HACCP plan for beef jerky: cure, dry, test and record

A beef jerky HACCP plan has three jobs: kill the germs that live on raw meat, dry the strips far enough that nothing can grow, and keep the finished jerky clean until it is sold. The control points are a lethal heat step (USDA advises 160°F for beef before or during drying), a drying step that reaches a low water activity or a set moisture-to-protein ratio, and the handling after drying. This page walks through each step with limits, a worked table and a batch log for a restaurant, butcher counter or small shop making jerky to sell.

Blank daily logs are on the free logs page. Numbers here come from USDA and the FDA Food Code; your health department's adopted rules decide what you must file, so confirm before you print the plan.

Does jerky need a HACCP plan?

It depends on who regulates you, and the answer is worth getting in writing. The FDA Food Code (section 3-502.11) lists the special processes for which a retail food business needs a variance and a HACCP plan: smoking or curing food as the method of preservation, reduced oxygen packaging, and a few others [1]. Jerky is cured and dried for preservation, so many health departments ask for a plan, or at least a written process, before they let a restaurant sell it. Others treat plain drying as ordinary food preparation.

• Retail restaurant or deli: your county or state health department decides. Ask which of two applies: a plan filed with the license, or a written recipe and log kept on site.
• Meat shop selling jerky to the public from the shop: usually retail rules, with the same question.
• Selling jerky to other stores, online across state lines or under a brand label: that is usually a manufacturing activity under USDA FSIS inspection (for meat) with a HACCP plan required by federal rule (9 CFR Part 417). That is a different license; this page does not replace it.

If you are unsure which side you are on, ask before you make the first batch for sale. Related reading for other preserved meats is the HACCP plan for smoked and cured meats guide.

What can go wrong with jerky

Raw beef can carry Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (including O157:H7). Old advice was that drying alone makes jerky safe. USDA says it does not: low-temperature drying alone has been linked to illness, because the germs survive in a dry piece of meat [2]. After the meat is dried, the main risk is recontamination from hands, slicers, trays and packaging, plus Listeria monocytogenes on surfaces in a wet kitchen. Mold can grow if jerky is under-dried or stored damp.

The process, step by step

1. Receive the beef
2. Cold storage and trimming
3. Slice
4. Marinate or cure
5. Heat step
6. Dry
7. Cool, check and package
8. Store and sell

Receiving and cold storage

Raw beef arrives at 41°F or below, from an approved supplier, and goes straight to the cooler [1]. Use a receiving log and reject a case that is warm or leaking. Keep raw beef on the lowest shelf, away from anything ready to eat. Lean cuts such as top round or flank suit jerky because fat goes rancid in dried meat; trim visible fat before slicing. Keep the meat cold until it goes into the marinade; slice in small lots, and return the rest to the cooler. If it sits above 41°F while you slice, count the minutes: under 4 hours in total from the start of the day's handling is a common working limit.

Slicing

Slice thickness matters for safety, because a thick strip takes longer to reach temperature in the center. Aim for even slices of about a quarter inch (6 mm) and write the thickness in the recipe. Use a board and knife that are only for raw meat, and sanitize them when you finish. Do not use the same slicer for finished jerky unless it was taken apart and cleaned.

Marinating and curing

Marinate in the refrigerator, in a covered food-grade container, at 41°F or below. Do not reuse marinade that touched raw meat unless it is boiled first, and discard it after the batch. A set limit in the plan, such as 24 hours maximum, keeps the process predictable.

If you use a cure (sodium nitrite), it comes pre-mixed with salt and dyed pink, sold as a pink curing salt, labeled for the nitrite level. Measure it by weight with a scale, not by volume, and follow the supplier's usage rate for the weight of meat; USDA caps ingoing nitrite for most cured meats and the supplier's directions already stay within it [3]. Keep cure in a labeled container away from table salt and sugar, and record the weights in the batch log. Nitrite helps against botulism in low-oxygen conditions and gives the color, but it does not replace the heat and drying steps.

The heat step: the first control point

USDA's guidance for jerky made from whole-muscle beef is to heat the meat to 160°F (and poultry to 165°F) before drying, or to make sure the drying itself reaches that internal temperature and holds it, which needs a humid oven, not just a dehydrator [2]. For a restaurant, the easy way is a two-step process: steam or roast the strips until the thickest strip reads 160°F, then move them to the dryer.

• Limit: the thickest strip of each tray reaches at least 160°F.
• Monitoring: probe a strip from each tray with a calibrated thermometer (see the calibration log guide). Write the number.
• Corrective action: return the tray to heat and probe again.

Ground-and-formed jerky (made from ground beef in a gun) needs the same 160°F as other ground beef, and the same care with equipment, since grinding spreads surface germs through the whole piece.

Drying: the second control point

Drying has two numbers to watch: the dryer temperature and the finished dryness. USDA suggests a dryer setting of 130°F to 140°F and a final check that the meat bends and cracks without snapping [2]. For a product sold to the public, "bends" is a quality test. The safety test is a measurement, one of two:

• Water activity (aw): a meter reads it in a small sample cup. A common target for shelf-stable jerky is 0.85 or lower, the same cutoff the Food Code uses to call a food non-TCS when it is also packaged to prevent contamination [1]. Many makers aim lower, 0.80 or below, for a margin and longer shelf life.
• Moisture-protein ratio (MPR): USDA FSIS names jerky as meat that dries to an MPR of 0.75:1 or less, a lab test [4].

A small business can buy a water activity meter or send samples to a lab each month. Which you use is up to your health department; write it down. Dryer time varies with load, humidity and slice, so a recipe says "4 to 6 hours" but the batch passes by test, not by clock.

• Limit: dryer at 130°F or above; finished jerky at or below the aw or MPR number in the plan.
• Monitoring: dryer temperature at load and mid-batch; test one sample of each batch for aw at the end.
• Corrective action: if the batch tests above the limit, keep drying and retest. If it cannot be dried further or was held warm for too long, discard it.

Cooling, packaging and storage

Cool dried strips on clean racks, uncovered, until they stop giving off heat, then pack them. Warm jerky sealed in a bag will sweat and invite mold. Pack with clean gloves into a food-safe bag, with an oxygen absorber if you use one (oxygen absorbers are used with a dry product; check with your health department because sealing in a vacuum or reduced-oxygen bag can bring in the reduced oxygen packaging rules, see the vacuum sealing HACCP plan guide). Label with the product name, ingredients, allergens (soy in soy sauce and wheat in many marinades), net weight and a date. Store at room temperature, dry and away from light, or in the cooler if your plan says so.

Worked plan rows for beef jerky

A batch log for jerky

One line per batch is enough for a small kitchen. Example entries, not records:

Keep logs for at least the period your health department sets, often 90 days or more; one year is a safe default for a small shop. For the general method of building a plan, see the HACCP plan for a restaurant guide, and for the eight parts of a plan, the food safety plan template.

Common mistakes

• Drying alone and calling it safe. Add the 160°F step.
• Judging dryness by feel only. Add a measurement.
• Using the same board for raw strips and finished jerky.
• Estimating cure by the spoon. Weigh it.
• Packing warm jerky. Condensation grows mold.
• Selling before checking whether the license covers it.

Questions

Is a dehydrator enough to make jerky safe?

Not by itself. USDA advises heating beef to 160°F first or making sure the dehydrator process reaches it, then drying [2].

What water activity should jerky have?

0.85 or lower is the usual safety line, and many makers target 0.80 or lower. Your health department may name a different figure.

Do I have to use cure?

No. Cure adds color and extra protection against botulism, but the heat and drying steps are what you rely on. If you use it, weigh it.

Can I sell jerky from a restaurant?

Often yes, with approval of the process. Ask the health department what they need on file first.

How long does jerky keep?

Properly dried and sealed, weeks to a few months at room temperature. Put a date on the pack, and a shorter date if your aw reading is close to the limit.

Where do I get logs?

Use the free sheets on our logs page and add the batch columns from the example above.

Sources

1. FDA Food Code 2022 (3-502.11 specialized processes; definition of TCS food, aw and pH tables; 3-202.11 receiving; 3-501.16 holding), U.S. Food and Drug Administration
2. Jerky and food safety, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
3. 9 CFR Part 424, preparation and processing operations (curing agents), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
4. Compliance guideline for meat and poultry jerky produced by small and very small establishments, USDA FSIS

Related: all food safety guides.