May just cook at 160° at minimum on Copperhead when I get it back up and running.

Ah... I don't follow the USDA on jerky. Thankfully I don't plan on selling any.

I have started to use cure #1 again in my process even though I don't think it's that important for my methods. I mainly do it because I have it on hand and think there's some reduced risk during the smoking process. It also keeps the meat pink inside rather than turning gray.

Technically the cure helps keep things safer before the meat should ever get up to 140F. (While it's in the 'danger zone', if you where to smoke at 120F or so, it'd be more important.  In theory even cooking at 160F could leave the meat surface bellow 140F do to evaporative cooling.  Anyway I don't really worry about it myself,  but I am aware of some risk, I'm willing to risk it anyway.

But it still doesn't make a shelf stable product my way.

I've been making jerky for 25 years now, ain't dead yet.

I also have read that if you cook meat at a lower them than USDA guidelines for an extended period of time that it serves the same purpose as USDA guidelines.  I don't remember the specifics.  I like the results of my method and will roll with the chances like LSJ.

They keep emphasizing, "especially ground beef". The studies they reference are all talking about ground beef made into jerky and then it appears they (the USDA) make the leap to all jerky on their own. At least that is the way I interpreted their references to the studies. The more I read it, the more I get the impression that it is more necessary with ground beef made into jerky, where the pathogens are throughout the meat, as opposed to just on the surface. The way I look at it, the strips I make into jerky are really thin strips of steak, and it is much less likely for the pathogens to get to the middle of the strips I cut. They are on the surfaces, and for the most part if I get the surface to 160, I feel I am good. This won't really change my method much either, mainly because I do not use ground meat to make jerky.

I remember when I bought the cabelas dehydrator, it had a turkey jerky recipe that they wanted cooked in the oven for so long before putting in to dry. It was messy and tasted horrible.

I use cure always, I have jerky on the counter in a lock n lock container for 2 months with no issues, other than I had some ground meat that had dried more and got really hard, so I tossed a slice of bread in for a day.