jerky

[hockeymjt]

Does anyone use a dehydrator to make their own jerky>

How do you make yours?

Thinking of purchasing one

Thoughts? recommendations?

Thanks

[rick_iles]

I use either the oven or my smoker. I have a buddy that uses a dehydrator. He says it works very well !

[werner.reiche]

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.

[sawbill]

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.

[greatwhite]

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.

[genec]

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.

[rf2]

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.

[sabmgb]

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

[hunt guy]

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.

[Badenoch]

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.