Question for all you jerks out there (pun intended)

[Savage Bacon]

So this past xmas, santa brought me a 10 tray dehydrator, how did he know? Anyway last night me and the boss ground up a mixture of deer, beef and pork (fat removed) to make jerky with. It was all frozen leftovers so we just mixed it all together to get it out of the freezer. So when I put the ground meat in my mixer I added the spices and curing salt dry, without mixing with water, as I saw on several videos that it will dehydrate faster. Well when mixing by hand this will be fine but when using a mixer, not so fine, all the spices stuck to the sides of the mixer. So that's a learning experience.

Now for my question... how long do I run the dehydrator and at what temp? The instructions in the jerky kit contradict themselves from sentence to sentence and leave a person more confused the more you read. The instructions in the dehydrator say to start in the oven then move to the dehydrator. The meat is ground and I used my jerky blaster to lay the strips on the plastic trays. I don't think I want to put these plastic trays in the oven? The instructions also say to lower the temp after a certain amount of time. Also confusing me. So what I did was fill the trays and set the dehydrator to max 160. Can I leave it at this temp or will I adjust it later? Some strips I made thicker and some thinner by altering the speed of the jerky blaster. From 1/4" to 5/16". I should have stayed more consistent but I was worried about having too much meat but then eased off after it was about half way full.

Sorry long post. Just wanting to know proper temp and time. The instructions say 8-15 hours?

Thanks!

[58thecat]

After eight hrs I would start checking it.....one bite at a time.

[Savage Bacon]

Just leaving it on high, 160° and not worrying about lowering temp?

[omega50]

The dehydrator company is trying to avoid liability by having you bring your jerky to temp in a oven on a rack and metal pan before transferring the meat to the dehydrator. The logic is to kill food borne bacteria before it can incubate in the dehydrator. That is why your instructions are so convoluted and confusing. If you skipped that step and fall ill-they can say-told you so.

Not knowing your model and it's features and the self admitted variability of your strip thickness and spacing, it would not be possible to accurately estimate the time required, but I would suspect a minimum between 5-6 hours at 160f.

Higher temps can crisp the edges, but lower the total time required.
Lower temps can give more even results but increase the total time required.

I think that 160f for your first attempt is more than reasonable. Results vary by dehydrator-but should get you close. Unless it fully loaded with cold meat-will take longer of course.

Avoiding water additions are not the end of the world, but a more uniform spice and cure distribution will occur with water. Also the consistency can be adjusted to get best flow and uniformity through your cannon

[Savage Bacon]

All 10 trays are loaded in the cabelas dehydrator with the spacing about 1/2". A bit tighter than the 3/4" they suggested. But I got it all to fit... lol. So at 4 hours I rotated all trays end for end, then switched around the bottom 5 trays then switched around the top 5 trays. Bottom is spicy and top 5 are mild. The colour is a lot darker brown on the outside now but the centers are still definitely a lighter reddish colour. So far it's been on 160 for 4.5 hours

[Hiwa]

I have a round 6 tray. I used to run it full high , but now I back it down a bit.
If I put the meat on after supper , it's always perfect the next morning and not too hard , still pliable.
My favorite is just meat with Morton's Tenderquick sprinkled on a day before and a few shots of liquid smoke.
An hour more or less doesn't seem to make much difference , but 3 or more does.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Savage Bacon

Just leaving it on high, 160° and not worrying about lowering temp?

Get up in the middle of the night and check its progress....have a snack too.

[Savage Bacon]

This is what it looks like after 7 hours

[Savage Bacon]

12 hours in and internal temps are between 145° and 155°. Gonna start checking again every hour.

[brendan's dad]

Originally Posted by Savage Bacon

So this past xmas, santa brought me a 10 tray dehydrator, how did he know? Anyway last night me and the boss ground up a mixture of deer, beef and pork (fat removed) to make jerky with. It was all frozen leftovers so we just mixed it all together to get it out of the freezer. So when I put the ground meat in my mixer I added the spices and curing salt dry, without mixing with water, as I saw on several videos that it will dehydrate faster. Well when mixing by hand this will be fine but when using a mixer, not so fine, all the spices stuck to the sides of the mixer. So that's a learning experience.

Now for my question... how long do I run the dehydrator and at what temp? The instructions in the jerky kit contradict themselves from sentence to sentence and leave a person more confused the more you read. The instructions in the dehydrator say to start in the oven then move to the dehydrator. The meat is ground and I used my jerky blaster to lay the strips on the plastic trays. I don't think I want to put these plastic trays in the oven? The instructions also say to lower the temp after a certain amount of time. Also confusing me. So what I did was fill the trays and set the dehydrator to max 160. Can I leave it at this temp or will I adjust it later? Some strips I made thicker and some thinner by altering the speed of the jerky blaster. From 1/4" to 5/16". I should have stayed more consistent but I was worried about having too much meat but then eased off after it was about half way full.

Sorry long post. Just wanting to know proper temp and time. The instructions say 8-15 hours?

Thanks!

First off

Great handle name
Secondly, I have no idea
Thirdly, great handle name.

[Savage Bacon]

Thanks any advise is appreciated... lol

So this stuff has been going for over 15 hours and it will not reach 160° internal temp. I don't think it will with the dehydrator maxing out at 160°.

[Diesel_wiesel]

as well I don't think anyone mentioned
every Cpl hrs rotate yer trays start by
taking the bottom tray out move all others down one then replace the bottom tray on to the top
this also helps to get a more even cook and dehydration ,
as well we usually set our meat at a temp of 200
and when the inside core on the meat reaches 200 its usually done
most pre packed spices have the temps on the outside of the package for jerky and for snack sticks
it gives you instructions for ground meat and separate instructions for sliced meat
these instructions are in written typed instructions form not in picture form

[Savage Bacon]

Well here we are. The jerky was not floppy anymore so I took it out. The ends closed to the door were obviously a lot cooler that the edges at the back so I rotated every 4 hours then started every 2 hours. The backs would be between 150-160° but then cool down to 130-145° after rotating. So I'm sure everything reached 160 at some point. I guess with the dehydrator only going to 160° really limits out. It would be nice if it went to 180° to ensure doneness. I guess I could try a smaller batch next time too tho..

[Habfan]

Looks like a fine job ! The cure used in making jerky should kill anything that will make you sick. The 160 is a extra precaution that I’ve never really worried that much about. The dehydrater I own also only goes to 160 so reaching that temp in every inch of jerky would be tough to do. I’ve been making jerky for at least 10 years and have never been sick.

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by Habfan

Looks like a fine job ! The cure used in making jerky should kill anything that will make you sick. The 160 is a extra precaution that I’ve never really worried that much about. The dehydrater I own also only goes to 160 so reaching that temp in every inch of jerky would be tough to do. I’ve been making jerky for at least 10 years and have never been sick.

Ditto, I've probably done 500 lb of ground jerky, I do mine in a 10 tray cabelas dehydrator, mix the seasoning in 1 cup of warm water then mix it into the meat, squirt it out onto the trays with the jerky cannon sometimes round sometime flats, into the dehydrator at 160 for 5 1/2 hrs and out it comes onto paper towel on the cupboard for an hr or so to cool, end of story, now that you've done some your hooked, enjoy, there is nothing like home made jerky

[Savage Bacon]

Thanks guys. I think I won't run it near as long next time. And maybe make a smaller batch. We're vacuum sealing right now. With a few drops of olive oil in the bags. I'd be drinking beer and eating jerky all day if I didn't have to run into work this afternoon.