Beef jerky seems to cause extreme reactions in people. They either love it or hate it. I love it. Yes, eating beef jerky can be a marathon chewing experience. But I love the taste of it. It also helps me avoid eating too much junk food because after I eat a few pieces of beef jerky I'm satisfied and no longer want to consume an entire bag of potato chips.
Although beef jerky is relatively low in calories, it contains a lot of sodium so it's often not considered a health food. I consider it a fairly healthy snack though. It's a lot better for you than eating those chips I mentioned above or eating cake, pie, brownies, and candy bars.
If you like beef jerky but don't want to give your jaw a workout there's some types of beef jerky that are easy to chew. Look for pieces of beef jerky that are chopped and formed. They are much easier to chew than traditional beef jerky which is made from slices of beef. But the chopped and formed beef jerky is typically higher in calories and lower in protein than traditional beef jerky so it's not as good for you. You can also make your own easy to chew beef jerky if you have a food dehydrator, good quality ground beef, seasonings, and some patience.
If you look at your local store you'll usually find beef jerky seasoning packets right next to the food dehydrators. If you prefer to mix your own seasonings there are lots of free recipes available online. Do a search for ?beef jerky seasoning recipe? or ?beef jerky recipe? and you'll get tens of thousands of ?hits.? You'll have more recipes than you'll know what to do with.
I've made beef jerky at home with ground beef countless times. And although it's easy to make, it's an investment of time and patience. The ground beef and seasoning are mixed together (that's the easy part). Then the meat needs to be pressed into strips (this is the time-consuming part). The strips are then placed in the dehydrator. That's when patience is required because, depending on what type of jerky you are making it takes 4-12 hours to dry and become jerky.
If you make your own jerky keep in mind that it shrinks a lot, sometimes up to two-thirds. You may think you're making a lot of jerky until you open your dehydrator back up after the meat has dried and you see little pieces of meat where there used to be big pieces of meat.
Although some people enjoy making their own beef jerky, most people prefer to buy their beef jerky already made. There are lots of choices. In addition to the choices at your local grocer and convenience store, many meat markets and butcher shops make and sell their own beef jerky.
The flavor choices are varied too. Although traditional beef jerky is my favorite flavor, I also enjoy peppered and teriyaki flavored beef jerky. Hot or jalepeno flavored beef jerky is also readily available at most stores, but if you like really hot beef jerky you might want to shop online where you have more choices of hot, hotter, and hottest flavors of jerky. Other flavors of beef jerky I've seen include: barbecued, hickory smoked, honey glazed, Hawaiian, lemon pepper, Cajun, Tex Mex and chili.
And, in addition to the traditional slices of beef jerky, you can now purchase shredded beef jerky and beef jerky chips.
If you're looking jerky that's made with something other than beef you have lots of choices too. There's turkey jerky (yummy), chicken jerky (also yummy), buffalo jerky (tastes a lot like beef jerky), ostrich jerky (not my favorite but I was predisposed to not like it because ostrich jerky didn't sound good to me), alligator jerky (wasn't a fan of this kind either), crocodile (wouldn't try it since I didn't like the alligator jerky) kangaroo (haven't worked up the courage to try this kind yet), Emu (scared of this one too), Wild Boar jerky (have only seen this kind online and haven't tried yet), Venison (it was okay but I'm not a fan of venison) and smoked Salmon (haven't tried this one yet but it sounds good).
I've also heard of people making their own trout jerky, goose jerky, and duck jerky. The choices seem nearly endless.
If you're wondering about the history of jerky and where it originated, it seems to be a little unclear. Some people say Native Americans made the first jerky (buffalo jerky) thousands of years ago. Other people say an ancient Inca tribe called the Quechua made the first jerky in the 1500's. Although the process to make beef jerky have changed and been modernized over time, the same basic procedure of thinly slicing meat, adding seasonings, and drying it with a low heat are the same as when jerky was first made.
Jerky is a food that's likely here to stay. And although beef jerky is by far the most popular type of jerky, more and more people are becoming adventurous in their tastes and want to try some of the more ?exotic? types of jerky. As that trend continues, it's hard to imagine what the next type of jerky will be. Could it be tofu jerky? Or has someone already made that kind?...
Postage stamps were first issued in Great Britain in 1840. The practice soon became common all over the world to show that the postage had been paid on a piece of mail. A stamp is a sticker attached to the top right hand corner of an envelope or package. Since stamps are in different denominations, if a piece of mail is larger or heavier than a standard size letter, several stamps may need to be attached. In order to send any mail through the postal service, you must buy these stamps and affix them to the mail. You can buy envelopes with the stamps already attached or you can buy sheets or rolls of stamps from which you select the ones you need.
Stamps are not always rectangular in shape. There are triangular and circular designs available and even pentagonal. The first countries to use adhesive stamps, which were invented by an English schoolteacher, Sir Rowland Hill, were Sierra Leone and Tonga, which were actually in the shape of fruit. The stamp used by Bhutan is very unusual in that it contains the national anthem on a playable record. The most common material used for issuing stamps is paper, but some have been embossed with gold and in Switzerland, one type of stamp was made from lace.
There are different types of stamps that are used to denote that postage has been paid. These are:
* Airmail Stamps: The word airmail appears on the stamp and they are usually larger than the regular stamps for envelopes. Like the regular stamp they do give the name of the country and the price paid.
* Coil Stamps: These are stamps that you can buy through a vending machine. You tear off a stamp from the coil when you want to use them.
* Commemorative Stamps: these are stamps issued by countries to commemorate a special event that occurs in the country. There may be several of these in any one year, but they are only available in limited quantities.
* Definitive Stamps: These are the main stamps used by a country and are printed and reprinted in large quantities. They are available in many different denominations that would be needed to make up the postage needed to send mail.
* Express Mail Stamps: These are stamps used for mail that needs to arrive in a very short time. There are usually envelopes for such a purpose that contains the postage necessary.
* Military Stamps; The Armed Forces of countries have their own official stamp to use on mail that they send.
* Official Stamps: Only government agencies and bureaus are allowed to use these stamps that are issued by the governments of all countries.
When new stamps are issued, stamp collectors can buy miniature sheets or souvenir sheets that contain only a small number. At various times there have been people depicted on definitive stamps, as well as animals, birds, buildings and events. However, the main stamps used for everyday use contain a number that denotes the price of the stamp.
Both Gray Rollins & Warren Wong are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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