ISO Dehydrator Recipes For Easy Beef Jerky

[Maelinde]

Thank you, TaxLady. 20 minutes sounds reasonable, so will freeze tonight and marinate, then attempt to dry tomorrow. I can't wait to have home dried jerky.

[Maelinde]

We marinated the jerky Saturday, and dehydrated it overnight into Sunday morning before heading out to the Renaissance Faire.

Randy's job was to take it out of the dehydrator and place it in the oven to finish (as per a recipe in a book I purchased) for 15 minutes. He left it in there longer and then put it back in the dehydrator because he was worried about some moisture beading. I wish he would have woken me up at that point... It was delicious in flavor, but crunchy and crispy.

We shared with friends at Faire and they all loved it with that texture. Even a friend who is a professional chef really liked it. It turns out that he does his jerky intentionally crisp and another batch that is tender and mixes them together for the different textures.

All in all our first jerky was somewhat of a success.

There is none left by the way - it all got eaten yesterday.

[Cheryl J]

Yay! Sure sounds like a success to me, Maelinde! Glad everyone loved it.

[Maelinde]

Originally Posted by Cheryl J

Yay! Sure sounds like a success to me, Maelinde! Glad everyone loved it.

Cheryl,

I wish I could send you some.

I think I'll try London Broil next time. We have some in the freezer and it is exceptionally lean. I'm also going to use a little bit less salt, too. Maybe go more on the cider vinegar and less on the soy sauce. Oh, and not to let it get so crispy. One of my friends called it "jerky candy".

[taxlady]

Maelinde, how did the freezing and slicing work out?

[Maelinde]

Hi Taxlady,

The freezing for 20 minutes was perfect. Randy used a serrated knife to slice it and he had no problem. It will be easier when I get the slicer later in the month. But he said it sliced so easily with it partially frozen.

I can't wait to try this with the London Broil I've got and Eye of Round I intend to purchase next week.

All in all, this was so much fun that I want to do it again. I liked the flavor much better than what I get in the stores. Best part - no MSG. I only wish there was some left. It got eaten much quicker than it got made. <grin>

[Cooking Goddess]

Congrats on your rousing success! I bet we'll be seeing more posts about your different batches. Enjoy.

[Maelinde]

Thank you, CG! I can't wait to make more jerky. I've heard that it goes much quicker than it took to make, but that is more of a compliment I think.

Once I create my own marinade recipe, I'll be sure to share it here. I definitely want to do lower sodium, more vinegar on the next batch.