Homemade beef jerky safety?

[Hykue]

So, I am not very far along at all, and I have only one craving, which is for beef jerky.  We made some out of a regular grocery-store roast a couple of weeks ago.  We ate nearly all of it, but my husband hid the last bit (turns out he wanted to save a taste for MIL - oops!)  I know storebought beef jerky has a lot of nitrite/nitrate in it, so I won't be eating any of that, but this stuff we made ourselves, and it's free of nitrates.  Unfortunately, nitrates are also the most effective form of protection against bacterial growth on jerky.  We brought it home from the grocery store (where they do their own cutting), sliced it up and marinated it in the fridge right away, and dried it on our wood stove, so at a fairly hot temperature - it was all completely dry throughout in less than 24 hours, the thinner pieces in about 6 hours.

Like I said, we ate most of the last batch already, and there were no ill effects (except that I love beef jerky so much that I probably ate a bit too much salt).  I ate most of the last piece today (I literally couldn't resist) until my husband informed me he had been saving it.  So, am I taking a big risk here?  I can just not make anymore, but I'm craving it so much that that sounds like a bad idea.  Would anyone else do this, or am I crazy for even considering it?  I would feel a lot better about it if it was homegrown beef, but we don't have any of that.  Feel free to tell me it's a crazy idea, although I'm hoping that a bunch of people will say it's a great idea.  I crave beef jerky pretty often (I'm wondering if uncooked meat has more of a nutrient that I tend to be deficient in or something, it tastes good even if it's barely salted and just tastes, really, like raw meat), and I'm not sure how to deal with what appears to be an increased level of craving.  Nothing else will do, when I think of roast beef it doesn't sound very appealing at all.  And I don't think it's the salt, because bacon and ham both sound nasty (although I usually like them).

I realize that the USDA considers homemade beef jerky a risk whether the eater is pregnant or not.  When I'm not pregnant it's a risk that I'm happy to take, because it's cheaper and better for me than the commercially produced stuff (better for me in the sense of not containing nitrates, I'm sure their bacteriological prevention methods are great).  I'm just not sure what to think about it now that I am pregnant, though.  Before pregnancy I just thought I wouldn't eat it (why take any risk at all), but I hadn't counted on feeling like I NEED to eat it.

Thoughts?

[noahs.mom06]

Huh. I never knew there were risks associated with eating beef jerky (beyond the preservatives in the store-bought stuff). My daughter has health/digestive issues due to the defect she was born with, and beef jerky was actually recommended by her doctors and nutritionists to get her eating (she could chew on it, and overcome her oral aversion/desensitize her gag reflex, without actually having to eat). If it was that big of a risk, I don't think they'd have told us to give it to her... I'd eat it, as long as it was thoroughly dried/dehydrated.

[bignerpie]

We make our own jerky, also, usually out of venison (my husband is a hunter). We've read to freeze the meat for 30 days to kill any parasites/bacteria.

Keep in mind that a chunk of meat, like a roast, is far less likely to be contaminated than hamburger.

I've been eating lots of jerky, too, and I'm 11 weeks right now. I think it's a great snack. It helps me a lot with morning sickness.

[Hykue]

Thanks.  I'm thinking I'm going to go ahead and make some more.  I just wanted to make sure that people hadn't been told it was a terrible idea or something.

I'm glad it could help your daughter, noah's mom!  And I would think they wouldn't have recommended it if it could be considered very unsafe.

I definitely wouldn't use hamburger to make jerky, just because I know it's much more likely to have some bacterial load (and it's harder to dry on a woodstove anyway).

Thanks for the input!

[hildare]

I would think it was perfectly safe (and would be tempted to buy a dehydrator to boot, just so you could keep up a constant supply).  I even ate some not very well done deer jerkey last time i was pregnant (we didn't make it)... 

but..um.. thanks y'all for putting that idea in my head about the yumminess of it, i think we'll be making some REAL soon.....