Does anyone use a dehydrator to make their own jerky>
How do you make yours?
Thinking of purchasing one
Thoughts? recommendations?
Thanks
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Does anyone use a dehydrator to make their own jerky>
How do you make yours?
Thinking of purchasing one
Thoughts? recommendations?
Thanks
I use either the oven or my smoker. I have a buddy that uses a dehydrator. He says it works very well !
My new stove has a "dehydrate" setting. I can set the temp as low as 150 degrees which makes great jerky without cooking it.
If I didn't, I'd buy a dehydrator - my old oven with a min setting of 175 cooked it instead of drying it.
I've used both but prefer the oven for jerky as I can do more at one time. The only downside to the oven is that its easier to clean the trays on a dehydrator as they're smaller and fit in the kitchen sink as opposed to oven racks that don't fit. If you have a self-cleaning oven then that's a no-brainer.
With the oven all you have to do is place a sheet of tinfoil on the bottom to catch drippings and stick a spoon or something in the door to keep it cracked so as to let moisture out.
One advantage of having a dehydrator is that you can do other things with it as well. We do apple slices and fruit roll-ups on a regular basis.
Like others I prefer the oven. I crack my oven open just a bit with a spoon or something maybe 1 or 2 inches (can't remember) then I place a fan just a bit away on it turned on to low to help circulate the heat. I think I turn the oven on 200, they say about 150 but if you have the door cracked open you are loosing heat so you have to account for it. I can't remember how long it took maybe 2 - 5 hours it depends you will have to watch it and babysit it. The small 100 dollars dehydrators work good but take 12 - 24 hours.
I do it on the BBQ because my wife cant stand the smell in the stove from all the seasonings - I use the T-Birds Jerky recipe that was posted on here several years ago.
I use a jerky tray set I got from Cabelas several years ago - 3 screen trays for the jerky + a tray base.
I line the base tray with foil to catch all the drippings from the seasoning, and use the pressure washer afterwards to clean the 3 screen trays.
I just have 1 of my BBQ burners on at its lowest setting, and the BBQ lid propped open about 1-2 inches to keep the temp low. I rotate the 3 trays top-to-bottom and L to R every 30 minutes. Takes about 4-5 hours to finish a batch.
I use a dehydrator. I also tried the oven, but cleanup is easier with the dehydrator, and I found that since the drying rate is slower with my dehydrator, it is easier to control the texture of the final product. Someone else also mentioned that you can use the dehydrator for many other things like herbs, fruits, etc.
I use the commercially prepared seasoning mixes, but I would really like to make my own to get away from the nitrates in the commercial stuff. If anyone has a link to a good home recipe, it would be great if they could post it.
I use a 9 tray dehydrator with a horizontal fan, much faster then the vertical fan ones. I make my own marinades, let sit in for 24 hours then dry. This post reminds me that I have a whole beef eye of round in the freezer. That is what I use for my jerky. I have tried deer but it tastes the same as beef so why use up my venison. I have also tried goose, which was a big mistake it was terrible
When I make Jerky, I put it in the smoker for 2.5 hrs cold smoke.
Then I put the racks in the oven (we have a propane range) with only the pilot on.
Takes about 24 hrs to dry.
As for nitrates, I do use prague #1 in the brine.
We bought a 4 tray Excalibur dehydrator last Christmas and the only mistake was not getting a bigger one. When I've made beef jerky it's been using thin sliced round or top sirloin after spending 24 hours in a marinade. I haven't gotten too adventuresome with the marinades and found off-the-shelf Oelek Sambal made a good, spicy jerky.
What I've also enjoyed is making my own dry chili powder using some of the hotter peppers.
I've been using a dehydrator to make jerky for at least 30 years now. Right now I have an Open Country one with 8 trays and the fan/heater on the top. It has 7 temp settings from 95° to160° so it's very versatile. Mostly I use steaks of roasts in my own marinade overnite and then dry the next day. I have tried the spice mix and burger and a jerky gun that came with the unit but I prefer whole meat cut against the grain. I would never use a curing powder for jerky as it's dried so it doesn't need any nitrates. Those I do use for back bacon, pastrami or pork roasts that go in the smoker.
Keep my jerky pretty simple, slice up an eye of the round beef roast into 1/4" thick with the grain slices, and brine them overnite in soya sauce then put them in Cabela's 5 tier dehydrater set on high for 8 to 10 hrs or your preferred texture and let cool and refrigerate and use as required!
I've done the same recipe but with teriyaki and it comes out great. You can make really good jerky without having to make your own marinades.Quote:
Originally Posted by jlmorgan
I use one of the round 7 tray dehydrators and it works well. I marinate the sliced venison in Backwoods Cajun spice and a light sprinkle some of my dried hot peppers overnight and then dehydrate. I plug them it in the garage and it smells amazing (well at least I like the smell........my wife not so much). During the winter it takes a couple of hours longer due to it being a little cooler but they are done in 8-10hrs - overnight works well.
Does anyone use those inexpensive dehydrators, do they work OK?
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/d...0656p.html#srp
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h...1388p.html#srp
We have one similar to your first link. It works well just limited to how much you can put in. but if you have a box fan this works well and you just add more filters for larger amounts.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/hom...an-beef-jerky/
Mine is similar to that and it works fine.Quote:
Originally Posted by greatwhite
My ex had the Cabelas 10 tray dehydrator and I used it a few times for jerky and loved it! Thinking about picking up my own
Lee valley tools sells one similar to the round one from CanTire.Quote:
Originally Posted by greatwhite
I have a friend that has one and he's happy with it. Lee valley tends not to sell crap.
I have the cheap Canadian Tire one. It works just fine! My favorite way to eat Canada Goose (SkyCarp). My kids usually eat it all before I get any so we have to hide the stuff in the freezer once it's made.Quote:
Originally Posted by greatwhite
ha! yup with 5 growing girls jerky lasts about a day or two here too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Moosehead
Looking for some more recipes? Check this site out. https://www.jerky.com/pages/beef-jerky-recipes
I tend to sort of wing it for the most part, some recipes have far less liquid than others. I like to mix up the hot sauces I use as well.
I just put a 2lb loin roast in the freezer to firm it up some for cutting. Marinate till tomorrow then into the dehydrator it goes.