I wondered how it was that bacteria didn't grow while sitting at that low heat for such a long time. Is the temperature high enough that the bacteria can't grow?

If I'm convinced of that, I might dig out my old dehydrator and see if it still works. :)


I think there's way to do it with an oven, but I'm not sure. I saw a beef leather recipe done on a cook show, once and they did it for 12 hours on a low oven (150*F). I may have to play around with the times and things to see how long tofu would take.
Let me know if you ever experiment successfully. :)

Thanks again.

Newcook

Kiva Dancer
Jun 9th, 2004, 11:24 PM
I had a dehydrator a long time ago. But I never understood how it worked in the sense that I wondered how it was that bacteria didn't grow while sitting at that low heat for such a long time. Is the temperature high enough that the bacteria can't grow?

If I'm convinced of that, I might dig out my old dehydrator and see if it still works. :) This is what I found at The National Center For Home Food Preservation site at http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry/dehydrator.html. I won't quote the whole thing cause it goes into freatures and all that, but I thought this part would be of interest to you.


Food Dehydrators

A food dehydrator is a small electrical appliance for drying foods indoors. A food dehydrator has an electric element for heat and a fan and vents for air circulation. Dehydrators are efficiently designed to dry foods fast at 140ºF.If I'm remembering correctly, 140* is also the temprature that kills bacteria and doesn't allow new bacteria to grow so it would certainly be worth digging your dehydrator out and using it. :)

Newcook
Jun 10th, 2004, 01:49 AM
Kiva Dancer,

Thanks so much for the info.! I'll check it out. :)

Newcook

Newcook
Jun 24th, 2004, 12:55 AM
An update:

I tasted the Stonewall's Jerquee. Blech!! I don't like it at all.

I'm still wondering if I should try the Tasty Eats. I also tried the Vegi Jerky brand and liked it. But I only tasted a tiny piece since I wasn't sure what it would do to my stomach. It's made of wheat protein, not vital wheat gluten. Can someone tell me the difference? I'm a little hesitant to try more until I find out. Thanks.

Newcook

Kiva Dancer
Jun 28th, 2004, 03:38 AM
AFAIK, those words are interchangeable but they essentially mean the same thing. They both refer to the main protien kernal within a wheat grain.

I also haven't been able to try out oven dehydrated jerkee (my store is out right now) but I've been checking out the recipes and most of them all call for 200* oven and 4-8 hours worth of drying with a turn every hour.

There's a quick-dry version that calls for 400* oven and a turn every 20 minutes.

Kiva Dancer
Jul 2nd, 2004, 10:18 PM
Update: Finally! My store got some tofu in so I bought some and made oven jerkee out of it. I marinated the slices of tofu in some teriyaki sauce for a full day. Some of the slices were cut 1/4" and some were cut a little thinner and I used the quick-dry method to dehydrate my jerkee.

The results: salty, because I should have cut the sauce with some water, but good just the same. I thought for sure that the tofu would burn but it didn't. It got quite crunchy in the corners and pretty dark coloured but that's about it. I noticed that the thinner sliced ones took more of a jerkee texture and were more chewey than the thicker sliced tofu. I had a bit of a stick problem with the pan I used but a little water with some dishwasher powder sprinkled on pulled the stuck on bits straight up and the pan cleaned up nicely.

The next time I make this - and yes, there will be a next time :D I'm going to make my own marinade (I only used the bottled stuff because it needs using up) and I'll either oil or spray the pan to keep the tofu slices from sticking. IMO, home done tofu is much better than any commercial brand I've tried and I think it's cheaper and healthier, too.

Newcook
Jul 9th, 2004, 06:36 PM
Update: Finally! My store got some tofu in so I bought some and made oven jerkee out of it. I marinated the slices of tofu in some teriyaki sauce for a full day. Some of the slices were cut 1/4" and some were cut a little thinner and I used the quick-dry method to dehydrate my jerkee.
Kiva Dancer,

Thanks for the update. It sounds like it is something worth trying. I always have tofu on hand, so that wouldn't be a problem for me.

About how long did it take for the 1/4" slices to cook at 400 degrees?

Thanks again for trying this out.

Newcook

Kiva Dancer
Jul 12th, 2004, 09:34 PM
About how long did it take for the 1/4" slices to cook at 400 degrees? It took about an hour with a turn every 20 minutes.

slinkyvagabond
Sep 3rd, 2004, 05:29 AM
I found some near the checkout at Whole Foods, and though I don't remember what brand or what each flavor contained, I do remember a few soy jerkies, a peanut-based Thai variety, and one made of shiitake mushrooms! The mushroom one was delicious and "meaty", and the others were pretty respectable. Best of all, they're certified vegan!

cast_the_flames
Sep 3rd, 2004, 05:39 AM
i've made soy jerky, and it was pretty good. if it's too salty, try mixing some pinapple juice with soy sauce when you marinate it, to give it a nice sweeter flavor. i left mine in a plastic baggy for about a week, and it got moldy. so if you plan on keeping it for a while, make sure it is truly dehydrated, or just stick it in the fridge.

slinkyvagabond
Sep 3rd, 2004, 05:53 AM
Here it is!

http://ww1.betterbodz.com/cgi-bin/shop/category.cgi?item=PSJ003B

snivelingchild
Sep 14th, 2004, 12:26 PM
Everyone needs to try out Vegan Dream soy jerky. vegandream.com
It's quite expensive, but VERY worth it for an occasional treat!

snivelingchild
Sep 14th, 2004, 12:35 PM
It's way more delicious than any meat jerky I ever had.

Wildflower
Dec 18th, 2004, 09:30 PM
i've never had actual meat jerky, but i really like Stonewall's Jurquee. I buy the original or the hot and spicy. there is a cajan bacon flavor i want to try. Stonewall's Jurquee (http://www.soybean.com)

I actually first bought them for my dog (she is allergic to cow) as a treat and ended up eating most of them. my dog loves them too. i bring them to doggie class and the omni's don't believe it's not real. they eat them up too.

i bought Primal Strips once, I liked the taste, but it was very wet and jelly like. it was also very sweet, but i think i had a maple flavoured one.

either way, they are both pretty expensive. I will have to try the tofu method. i don't really like teriyaki though, i prefer a smoky maple/bacon kinda flavor. any ideas?

Kiva Dancer
Dec 18th, 2004, 11:05 PM
I would think maple syrup and some liquid smoke blended in some soy sauce and nutritional yeast would do it but I've not made it so I'm not sure.

ohboysoy
Dec 19th, 2004, 01:35 AM
In the gift exchange my boyfriend received the best soy jerky, it was by vegi deli not exactly sure where to find it though.

Wildflower
Dec 23rd, 2004, 05:25 PM
http://www.vegideli.com/orderform.asp

You can order more online from their website.