ARGH! Help me with a dehydrator!

[jcrayford]

Ok AO, I've had it with my current POS dehydrator.

I've got some jerky in right now, been running the POS for over an hour and the temp will not come up above 120*.

Suggestions on a dehydrator than can go higher temps?

I'm near both Bass Pro/Cabelas and Canadian Tire.

J.

[Map Maker]

Costco Excalibur.
The best of the best.

[Savage Bacon]

I have the 10 tray cabelas dehydrator. I will do 6 lbs of sliced meat in 4.5 hrs. You might have to toss yours into the oven. Did you use any cure? I don't check temp but rather how dry it gets.

[Bearbreath]

Originally Posted by Savage Bacon

I have the 10 tray cabelas dehydrator. I will do 6 lbs of sliced meat in 4.5 hrs. You might have to toss yours into the oven. Did you use any cure? I don't check temp but rather how dry it gets.

I have the same one. Been through 20 batches of jerky and not a problem.

[Okotok]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

Costco Excalibur.
The best of the best.

I would agree. Use it mostly to make pork and beef liver treats for my dogs, but works great.

[ATF]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

Costco Excalibur.
The best of the best.

I thought it was pretty pricey for how cheaply made it was.
Bought one on black Friday and returned it without even trying it after taking it out of the box and looking it over. It wasn't even packaged right from the factory.

[ATF]

Originally Posted by jcrayford

Ok AO, I've had it with my current POS dehydrator.

I've got some jerky in right now, been running the POS for over an hour and the temp will not come up above 120*.

Suggestions on a dehydrator than can go higher temps?

I'm near both Bass Pro/Cabelas and Canadian Tire.

J.

Any way to add some insulation (old towel or something) over it to get the heat up a bit more? I used to do that with my tin smoker on colder days.

[waldedw]

I have a cabela's 10 tray and it works great, temp setting to 160 degrees, must have run 600 lbs through it already and it's never missed a beat, bought it on sale a couple years ago for $119

[Okotok]

Originally Posted by ATF

I thought it was pretty pricey for how cheaply made it was.
Bought one on black Friday and returned it without even trying it after taking it out of the box and looking it over. It wasn't even packaged right from the factory.

The excalibur was rated number 1 at least in this review. I've had one for about 7 years and it just continues to work. 9 trays. https://bestreviews.com/best-dehydrators

[funkman]

As the moisture comes out the temperature will rise....your dehydrator is fine.

[Map Maker]

Originally Posted by ATF

I thought it was pretty pricey for how cheaply made it was.
Bought one on black Friday and returned it without even trying it after taking it out of the box and looking it over. It wasn't even packaged right from the factory.

Which one did you end up with instead?

Excalibur is made from polymer and metal hence the price. I had an old plastic one but plastic got brittle under high use.

Excalibur has the timer too so I don’t have any overdry items anymore.

To each his own, but I’ve never looked back since getting it.

[3blade]

Cabelas 80L commercial grade dehydrator

Bought myself one on Boxing Day ($400) 12 trays, 12 lbs of meat, no problem hitting 160 in <30 min (on kitchen table, not cold garage like some idiots do) whole batch done in 4-6 hrs. No moving trays around, no transferring to oven, not any noisier than a bathroom fan.

Don’t waste your time with cheap plastic fruit dehydrators, they aren’t made for jerky production.

[Tungsten,]

There’s a cooking show Good eats it’s called. He did some between furnace filters and a box fan all strapped together.Kinda weird.

[jcrayford]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Looks like I'm headed to BP/Cabela's for an upgrade.

I had to finish off the jerky in the oven. Didn't try wrapping a towel around the Dehydrator to bring temp up, just got frustrated.

Thanks again to all

J.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

[ATF]

If anyone's looking for Excalibur I saw a bunch on clearance at walmart.
I didn't even know they stocked such a thing
Its the 4 tray model but was only 95 bucks. (half price)

[waldedw]

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/86801...uxe-dehydrator

On Sale now for $149, same one I use, 2 years now it works great

[ganderblaster]

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I would revive this one. Does anyone have any other brands that have worked well? I’m getting frustrated with my smokers. Take so long for the space and to get a big good smoker is about $2k plus takes so long to dry the meat

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Originally Posted by ganderblaster

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I would revive this one. Does anyone have any other brands that have worked well? I’m getting frustrated with my smokers. Take so long for the space and to get a big good smoker is about $2k plus takes so long to dry the meat

The flavor is so much better when done on the smoker. I have done comparison samples (smoker, dehydrator and oven) and the jerky done in the smoker is so much better. Family and friends all agree. I might even sell my dehydrator as I never seem to use it now

[huntinstuff]

I have that biggest Cabelas dehydrator

I can put 15lbs of wet jerky in it. 9 hrs at 110degrees seems to be the right amount. Zero issues with it.

I also have 2 of those Big Chief smokers. They work well in winter as i cover them in cardboard. Dont know what the temperature is tho. Usually takes 12 hrs tho.

[Map Maker]

Originally Posted by CDNOutdoorsman

The flavor is so much better when done on the smoker. I have done comparison samples (smoker, dehydrator and oven) and the jerky done in the smoker is so much better. Family and friends all agree. I might even sell my dehydrator as I never seem to use it now

Electric smoker?
I have a charcoal smoker but find it dries out the meat.
So, bit of a pain but excellent results, is that I smoke first for flavour and then dehydrate perfect moisture level.

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by waldedw

I have a cabela's 10 tray and it works great, temp setting to 160 degrees, must have run 600 lbs through it already and it's never missed a beat, bought it on sale a couple years ago for $119

Mine is still working great, just did another batch last week, must have close to 1200 lbs through mine now since I bought it, I do 7 lbs wet at a time and it takes about 5 hrs at 160 degrees, perfect every time.

[CNP]

Originally Posted by jcrayford

Ok AO, I've had it with my current POS dehydrator.

I've got some jerky in right now, been running the POS for over an hour and the temp will not come up above 120*.

Suggestions on a dehydrator than can go higher temps?

I'm near both Bass Pro/Cabelas and Canadian Tire.

J.

You're expecting too much from your dehydrator. I (my wife) has an older, at least 30 year older dehydrator, that has a maximum and constant temperature of 125 degrees and it certainly takes more than an hour to get to that temperature. It has done thousands of pounds of fruit, vegetables and meat over the years. My wet jerky cured meat takes 12 hours to complete 10 lbs on 10 trays.

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Originally Posted by Map Maker

Electric smoker?
I have a charcoal smoker but find it dries out the meat.
So, bit of a pain but excellent results, is that I smoke first for flavour and then dehydrate perfect moisture level.

I use a pellet smoker, actually 2 of them.