Strip: USDA Jerky Safety

Strip is a USDA-cited safety coach for home jerky makers using a food dehydrator. Every guidance step cites USDA FSIS or NCHFP UGA primary sources — not unverified blog folklore.

Free forever:
• USDA-cited kill-step verification (pre-heat to 160°F internal, 165°F for poultry)
• Dehydrator-temp envelope reference (NCHFP 130–140°F) with the first-run dial-verification prompt UW-Madison Extension recommends

24-hour free trial of everything else, then a one-time $4.99 unlock:
• 12 USDA / NCHFP-cited starter recipes — beef whole-muscle, ground beef, venison, poultry, fish
• Symptom troubleshooter — case hardening, greasy or oily, tough or rubbery, salty — with community-voice causes and fixes verified against primary sources
• Insta-cure #1 vs Insta-cure #2 disambiguation (per FSIS Compliance Guideline 2014-0010)
• Storage shelf-life reference (vacuum-sealed frozen, refrigerated, pantry, ambient)

Strip is built around a load-bearing fact: most home dehydrators do not reliably reach the USDA-recommended kill-step temperature on their own. Strip surfaces the pre-heat step the dehydrator's instructions usually skip, and it names the texture trade-off honestly so you have a documented USDA-blessed alternative (post-heat 275°F for 10 minutes after drying) instead of silently skipping the safety step.

Strip presents USDA FSIS and NCHFP UGA guidance for educational purposes. Follow current USDA FSIS guidance (fsis.usda.gov) for authoritative food safety information.