Deer Jerky Help

[TNDadx4]

Hello! I have a problem that I need some sage advice on.

My youngest son and I tried to make deer jerky this past weekend. We had our strips cut out and marinated, but one source that we had from a university extension office said that we had to cook the meat to 160 degrees before we dehydrated it. We cooked the pieces (the site recommended 10 hours) and then tried drying it (150 degrees in our oven), but the meat was hard and crusty like overdone bacon after 4 hours.

Now, I know that people have done this before, so I am looking for some advice on the actual process. We have a cheap dehydrator (no fan) that we could use. Should we do that instead of the oven? Is it really neccessary to cook the meat first?

Any thoughts or comments are welcomed.

Thanks in advance!

[CanNerd]

I think you got some bad information somewhere. *Precooking is for like 10 "minutes" not hours.


Two methods are available: heating meat strips in marinade before drying or heating the dried jerky strips in an oven after the drying process is completed.

1) At the end of the marinade time, heat and bring strips and marinade to a boil and boil for 5 minutes before draining and drying. *If possible, check the temperature of several strips with a probe thermometer to see if 160 deg F. has been reached.

2) Heat strips in an oven after drying by placing on a baking sheet, close together, but not touching, and heat for 10 minutes at 275 deg. F. *Thicker strips may take longer. *Make sure they reach 160 deg. F.

PS - That cheap dehydrator with no fan should be tossed away. These RONCO and related brands are dangerous because molds and other bacteria will potentially form before the foods can be fully dried.

Unfortunately drying in an oven is not much better since there is no air circulation.

[TNDadx4]

I'm sorry. I mistyped.... We cooked the meat for 15 minutes at 350 degrees and then dried it for 4 hours. The site said that we should dry it for 10 hours.

I do like you idea of boiling it in the marinade :)

I know the dehydrator isn't good. A friend lent it to us. I have to break down and get a good one.

When we were drying it in the over, we placed the meat on bakery cooling racks, then in the oven with the door open a bit. I don't know if it helps, but I also placed a fan near the opening to circulate the air.

[CanNerd]

Yes the fan helps on the dehydrating to move the air around. *The temperature of 350 and time of 15 minutes might have been enough to cook it too much. *You only want to reach a temperature to kill bacteria, not actually cook it.

[cinelu]

TNDAD - you might want to check out the excalibur website. They have free shipping till the end of the month. My hubby is buying me one for my birthday.

[sissy]

I just got one from ebay (refurbished), saved almost $100. 10 year warranty, Free shipping. Excalibur has a ebay store. I called them ask for ebay rep. told her what I wanted and ordered it. It's on its way.
Sissy

[TNDadx4]

Thank you all for the information and for the recommendation for Excalibur. I appreciate it!

We've been talking about getting one for a while. I think it's time to break down and get it :)

[TNDadx4]

Here's an update. We boiled the meat (per above) and then dried it in the oven at 170 degrees (the lowest our oven would go). I had a fan on it for circulation.

The thing that was weird for me was that the meat was dehydrated in an hour and 15 minutes. Is that normal? It seemed like dehydrating it any longer would be too much.

[CanNerd]

Probably, but even at 170 degrees you are cooking it more than drying, but the results should be better than the previous attempt.

I would normally be dehydrating at about 145 deg.

[TNDadx4]

Probably, but even at 170 degrees you are cooking it more than drying, but the results should be better than the previous attempt.

I would normally be dehydrating at about 145 deg.


The results were pretty good in that the jerky wasn't like over-crisped bacon this time...lol It was a lot drier that beef jerky is, but I just attributed that to the leaner meat.

We have to break down and buy a dehydrator. We are going to need it for when the garden some in too.

[CanNerd]

Actually you want lean meat for making jerky because any fat will cause the jerky to go rancid over time.

Your meat is fine. You just need to fine tune the dehydrating process a little more.

[TNDadx4]

CanNerd: Thank you. I appreciate your knowledge and patience in answering my questions :)

cinelu and sissy: Thanks also for the Excalibur suggestions. I've been looking at them. They are nice!