Heintz is smoking Don't wonder where's the beef, jerky BY WILSON ROTHSCHILD
	MATTHEW HEINTZ MATTHEW HEINTZ Homemade beef jerky and smoked salmon | 207.568.4044

Beef jerky, I believe, is the perfect snack food for camping, hiking, long car rides, waiting in long lines (the DMV for example), or just as an accompaniment to a cold beer. A quick stop at a gas station can inevitably wind up including a beef jerky purchase, where I’ll occasionally run across some decent jerky, but more often than not end up with a product that is crumbly, too salty, too sweet, or chock full of preservatives and ingredients that I can’t even pronounce.

In the past decade or so there has been a resurgence of jerky interest, spurring some more creative ideas for jerky. I recently tried turkey jerky, salmon jerky, tuna jerky, and even ostrich jerky. All were pretty tasty, and both the salmon and tuna had surprisingly good textures, but when all is said and done, it is good, old-fashioned smoked beef jerky that hits home for me.

So naturally, the next question would be where to find the finest of this comfort food, so perfect for travel. Well, look no further than Gritty McDuff’s brewpub on Tuesday and/or Sunday afternoons, where you should keep an eye out for Matthew Heintz, of Thorndike, Maine. Matthew, an avid Patriots fan and long-time "Mug Club" member, is easily recognizable by the handmade wicker basket he carries on his back. With any luck, his basket will be laden with both spicy (cayenne) and mild beef jerky for your chewing pleasure. He sells the jerky for $30 a pound or, as he puts it, in "nickel and dime bags of the best smoke in town," for $5 and $10 respectively. Around the holiday season he sells whole sides of cold-smoked Atlantic salmon (pre-order only) for $25 a piece. If Gritty’s is not an option, try giving him a call at 207.568.4044.

One taste of his product and it becomes clear that this is the real deal — not just some fad or mere hobby of his. Heintz has been smoking beef jerky for almost 30 years now and claims to have been inspired by seeing cod smoked and dried in the rafters of barns during his childhood. He then set out on a "personal quest to make something better than you can buy in the store." Initially, he traveled to and from various festivals with a canvas tent he would set up at a given site to do what he refers to as "remote smoking." After many years, he finally decided to build a more permanent structure near his home. Using old barn beams, he built a 10’-by-10’ wooden frame with a canvas top about eight feet high. His smokehouse is vented at the top and along the ground to control air flow and to maintain a temperature ranging from 110 degrees to 120 degrees for jerky, and about 90 degrees for the salmon. His method of smoking the jerky, though very labor intensive and time consuming, is not extremely complicated. The heat and smoke source is a small fire right inside the structure. For optimal flavor, he exclusively burns fruitwoods such as apple, cherry, and pear.

Heintz does 60-pound batches of beef jerky using the eye of round cut of beef. He slices long strips of the beef, with — not across — the grain of the meat. This technique makes the jerky chewy and stringy as opposed to crumbly. The strips are then marinated until the flavor has permeated the meat (don’t expect to learn all of his secrets, though he hinted at soy sauce being a key ingredient in his marinades). It is then hung up in the upper part of the smokehouse and smoked for about 15 hours. The salmon is cured in a wet brine for 10 to 12 hours and then smoked for about 12 hours. He uses no curing salts (sodium nitrate, for example) or other such chemicals. His beef jerky is "shelf stable," preserved by the salt in the marinade and by the low moisture content of the final product.

In my opinion, it is the best snack food money can buy.

Wilson Rothschild can be reached at dlihcshtornosliw@yahoo.com