Does anyone make their own Jerky w/ dehydrator?

[erikwebster]

Does anyone have a good dehydrator they can recommend to make beef, turkey, and anything else i can think of types of Jerky? Any cooking/prep tips?

I am on extended induction and i wanted to add some variety to my snacks other than pork rinds, i wanted to make my own jerky so i dont haveta worry about the frankenfood jerky i see at the store.

[sillygirl]

Re: Does anyone make their own Jerky w/ dehydrator?

I have a cheapo dehydrator (nesco I think). I recently made jerky and it was good.

Here's what I did:

sliced very thinly a nice sized flank steak and on an angle.

Marinated in a baggie overnight (approximate measurements since I don't measure!):
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
2-3 Tblsp Sesame oil
About 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
about 1/4 cup of Splenda (the bulk kind, not from the packets)

I kinda dried it off with paper towels before putting it in the dehydrator. Mine has 3 trays which were all filled up. I think it went for about 8 hours. it only lasted a day and a half in the house though, it was a hit!

BTW, good for you for not weighing yourself! That's terrific!

[TBW]

Re: Does anyone make their own Jerky w/ dehydrator?

I can recommend against the Ronco dehydrator (if they're even still making those). They didn't get warm enough and didn't have enough airflow. Junk. And good for you for worrying about frankenfood - some of those jerky labels are frightening!

[Lyssie]

Re: Does anyone make their own Jerky w/ dehydrator?

I made jerky in the oven... mine was from a mix from a sporting goods store though, I let it marinate overnight in a baggie and did in the oven. It turned out pretty good and wasn't high carb.

I know Julirama723 posted a recipe for her jerky too somewhere. She does it in the oven too, though.

My mom had one of the more expensive ones growing up (where you could buy the trays separate and add to them and stuff)... gosh, I saw it in the Cabela's catalog last week I think... yeah, it's apparently the "gardenmaster" dehydrator.

[chicamarun]

Re: Does anyone make their own Jerky w/ dehydrator?

Way long ago - but I have an excaliber 9 tray model! Awesome machine. Granted a friend of ours who has the commercial one from cabellas makes our jerky (he has a jerky slicer on his grinder). We use a commercial mix - but I'm working on our own.

With mine I make a lot of stuff for the kids (apple rings, banana chips etc) I just haven't tried jerky yet since our friend makes it for us But I highly recommend the excaliber - it was I think $249 shipped last year when I got it. Expensive - but worth it - as I could never get anything made in those $30 circle ones.