beef jerky

How To Make Beef Jerky At Home With A Dehydrator

Dehydrator jerky is delicious and has a long shelf life, making it ideal for long-term food storage. Dehydrator jerky can be made with any lean red meat, such as beef, lamb, goat, deer, moose, or elk. Although the most popular option is beef, other red meats may also be used successfully. You will be able to keep meat at room temperature and add to your food preservation skills after you learn how to make jerky.

Summer hiking, automobile journeys, and park visits are all great occasions for homemade beef jerky. It is healthy and low in sugar. The extra salt aids in the prevention of dehydration and tiredness. It does not become dried out or exhausted when exposed to heat. However, keep it refrigerated or frozen till you are ready to go away on vacation for the best taste. If kept in a heated automobile, it will not keep as long.

Also Read: How To Eat Shredded Beef Jerky

Dehydrated Jerky Recipe

There are several benefits to curing and smoking your own meat. Do not be scared of keeping raw meat without refrigeration if you do not know-how. Making jerky at home is simple if you have the correct dehydrator and follows safe food handling procedures while preparing it. Using a super-hot dehydrator (one that reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit) is the best approach to making beef jerky or another homemade jerky. The Cosori dehydrator and the Excalibur dehydrator have both worked well for me.

Beef jerky should be cooked at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the maximum setting on both devices. The stainless steel trays of the Cosori dehydrator can be cleaned in the dishwasher. It produces consistent results without requiring you to rearrange the trays. The Cosori dehydrator is my personal favorite for producing beef jerky at home. My 10-tray Excalibur dehydrator does a nice job, but it has plastic trays that need to be sanitized between batches and takes a little more effort.

Also Read: How To Make Beef Jerky On A Traeger

Choosing The Dehydrator For Making Jerky

Make sure the dehydrator you pick has all of the features that you need

A fan
A temperature of 165 F.

If the temperature in your dehydrator does not reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit, you can still make jerky, but you will need to add one more step to guarantee that it is safe for long-term storage. If your oven is capable of maintaining a temperature of165°F or higher, jerky may be manufactured in a convection oven. Allow air to enter and exit the oven during the drying process to allow moisture to drain out.

Also Read: How Thick To Slice Meat For Jerky?

Beef Jerky Made With A Dehydrator

Ingredients

One pound round steak
Four tablespoons of soy sauce
Four tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
One tablespoon of ketchup
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of onion salt
1/2 teaspoon of salt
A few dashes of Tabasco, optional
A few drops of Liquid Smoke flavoring, optional
A Dehydrator that works at a temperature of 145°F or higher is required. (After the machine has been running for 20 minutes and is clean, insert a cooking thermometer into it to determine its operating temperature.)

Preparing The Meat For Jerky

For jerky in the dehydrator, choose lean meat. Fatty or heavily marbled meat will not dry properly, and any fat left on the flesh may go rancid after long storage. For jerky, the eye of the round, sirloin steak, flank steak, rump roast, or brisket are excellent choices of beef. Similar cuts from other species are also good choices.

Remove any visible fat and connective tissue from the meat with a sharp knife. To make cutting easier, the flesh must be cold. Cut into strips 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches wide by 4 to 8 inches long using a sharp knife. Cut jerky with the grain if you want it chewy, or across the grain if you prefer it chewier.

Dehydrating The Jerky

Drain the marinade from the meat. Before drying, there is no need to rinse the meat strips. Place the meat pieces on dehydrator trays in a single layer, with no two pieces touching.

Dehydrate for 4 to 6 hours at 165°F. After 4 hours, check the strips and turn the pieces over on the dehydrator trays to ensure even drying. If your dehydrator does not reach 165°F, dry the jerky at 145°F until it is done, then pasteurize it in an oven (see below). homemade jerky takes about 6-8 hours to dry at 165°F. It will take a bit longer at 145°F.

Remove any completely dry pieces of jerky. Continue dehydrating until all of the jerkies are fully dried.

Also Read: How To Tell If Jerky Is Done Dehydrating

Doneness Test For Jerky

Allow the piece of jerky to cool to room temperature before checking for doneness. When jerky is finished, it should be:

It becomes dry to the touch
There is no coolness to the piece
The jerky is the uniform temperature throughout the piece with no cold spots
A piece of jerky bends but does not snap when you bend it, like the green stick

Preparation

Remove all fat from the meat and store it in the freezer for one to two hours. When it is half frozen, cut it into 3/8-inch to 1/4-inch slices. (Ask a butcher at your local supermarket’s meat counter to thinly slice it for you instead of freezing the meat.) Meat that is sliced against the grain will be soft and pliable, whereas meat that is sliced with the grain will be chewy.

In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients to make the marinade. Place the meat in a glass container and cover it with the marinade. Allow at least 1 hour for it to sit in the refrigerator (I have had good results leaving it overnight.)

Place the meat in a colander and dry on dehydrator trays. Turn the meat once while drying and do not overlap it. Dry at 145°F for 8 to 10 hours. I check on progress after four hours. It is done when it bends like a willow but doesn’t break when bent. Keep in the refrigerator in Mason jars or Ziploc bags.

nicton