Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

—278 CAAIPING AND WOODCRAFT'the nutritive properties of these substances, thewater, of course, must be exhausted. In ordinarydried beef this Is onl)^ partially done, because thepieces are too thick.In the dry air of uninhabited plains, meat doesnot putrefy, even w^hen unsalted, and It may bedried In the sun, without fire. Elk flesh dried Inthe sun does not keep as well as that of deer.As I have said, real jerky has been dried withoutsalt; but It Is common practice nowadays touse some salt In the process, proceeding as follows:If you can afford to be particular, select only thetender parts of the meat; otherwise use all of thelean. Cut it In strips about half an inch thick.If you have time, you may soak them a day Instrong brine. If not, place the flakes of meat onthe inside of the hide, and mix with them about apint and a half of salt for a w^hole deer, or two orthree quarts for an elk or moose; also some pepper.These condiments are not necessary, but areadded merely for seasoning. Cover the meat withthe hide, to keep flies out, and let It stand thus forabout two hours to let the salt work In. Thendrive four forked stakes In the ground so as toform a square, the forks being about four feetfrom the ground. Lay two poles across fromfork to fork, parallel, and across these lay thinpoles about two Inches apart. Lay the strips ofmeat across the poles, and under them build a smallfire to dry and smoke the meat. Do not let thefire get hot enough to cook the meat, but only todehydrate it, so that the flesh becomes dry as achip. The best fuel Is birch, especially black birch,because It imparts a pleasant flavor. Only a thinsmoke is wanted. To confine It, if a breeze Isstirring, put up some sort of wind-break. Thiswill reduce the weight of the meat about one-half,and will cure It so that It will keep indefinitel}^You may have to keep up the fire for twenty-fouihnurs. The meat of an old bull will, of course,