Beef Jerky Time

[ecowper]

Just got a Nesco Dehydrator and figured what better thing to do first than beef jerky?

So, found a recipe that seemed pretty good at Jerkyholic.com, sliced a flank steak into 1/4” strips, marinated overnight with the recipe, and now have it in the dehydrator.

Couple questions for those that do this often ..... Can you run the dehydrator outside? It’s fairly noisy in the kitchen. Any gotchas to worry about it or is it as easy as it appears?

[ecowper]

Meant to post the recipe I used, as well

https://www.jerkyholic.com/original-jerky/#original-beef-jerky-recipe

I did exactly this minus the liquid smoke. I doubled it, since I had 2 lbs of meat

• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander (ground)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 tsp Prague Powder #1 (curing salt)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (mesquite)

[Steve B]

I run mine in my garage. Its detached from my house. I do this because of the smell. The wife doesn't like the smell of Reapers.
I don't know if outside would be good though. Unless you're sure there ain't no critters around.

[ecowper]

Good point about critters. Including my dogs, of course. Does the colder garage affect anything?

[Steve B]

I don't think I ever used it in the winter. But I could be wrong. It's great getting older and more forgetful.

[bbqLuv]

Many years ago, early 80's I dipped about 15lbs of smelt from the Sandy River.
Dried them in our oven, brined them with Liquid smoke. Never again. Live and learn.
They tasted good, if I remember correctly.

BTW don't think there has been a smelt fun since Mt. Saint Helens blew.

[rickgregory]

Yeah, I'd not do it outside because of critters (and rain). I can't see temp affecting it too much, but some, probably. Could you put it in a den, laundry room etc?

[ecowper]

And I do have plenty of critters out here in the woods

[Bkhuna]

No son, it gives me wind, something terrible.

The exact meme my circle of Navy buddies send around and around on New Years.

[ecowper]

And here’s the finished outcome .... this recipe is decent, but I’m going to tune it a bit

[jharner]

I use mine inside making venison jerky. Not noisy and the wife loves the aroma of the cook

[ecowper]

What brand? I just used this for the first time and it’s pretty noisy. My wife enjoyed how it smelled, so that isn’t an issue.

[jharner]

Nesco FD-1010 had for probably 10 years

[ecowper]

jharner interesting ... this is a Nesco FD-28J and it’s kinda noisy.

[Brewmaster]

We use the same machine, have been doing it for over 20 years, use London broil when it goes on sale, have the store slice it for me. this is our brine.

SPICY JERKY MARINADE
1 Flat Stout Beer
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbl Dry Mustard
3/16 Slice fresh Ginger
3 Tbl Soy Sauce Liquefy in Blender
4 dry Red Peppers (or more)
1 Tbl Brown Sugar
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp of White Pepper
2 Tbl Sherry

[ecowper]

That’s a good looking marinade

[smokyYank]

Hi Brewmaster,

Just curious - about how much beef is this for? And, how do you cure it?

[Attjack]

I run mine outside all the time. Before I started smoking I would use it for jerky. Now it's mostly used for fruit.

[ecowper]

I think my wife intends to do a lot of fruit with it

[Attjack]

I have an Italian Plum tree that gives a lot of fruit. We dehydrate as much as we can each year. Because it's warm that time if year we dehydrate outside in the outdoor kitchen.

[Redwng]

I got a Nesco on Thursday and yesterday was my first try. I used Meathead's recipe but added one tablespoon of red pepper flakes, let the meat (top sirloin) marinade about 15 hours and dehydrated for 5 hours. It came out very good although I might add black pepper and more red pepper flakes next time.

[ecowper]

Yeah, I’m fiddling with the recipe I’m using, too. But, so far, enjoying having it. And liking my own jerky much better than store bought.

[Brewmaster]

I found that using a cooking spray on the grates makes clean-up a lot easier

[BruceB]

I've been considering a batch of jerky, some new marinade ideas will prompt me into actually doing it. I was going to experiment with using the Grilla Silverbac with their jerky rack, but I think I'll just stick with my 40 year old original Little Chief top-loader. It sure has made a bunch of jerky and smoked salmon!

[efincoop]

I have found the jeryholic's website to be a treasure trove of jerky recipes. My current favorite is Sweet Heat Sriracha Jerky.

[ecowper]

Yeah, I've been making tons of notes on there ..... I can see me trying a lot of these.

[bep35]

I have been making venison jerky for years. After many trial and errors the hands down family favorite came down to Hi-Country Three Pepper Blend, which is a commercial product. If the family likes a simple sprinkle on seasoning and cure, far be it for me to put in a lot of effort following an online recipe. And believe me I tried a lot of them.

I purchased an Excalibur 9-Tray unit over a decade ago and it is still going strong. It is quiet and I run it in the kitchen no problem. The square layout lets you make a lot of jerky vs. the round units. It costs a little more but I think it is worth it.

I have never run mine outdoors because there are so many variables such as humidity, temperature, etc. If using a dehydrator make sure your temperature gets high enough to take care of any bacteria. Once dried, I run my jerky through a preheated oven set at 275 for 10 minutes to take care of that issue. Have fun!

[ecowper]

that makes sense on the oven @ 275. I think I'll add that to the process